Interviews

1st Place
Pro Men
David Duvall
Trek East Coast

1st Place
Pro Women
Caitlyn Tuel
Trek East Coast

1st Place
Expert Master 45+
Stewart Crouch

3rd Place
SingleSpeed
Marc Vettori
Spot Brand

1st Place
Sport Senior 2
Peter Bruinsma
Cycle Fit

1st Place
Sport Vet 2
Don Pagano
Yellow Breeches Racing

1st Place
Beg Master 1
Bill Ringler
Fabulous Furry Freaks

The Iron Hill Challenge - Race #4 of the Classic Series presented by TREK almost didn't happen. The rain was so intense the morning of the race that the promoters, First State Velo Sport were inches away from canceling the event. Since it was a "rain or shine" event they decided to delay the start of the beginner race  (which unfortunately caused an hour delay in all other starts) instead of pulling the plug altogether. It was a great call under tough circumstances as it took about 45 minutes for the rain to subside from torrential downpour to a more reasonable "normal" rain.

What's amazing is that a little over 200 racers showed up to race knowing that it would be a mud fest. The course is clay with rocky support so the trails were not damaged by the extreme water. The mud however made the racing three times as hard as normal as at some points in the Beginner and Sport race courses, if you didn't have disc brakes your wheels may have stopped turning due to mud build up between the brake pads and rims.

Paul Incognito, Brent Biddle, Andrew Hogg, Sky Marsh and the whole of the FSVS hard working crew did a phenomenal job under poor conditions making everything run smoothly for the Iron Hill Challenge 2004. The results were posted on their website almost immediately after the race......... no small feat since almost all of the beginner number plates were missing as they came across the finish line, and many sport racers were missing plates as well. Andrew Hogg oversaw the results operation at the race and did a wonderful job with the help of his crew. Hat's off to this team! Registration and awards went smoothly thanks to the racer friendly FSVS volunteers under the pavilion.

It was a good feeling emanating from everyone as the day progressed with an upbeat carnival atmosphere in the air. There were ample facilities, a food vendor and everything was very well run. The infamous "mega-dip" which is a trademark of Iron Hill had to be taken out of the course due to the extreme conditions......... a shorter course was marked out for the Beginner and Sport race than originally planned however due to the tough mud it had to feel much longer than normal. The Expert course was re-routed to avoid the mud and was actually much easier (except for the dangerous terrain) than the Beginner and Sport courses. The racers who came out and raced in these conditions are the ones that this website is made for............. hardcore moutainbike racers that never say die.

Beginner Race

1st Place Beginner Women Overall and 34 &under was again, Andrea Walheim. She overpowered her competition in the 34 &under by a whopping 13 minutes at 1:08:15. Hattie Warwick-Smith improved her series ranking finishing second holding off the 34 &under series leader - Shannon McCulloch - Yellow Breeches Racing by less than a minute who finished in third.

1st Place Beginner Women 35+ and second Overall was Barbara Schultz - Action Wheels who finished a little over two minutes behind the 34 &under Andrea Walheim at 1:10:31. Barbara is 35+ series leader and looks to have the championship wrapped up even if she misses the last race. She has consistently taken first place since Granogue and has raced well all season. Second place Women 35+ was Lisa Walden finishing up at 1:32:16. We respect all of the Beginner Women for braving the extreme conditions.

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