1st Place OVERALL
Pro/Expert Men
JOHN MacINNIS
SoBe/HEADSHOK

ESCAPE FROM
GRANOGUE
July 28, 2002
by Bill Deputy

Shhhhhhhhh.......... don't tell anyone we're having another Super Series race this Sunday Aug. 4th at Iron Hill. If we keep it a secret maybe IT WON'T RAIN!

However, you just can't dampen the spirits of Super Series racers.

A record breaking crowd showed up at the annual Escape from Granogue despite yet again a steady rain during most of the Beginner race. 500 racers converged on what may be the most scenic and challenging race course in the Series. Intense heat made the hills of Granogue twice as hard but mtn bike racers are a special breed....... we love competition and pushing ourselves to the limit.

Many thanks go to Mr. & Mrs. duPont for allowing the use of their beautiful estate for so many people to enjoy themselves............ also a big thank you to Mr. & Mrs. Weymouth who own the adjoining property.

Jon Kane and myself (Wooden Wheels team members at the time) were laying out the course and ventured accidentally onto the Weymouth property. We had cut about a half mile of trail on the Weymouth property thinking it was Granogue. Needless to say it was not a comfortable phone call when I first spoke with Mr. Weymouth and explained what we had already done. It shows the family's graciousness when he recovered during this very conversation and gave us permission to keep the trail as part of the race course!

Craig Shaffer - Wooden Wheels revised the course somewhat and made the hills all ridable this year and also added some very sweet single track after crossing the railroad tracks the second time. Craig and his wife Lyn are the driving force behind the hard work of preparing and maintaining the singletrack of Granogue. Please respect this property and do not ride it at anytime except when we have our Super Series race once a year.

This well organized event took the whole of the number ONE winning team in the Mid-Atlantic Super Series 2002 - WOODEN WHEELS working together............. and what a wonderful job they did. The course was perfectly groomed and extremely well marked. Food was available, awards were timely, there was a kid's race and everyone seemed to have a great time.

Results (Millennium Timing) were timely and Awards ceremonies went smoothly.

Let's not forget the man that made all of this possible - Don Morrison - Mid-Atlantic Super Series creator. If you clicked on the link and saw Don running with his bike here is his explanation (from his interview): Did you have any interesting experiences during your race (exchanges with competitors / spectators)? Yes, I was riding through the tunnel and I saw Bill Deputy taking my picture and when I looked at him my front wheel slipped on the wet rocks and I crashed. Don has had a very successful year of racing and running the Super Series. Thank you Don!!

John MacInnis - Sobe Headshok (pro) took first overall Expert Men showing that he is in quite good form for next week's National in Durango, CO. In hot pursuit for second place was Bike Doctor's Greg Marini 40 seconds back. These two were a whopping four minutes out from the rest of the pack with Jason Moore - Shirk's finishing third and Mike Kuhn - PA Pension Planners fourth.

Theresa Richardson - Bike Doctor was 1st Place overall Expert Women 34 &under and managed a gap of over 12 minutes on the rest of her younger competitors.......... however the amazing Lauri Webber - WOODEN WHEELS (Expert Women 35+) was right on Theresa's heels at just 7 seconds back winning 1st Place in her age group and second overall Expert Women. Lauri's daughter was also showing off today.......... the excerpt from Lauri's interview will explain: "The highlight of my day though was when my 4yr old Megan won the training wheel division. She came huffing and puffing up the hill and when she arrived at the finish she promptly said "mommy I wasn't even working hard". We are sharing my Medal today."

Joe Fritsch - College Park ran a smart race winning the Expert Men's 30-34 race........ a quote from his interview: "I usually start out fast but too fast and fade after about 15 minutes. Today I ignored the legs begging for more speed at the beginning and made sure I was recovering between the climbs." Brian Gondos - Guy's Bicycle took second and Keith Goulet - Wooden Wheels using a similar strategy as Joe Fritsch placed third.

Blair Saunders - FSVS was first into the singletrack and first over the finish line after fading a bit in the middle of the race taking 1st place Expert Men 35-39. The ever consistent David Henry - Team Harrisburg was second and Rick MiHills - FSVS found time away from his Iron Hill promoting duties to make it onto the Granogue podium with a third place.

Those SoBe energy drinks must work since Bryan Boeckmann - SoBe came across the line very close to 12 minutes ahead of anyone else in the Expert Junior Men's race. Brandon Draugelis was second and Adam Beattie - FSVS third.

The powerful Tim Messersmith - First Capital Velo who wins every race (barring a mechanical) again took top honors in the Expert Men's 45+ division with over a 3 1/2 minute lead. Kurt Mikeska - Wooden Wheels was second and Rory Carolan - Extreme a respectable 3rd after coming up from Sport racing last year.

In the Expert Men's 40-44 race Jay Dodge - Guy's Bicycle hung tough in the intense heat taking 1st place. Bren Moran - Beechwood was second at just over a minute back and David Clark - Team Harrisburg came back from a minor crash and pinch flat to podium in third place just 2 minutes back from the leader. Special mention goes to Todd Forrest - Wooden Wheels who managed a 4th place on a SINGLE SPEED. Imagine the heat and hills of Granogue on a single speed.

There were many a DNF due to the intense heat. Wooden Wheels promoters had an abundance of water on hand and even a sprinkler on the course to gently cool the racers as they went by. The spirit of the team showed through when several WW team members offered to help me load up the mountainbikeRACER.com van and break down the tent. It took no time at all as everyone had plenty of energy even at the end of the day. What a great team......... what a great race. See everyone at Iron Hill Aug. 4th!

GRANOGUE 2002
RACE REPORT
by Mike Kuhn -
PA PENSION PLANNERS

“Hotter than a snake’s ass in a wagon rut” – Howard Cosell (as portrayed by Robin Williams) or a good way to describe the race at Granogue.

Actually, that may be an understatement for the conditions from Sunday’s cookout at Granogue. The PA Pension Planers team was represented by Zack Blaser and yours truly while our compatriot John Cameron was off doing…well, what do you care what he was doing. With Chris E. and Jeremiah B. jet-setting to exotic distant locations around the globe, our race was looking a little more open this weekend. Our Dogfish unis glistening in the sun (ain’t those shorts sweeet!?!) we took to the line. Jason M. was working the intimidation factor on the start grid and head-butted me into the ditch along the road (this may have been a response to me lining my Bergwerk up in front of everyone else, but hey what happened to calling the top 5 in the standings to the front row?) Luckily I recovered and was back on the bike in time for Brandon O. to rip my legs off at the start. Hanging on to the group of Brandon, Jason, David D., John M., the new threat from the west Greg M. and my PA Pension Planners teammate Zack, I was both pegged and loving it – being part of a group going that fast around a course is just plain fun – at least until it hurts really bad.

The group started to come apart about half way through the lap on the first exposed climb on the course (the one where you crossed the field on a slight downgrade and then busted a right up the climb). At first it seemed like the usual “just falling off the pace” sort of thing, but that was not the whole enchilada.

You could almost hear it today.

BOOM!!

There goes one – I think it was an orange blur so that’d be Brandon.
There’s Zack maybe I’ll ride with him and we’ll pull some of these guys back. Man, I feel like a well done rotisserie chicken (why was that spot right at the bottom of the steep climb so dang hot???). Um, Zack isn’t killing me on this climb that’s not good.

BOOM!!

Noooooooooo Zaaaaaccckkk.

Oh man, Ed B. just caught me. Where’d he come from?
(Am told I am 50 seconds behind David D. through the S/F)
Ed and I hit the first section of singletrack with Ed just ahead, but curiously slowing.

BOOM!!

“Ed, you okay?”
“No man go by, the heat is getting me.”

(Note: about 15 seconds later Zack rides by to see a rider – found out later it was Ed – writhing around on the ground making Chewbacca-like noises. After the race Ed related to us “The only thing I could see was white.”)

I can see Dave, he’s still about a minute up.

BOOM!!

Holy [expletive deleted], I never thought I’d catch him so quick.
“Dave, how you doing?”
“This heat’s hurting me.”

And so it went. I was throwing down Extran like it was going out of style and asking all those beautiful water hander uppers to douse me in H2O at every opportunity. (Note #2: Zack spent several hours later that evening bringing it and Kuhl’s watermelon back up like it was going out of style).

I don’t remember ever sweating like I did Sunday. It was running off my face and past the corners of my mouth in such quantity I felt like I was drooling. John M. handled it best as he cruised to a nice finish and well-deserved win – good luck in Durango John! (and to the rest of you headed out that way too). Greg M. had a great ride as well, keeping his deficit to less than a minute at the finish. I tried to catch Jason, but was scared he would head-butt me again and couldn’t quite put it together to bring him back so I rolled in for fourth.

There were some new names in the top 10 ahead of Dave and Zack. Jeremy G. did a good job of keeping me on my toes through the whole race -- every time I ventured a look back he was still there (damn him). Good rides by Jarret S., Chris B., and Todd H. too. Kudos to Jon P. for an awesome first lap attack too. You had us all running scared.

Thanks for a great race and all the water. The course was sweet. You guys did a great job. Chris K. wanted me to relay that he was especially appreciative of the nice ladies who were first at the pond and then later by the tunnel. At least that is the first thing he mentioned to me at the finish line.

Thanks to my folks, Krista, and the Hammakers for helping to take care of the team and Kristine when the heat did her in too. And of course, thanks to PA Pension Planners, Bergwerkusa.com, BuyPhillips.com, CFA, Dogfish, Oatbar, Shimano, Extran, Boland Chiropractic, Ritchey, and the best darn bike shop around – Bushey’s Cycling and Fitness for getting us to the races!

BTW, can you believe no Cheese Toast Olfactory Creams on the podium? And I’ll be, the world didn’t end.

That’s all I have to say about that.

Hugs and Kisses,
Mike