Saturday, September 30, 2006 - Sunday, October 1, 2006 -- Barboursville, WV
The Dirt Derby - WVMBA #13 - Championship Race (iPO Event Id#: 7331)

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[Details] [Coverage] [Overall Results] [Photos]

Story and photos by Julie Black

Hot fun in October sun

Just a Ride in the Park- Barboursville Community Park made it's debut to West Virginia Mountain Bike Association racers as the Championship Point Series Event, The Dirt Derby. With over 750 acres the park was more than suitable for a championship mountain bike race. Though the trails remained muddy from relentless downpours the night before, racers didn't seem to mind much since it was the last official points race of 2006. Over $65,000 and countless man hours were invested into the park and its trails. Workers and volunteers blazed new routes, improved old ones, and well, as it was put to me on race day, "Weeds grow up fast around here." So there was plenty of cutting, brush-hogging, and weed-wacking going on as well.

The Beech Fork Association of Trails (bFAT) promised a challenging course, and they say it best, "Barboursville's Park has some nice runs from the top with numerous scenic overlooks from the sheer cliffs and steep drops. The single track that follows the river and comes out behind the lake - is where the real fun can begin or end." It's the truth. The park was kind of a locals secret . . . until now.

Nick Waite Rides to the overall series win

The Championship Race was one event of three for the weekend, with a Friday evening Time Trial featuring 4-miles of cross country riding, a Saturday morning open ride named the fame Kanawha Trace Western Assault. The 50-mile jaunt on the Adahi Trail and Kanawha Trace included shuttle and trail lunch. Then Sunday, high-noon was The Dirt Cup WVMBA Championship Points Race.

Staged racing with a cumulative total time over 3 days will decided a winner for an additional award, The 2006 Dirt Bag Cup. Separate from Sunday's WVMBA series classes, but an honorable award none-the-less. This year's top dirt bag was WVMBA Pres., Greg Moore. Congrats Greg.

With the final standings for WVMBA Points looming, most bikers couldn't wait for Sunday to be over with. Marked on the results as the only person to ride 3 laps was Kelly Benefit Strategies Pro Rider, Nick Waite finishing first in 2:20:24. Waite ends the WVMBA season as the Pro/Expert Male Overall Champion with 140 points. Riding since 1999, Nick, a native of West Virginia, has rode for the USA Cycling's U23 National Mountain Bike and Road Teams and is currently ranked as one of the top 10 Americans on the UCI list. Look for Waite in lots of cycling news in 2007.

A sunny day for a ride in the park

T.J. Platt (Dirty Harry Bicycles/Gary Fisher 29ner Team), deserves some kudos. Finishing second on the day and also second in the overall series standings behind Waite by only 3 points, Platt has had a stellar season.

Speaking of stellar seasons, how about WVMBA's Pro/Expert Women's class? When Betsy Shogren and Cassie Smith are in the same race together, it always seems to be a shoot-out. Crank-for-crank, it's hard to tell who will ride out of the woods first. On this day it was Betsy Shogren (Custom Contracting) with a time of 2:14:53. But Cassie Smith (Specialized), took home the overall points title with 139 overall series points, just one over Shogren.

Gunnar Shorgren (Custom Contracting), has been racing for a long, long time. But as long as he's been racing, he still forgot to dry-out his bike shorts from a wet ride the day before. A little dampness didn't slow him down. Shogren finished first on the way and won the overall Single Speed Men's Championship with 140 points. Joey Boyle took home second from the Dirt Cup and second from the series as well.

Marc Glass, Expert Vet Men series champion

Marc Glass rode hard to the top in 1:50:46 (2-laps), and third overall in the series standings for the Expert Vet Men's class. Peter Kotses claimed second on the day and first overall in the series with a total of 135 points, beating Steve Thaxton by 3 points.

Blackwater Bike's Expert Rider, Matt Marcus, raced to muddy victory with a Dirt Cup win (2:06:29) and the overall Expert Masters Award with 140 points. Matt Ross took second on the day and in the series.

Expert Junior Morgan Miller took the win in his class in 2:09:34, with Roland Sink taking the overall series win with 136 points.

The women's sport class was tight with all top three series leaders racing the Cup. Kelly Shaw (2:59:47 ) took home top honors for the day and second in the final, with Susan Wren wearing the points title crown in first with 139 points.

With an extremely large Sport Men's class racing this year, it's been hard to tell who may end up in the final top spots, but Todd Harper emerged first, not just on race day, but also in the race for points. Harper held off Jason McDaniel to finish first in the Cup in 2:17:31, and first in the series with 132 points. McDaniel took the overall second spot in both as well.

Fall flowers line a downhill single-track section

Sport Vet Man, Henry Spreng Jr., completed 10 races out of 13 this year to take home WVMBA's gifts with 140 points, and rode to first in the Dirt Cup with a fast 1:55:58 two lap finish. Steve Svoboda was 2nd overall in the points race.

Top Sport Vet Woman, Audrey Kennedy, was first in the Cup in 2:50:27, and first in the standings with 140 points. Laurie Johnston took home second in the race and the standings.

Top Clydesdale rider of the day was Jon McClure (2:46:08). Tony Bowie took home the series title with 133 points. Bruce Williams passed the barrels in a flash to finish first Sport Master Male for the day. Williams tied Pete Arner with 138 points in the final series standings.

The top High School male rider in the standings is Corey Chambers who despite finishing behind Josh Cook in the Cup, beat Cook by 2 points overall. Cook claimed second for the series. Henry Spreng III competed in 10 races with a first place Cup finish to ride to the top in 140 points for the Junior Men's class. Cai Clothier finished a strong second in both the Dirt Cup and the series. The first Beginner to finish was Scott Haynes who rode one lap in 1:07:09.

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Special thanks to WVMBA, Jeff's Bike Shop, MOTOREX Oil of Switzerland, Rhodes Asset Management, Yesterday Delivery Service, Go-Mart, and bFat (/www.bikebfat.com), and all the volunteers who made this event possible.