The East Coasters Virginia State Championship Mountain Bike Series, Race #1, The Dragon’s Back, April 20, 1997, Catawba, Virginia

By Kyle S. Inman, All Rights Reserved

April, 1997

            A 3-man juggernaut from Harrisonburg demonstrated on this sunny Jefferson National Forest Sunday where the balance of pro-expert power resides in the commonwealth of Virginia.

            Looking to repeat his role of 1995 as the man-to-beat, defending Virginia state champion Chris Scott (Trek) blazed the new Dragon’s Back one lap course in the remarkable time of 1:58:47 to take stage 1 of the East Coasters Virginia Championship Mountain Bike Series.

            In his role as dragon slayer, Scott had to hold off would-be Lancelot and 1995 state sport champion Michael Carpenter (Gary Fisher), who turned up the heat to finish just 20 seconds back. Teammate Thomas Jenkins rounded out the H-burg sweep for the bronze at 2:06.

            Dry conditions provided a dusty start, creating visibility problems on the rolling 2 mile forest road roll-up to the first singletrack. Once the dust cleared, Mark Smith (East Coasters) of Blacksburg was the leader, charging up the 2 mile, 1500 foot vertical Grouse Trail ascent to the ridge. With a 30 second lead established, the ridge proved disastrous for Smith, as his knee collided with one of this trail’s most prominent features: embedded rock. The deep gash was enough to end Smith’s race and provide ample room for Scott, Carpenter, and Jenkins to work.

            With the narrow, rock-garden infested ridge trail behind, the switchback-laden Turkey Trail dropped the leaders quickly 1600 feet (1 mile) back onto the forest service road for a quick two-mile sprint to the line, where Scott held off Carpenter’s advances.

            If this race is a litmus for the champion’s mantle, North Carolina-transplant-now-Roanoke-resident Julie Taylor appears to be a virtual  shoe-in, dominating solo for 2 hours, 28 minutes. Susan Hoskins of Bluefield, West Virginia rode ahead of the pack, snagging 2^nd at 22 minutes behind.

            In the meantime, by the next race (Rocky Mount’s Rebel Ramble, May 24-25) men’s pro/expert field had better figure out a way to break a Harrisonburg hammerlock on podium positions.

Pro/expert men 

1)     Chris Scott (Trek)  1:58

2)     Michael Carpenter 1:59

3)     Thomas Jenkins 2:06

4)     Daniel Miller 2:06

5)     Todd Reighly 2:07

Pro/expert women

1)     Julie Taylor 2:28

2)     Susan Hoskins 2:52

3)     Karen Amanna 2:54

4)     Lora Zimmerman 2:54

5)     Sheila Eaheart 3:18