Winter Short Track 1-13-2013

What an amazing day for a WINTER short track race where temperatures reached seventy degrees. You really could not ask for a better day. The racing was fast, fun, and dramatic. There were many great battles and I am here to tell you about all of them.

Katie Wilson had a spectacular race in the Beginner Womens class. This was her first mountain bike race but you would never know it. After the first couple of laps the race was decided as she sped away from the field and proceeded to run down the sport women class that started before her. Although this causes a race to not be very interesting no one is complaining that Katie won and nabbed some valuable points for the team.

The next big race for the Velo 16 BSG was the beginner men 40+. This race was also the best race of the day due to the fact that both Terry Rudisill and his younger brother Shawn Rudisill were both on the line for this race as well as the infamous Stamey. This was definitely the race to see and the battle of the brothers will be remembered. Shawn has been riding the course as much as he can in an attempt topple his brothers dominance. Terry on the other hand has been training on the road and was relying on his brute strength to propel him to victory. When the gate was dropped Michael Stamey was the first off the line and in his usual fashion, he jumped the curb-stop before going into the woods and nearly hitting a tree. Terry
was hot on his wheel that first lap which gave him a decent lead on his brother. Shawn was farther down the pack on this first few laps and had a good fight ahead of him if he wanted to beat Terry. Mike continued to expand his lead until it was well over a minute. You could always tell when he was fixing to roll through because of his incapacity to stop talking. If you try and cheer for him he will undoubtedly cheer back. The race winner was decided early on but the race to watch was still the battle between Terry and Shawn. After a few laps there was but one person between Shawn and his brother; you could see the determination in his eyes. Shawn finally latched onto Terry's wheel and the fun began. Both of them were evenly matched but Terry sat on the front a few laps too many. Shawn saw his opportunity on the gravel road and decided it was time. He launched around his brother and held his attack all the way until the end of the race. Shawn ended up fourth place and Terry got sixth. We can not forget about the awesome ride from Stamey who had first place in his pocket from the start.


















Dan Robbins decided to double dip on Sunday and raced the Masters men as well as the Clydesdale category. His first race of the day did not start out too well as his front tire received a puncture. He ran back to the pits in time to grab a new wheel and hit the course full gas. He worked his way through the pack very nicely and even with his mishap he received tenth place. Dan then proceeded to race in the Clydesdale category where he gained a respectable eighth place.

The final race of the day saw Sean Zurek racing in the super sport category while Keith Isenberg and Cameron Moss tried their hand at the Elite class. The three of them decided to warm up on the trails surrounding the short track course which turned out to be an erroneous decision. As they were pedaling along minding their own business, a devilish root lie in wait to cause problems for the riders. Keith was leading when the root made its move. The slick piece of wood reached out and grabbed hold of his wheel as he rode by. The malevolent object proceeded to launch Keith from his machine in one direction as his bike went in the opposite. The ground saw this happening and being the uncompassionate plot of earth it is decided to join in. He hit the ground hard as Sean and Cameron looked on in amazement. After the incident had concluded the three of them assessed the damage to only find a few scrapes on Keith and a bent derailleur hanger for the bike. They quickly arrived back at the BSG tent where Mark Born was fixing his own bike to Keith's preferred specifications.

 The race was off to a very quick start as the Elite field is known to do. Cameron and Keith stayed together until about lap four where Keith suddenly dropped back. Unbeknown to him he had actually hurt his middle finger and it was rapidly swelling. He had to drop out of the race to tend to his wound that already looked like a sausage by this point. Sean Zurek had a relatively good start in the super sport class and was in the front half going in to the woods. He continued to move through the pack until he reached third place. He fought hard for his position and in the end came out victorious and landed a well deserved podium position. Cameron on the other hand crapped the proverbial bed and wound up 17th in the elite category.

It is safe to say that the first day of the winter short track series was an eventful one but it was a blast. We definitely want to thank everyone who came out to support the team and give encouragement to our racers when they were hurting the most. We had  an awesome turnout and want to thank everyone who raced!





Velo 16-BSG Results

Juniors 13 & Under

12   Riley Dellinger
13   Kaiser Kayton

XC 1/Expert Men

17  Cameron Moss
19  Keith Isenberg

XC2/Super Sport Men

3  Sean Zurek

XC2/Sport Men 19 - 39

12   Adam Jenkins

XC2/Sport Men 40+

14  Mark Born

XC 2/3 Clydesdale

8    Dan Robbins
18  Nick Tadlock

XC 2/3 Masters Men 50+

10   Dan Robbins
13   John Cloninger
14   Barry Shearin

XC3 Beginner Men 30 - 39

14   Michael Eastwood

XC3 Beginner Men 40+

1    Michael Stamey
4    Shawn Rudisill
6    Terry Rudisill
26  Dariel Dellinger

XC3 Beginner Women

1 Katie Wilson