July 2012

When the opportunity presents itself, why not race? While visiting family in western New York, Rob DiSibio and Nancy Thompson DiSibio made a pit stop on the way back east to race the Raccoon Rally in Allegany State Park in Salamanca, NY. This cross-country race started with a 5 mile climb straight up on grassy double track, followed by flowing double and single track and twice down the narrow, rocky, rooty shoot to the finish. WWR showed western NY what mid-Atlantic riders could do: Nancy was 2nd in her Cat 1 class, and Rob 2nd in his Cat 2 class. WWR racking up more podiums! Next up for WWR was the Danzeisen and Quigley Summer Sizzler in Sewell, NJ. Each 6 mile lap is full of logs, stream crossings, soft trails and short-steep climbs…and is fast, very fast! Lots of WWR teammates came out looking to play in the Jersey Shore sand. Great finishes for the Cat 2 racers competing in their age classes: Andrew Webster 6th (18), Jason Temple 7th (18), Mike Bria 27th (29), Ryan Ashcroft 28th (29), Brian Urion 16th (18) and James Ambagis competing in the single speed class finishing 11th. Despite a nasty wreck taking time off her finish (and some finish off her bike), our newbie Liz Jones dug deep and pounded out a 3rd place (6) finish in Cat 3! Trish Reilly suffered a nasty wreck and had to be escorted out of the trail. After getting to know the ER staff at the local hospital, Trish came home with all bones intact, but a deeply bruised and bang-up body. A big shout out to Scott Racing rider Scott Dickey who selflessly stopped to help Trish after the wreck; sacrificing his own race to help an very injured rider…sportsmanship = class. Trish will be back after some R&R; she is a mountain biker, after all. Another gem of the east coast mountain bike racing season – the Trail Spinners Fair Hill Classic, in Fair Hill, MD – includes cross-country and 50 mile endurance races. The volunteers that comprise the Trail Spinners mountain bike advocacy club put together one of the most organized, well-marked, best prizes (!) and most fun post-race festivities of the MASS season. The added bonus is that 100% of the proceeds go to building and maintaining trail systems in Delaware, Northern Maryland and Southeast Pennsylvania. Also, who doesn’t want to race a course that includes trails named Drunken Sailor and Crackhead Bob? The course is full of fast single track, very tight-twisty switchbacks, both long and short steep climbs and just enough rocks and roots to keep racers paying attention. WWR had outstanding finishes! First up, the cross-country racers included 2nd place podiums for Lauri Webber in Cat 1 (9) and Andrew Webster in Cat 2 (27). Also on the podium in 3rd was Rob DiSibio (41). Rounding out the great finishes were: Heather Heinrich in 6th (9), Jason Temple 5th (27), Brian Urion 36th (51) and Kirsten Wegner 5th (6). The endurance racers completed the 50 miles all under 6:10. Nancy Thompson DiSibio finished 8th (18), Brendan Reilly 13th (63), Tim Fowley 17th (31) and John Zerheusen 39th (63). Another fine race with great finishes, bbq and prizes from the podiums! Charge up those batteries! The last race of July was the Chester County Bicycles’ Midnight at Marsh Creek State Park, in Glenmoor, PA. The night owls came out to race around the lake and try to avoid the poison ivy beds. Good showing for WWR – Tim Fowley had his best place this season at 5th; Heather Heinrich came in at 4th, Trish Reilly at 7th, Mike Bria at 15th and Ryan Ashcroft at 17th. Way to stay awake and kill it WWR!