Sunday, August 25, 2002 -- Holly River State Park - Hacker Valley, WV
Holly River Revenge - WVMBA Pts. #12 (iPO Event Id#: 4797)
Story by Don Parks with photos by Heather Bury, Diann Clothier, and Lyndon Saylor

[Details] [Coverage]
[Overall Results] [Results by Class]
Pictures: [Set 1] [Set 2] [Set 3] [Set 4] [Set 5] [Set 6] [Set 7] [Set 8] [Set 9]
Past Race Coverage: [1999] [2000] [2001]

Laughing in the face of the Holly River Revenge

The WVMBA series just keeps rolling on as perfect weather arrived just in time for the Holly River Revenge. With the crew from Fat Tire Cycle running the show, you knew the race would be run well, too.

The course was slightly modified from previous years, but you certainly can't complain about the riding at Holly River State park and the hospitality of the folks in Hacker Valley. With the Kids' race going off at 10:00am, come noontime all the big kids were ready to go.

Stealing the show in 2001 was Jeremiah Bishop, but he was a no-show this year. That left plenty of room for Clay Evans, Benjie Klimas and TJ Platt to take over the champion of Holly River honors.

Ready to fly through Hacker Valley

These three riders finished second through fourth, respectfully, in 2001. Furthermore, the WVMBA Point Series standings have Platt, Evans and Klimas in the top three Men's Expert spots, respectively.

Making the racing even more exciting was the arrival of top local expert riders Nick Waite and Ryan O'Connor. It was a top notch field and in less than two hours, only one could claim first place.

The first casualty in the ranks was Klimas, who won the race in 2000. A broken derailleur sent him home for the day with no series points to help add to his 118 points and third place series position. His closest points rival, Jonathan Martin (1:53:02), finished the day fifth overall and is now just three points back in fourth with 115 points.

Time to settle the score for 2002

The racing was close and without the misfortune of blown tires, as was the case for him last year, Platt continued his strong bid toward the series championship by pulling away in the end for another big win at 1:46:27.

A second place finish for Evans would have kept him within 2-points of the series leader, but O'Connor was there to play spoiler. The WV/Go-Mart rider is usually found racing on the road, but he showed once again that he's no slouch in the dirt. He finishing second with a time of 1:48:27, followed by Evans at 1:49:11 and Waite at 1:51:39 for fourth. Evans now sits three points back in the standings with three races to go.

In the women's expert field Sarah Crandall-Fletcher resumed her winning ways by taking the win at 2:23:56. It was no surprise to see Fat Tire Cycle's own Mandi Riddle (2:27:25) rolling in for second. The third overall female came from the Sport ranks as Kristen Dieffenbach rode a great race to finish at 2:33:12.

When the going gets touch, it's time for a smile

Racing a shorter course were the novice classes, but Wesley Haynes (1:00:16) showed that he'll soon be ready to race with the big dogs. He took the Men's Junior Under 14 win and was first overall on the "short loop".

Tops in the Men's Beginner field where John David Lowe (1:03:58) and Charles Lucas (1:06:58) who finished second and third overall, respectively.

We'd also like to give a big shout-out to the the Women's beginners. Lisa Karcher (1:26:22) finished first followed by Elaine Raesly (1:29:16) for second. You go girls!

After all the racing it was time for the awards. But what really keeps everyone coming back is the now infamous catered pasta buffet that makes the after race party a real treat. No matter how you finish, going back for seconds always brings a smile to your face.