Sunday, May 7, 2000 -- Tomlinson Run State Park, WV
Tour de Tomlinson
Story and photos by Marty Lamp

[Details] [Coverage]
[Overall Results] [Results by Class]
Pictures: [Set 1] [Set 2] [Set 3] [Set 4] [Set 5] [Set 6]

Jason Beckley feeling fine at Tomlinson

The first ever Tour de Tomlinson, formerly known as the Mother's Day Madness, had nearly 100 mountain bike racers of all ages and skills racing through the trails of beautiful Tomlinson Run State Park on Sunday, May 7th.

Just outside of New Manchester, Tomlinson Run State Park boasts great rolling single track that winds beside and through Tomlinson Run, and up and down some short, but sweet climbs and downhills.

The sky was filled with sunshine for this family-style event, and with temperatures in the upper 80's, it felt much more like the middle of summer than the middle of spring.

Benjie Klimas out in front

At 1:00pm, everyone lined up for the start, with experts taking off first, sport and clydesdale classes taking off 3 minutes later, and all beginner classes starting 6 minutes behind.

All expert classes raced through 4 laps on this fast 4.5 mile course, with sports and clydesdales pounding through 3 laps, beginners pedaled 2 laps, and the novice class only had to make it through 1 lap.

From the very start, Benjie Klimas(1:16:41), riding for Cannondale-Volvo, jumped out in front, but it would be no easy coasting. Riding for Gary Fisher, Jason Beckley(1:16:08) took to Klimas' rear wheel, and last years race winner EJ Sigety(1:17:52) was right behind on his sweet Merlin ride. Klimas stayed in the lead through the first three laps, and midway into the fourth before Beckley took his turn in the lead. Now it was time for Klimas to grab the rear wheel of Beckley as the two battled toward the finish line. With less than 1/2 mile to go on the last lap, Klimas got a little squirrely on a drop off, and went down. He was quickly back on his bike, but Beckley would not be denied the win, with Klimas finishing some 30 seconds behind. Sigety finished a solid third overall.

Katina Sayers on the first lap

In the Men's Vet Expert Class, Roy Gryskevich(1:26:17) got the win while finishing a fast 8th overall, with Doug Arner(1:27:06) right behind for second place.

Nathan Annon(1:27:21) finished first for the Men's Junior Experts, with Anthony Schwartz(1:30:39) coming in second. Annon and Schwartz finished 10th and 11th overall respectively.

For the Women's Experts, Katina Sayers(1:49:15) grabbed the win, while Courtney Dudley(2:00:00) stepped up to the Expert class to finish second.

Fun for everyone...

In the three lap race, George Summers(1:01:49) finished first while also winning the Clydesdale class. Other class winners include Darin Evans(1:06:51) for the Men's Sports, Dan Richard(1:13:37) of the Men's Vet Sport Class, Jim Cladias(1:17:49) for the Men's Sport Masters, Juliana Maggio(1:29:45) for the Women's Sport Division, and Adam Allen(1:37:02) of the men's Junior Sports.

The two lap race saw Michael Bee(54:29) finish first while getting the win for the Men's Beginners.

The proceeds from this race went to benefit the United Way and Tomlinson Run State Park. This quality race was due to the hard work and efforts of Dave Lawson and all the fine folks at Summitt Bike Shop in Weirton, not to mention the countless volunteers.