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Brown & Smith win first event on USAC-MTB National Calendar
Mas O Menos 100K, Terlingua, Texas, Feb 17, 2007
Full results at http://tmbra.org/results/marathon_07/terlingua/tresults.htm
Under blue desert skies and a brisk wind, the town of Terlingua, TX welcomed 420 racers for the opening race of the USAC MTB National Endurance Calendar, the opening race of the Billy Kurtz State Farm Texas Mountain Bike State Championship XC Series and the third stop of the Hill Country Bicycle Works Texas Mountain Bike State Championship Marathon Series.
The course was two laps of an epic 32 mile loop, with the famed Tres Cuevas climb at mile 23 (http://desertsportstx.com/m6/galleries/the%20course/tresc.html), remembered by many from the famed Chihuahuan Desert Challenge, a NORBA classic. The same promoters of that stellar event have created the Mas O Menos 100K, a marathon event now in its 4th year. The festival includes fun rides and kids event but the highlight is the marathon event which this year attracted some of the big guns down in support of USAC’s new National Calendar.
Out of state pros making the trek down to the desert to join the Texas fast guys were Travis Brown (Trek/FRS, Durango, CO), Nat Ross (Subaru-Gary Fisher, Golden, CO), Evan Plews (Capitol Subaru/ Scott USA, Dallas, OR) and Yuri Hauswald (Marin Bikes.com, Petaluma, CA). The Texas boys weren’t intimidated by the threat and the Men’s Open field took off from the gun ready to race. A small group formed at the front made up of Brown, Ross, Plews, Christian Helmig (Mad Duck, Irving, TX), Bryan Fawley (Wheels in Motion/ Giant, Robinson, TX) and Scott Henry (Trek/ VW, Texas). Fawley kept the pressure on, “crazy surging” as Ross said, breaking the whole thing apart and really making it a race. At the base of Tres Cuevas for the first lap, all six men were together but Plews attacked and got about 50 seconds on the climb. Brown and Ross didn’t think he’d stay away as it was windy and cold on the ridge dampening the spirit for a breakaway. Plews apparently wasn’t listening to that logic and by the end of the screaming downhill to the finish at the start of the second lap, Plews had about 2 minutes on Ross and Brown with Fawley, Henry and Helmig just back behind them. Ross and Brown were on a mission to shut it down and came upon Plews with a gashed tire on the side of the trail. Through the desert singletrack to the base of the climb for the second time and it was Brown with the attack. Fawley almost closed the gap but dropped back and then Helmig went for Brown’s wheel. With those two out in front, Fawley and Ross were battling for third, Ross dropping his chain three times and Fawley finally popping allowing Ross to settle into third. Plews had a successful and quick tire fix and crossed in fourth with Henry and Fawley rounding out the top five.
In the women’s race, local pro and last year’s winner, Christina Smith (Team Ortho/ Sage Cycles, Denton, TX) took off from the gun setting a blistering pace that no one could match. A back and forth battle ensued for second place between teammates Leslie Reuter (Austin Flyers/ Bicycle Sport Shop, Austin, TX) and Shontell Gauthier (Austin Flyers/ Bicycle Sport Shop, Austin, TX). Reuter was the stronger of the two by the end and crossed the line in second followed a minute back by Gauthier.
All the out of state racers came down to Terlingua chasing points for the 2007 USAC National Endurance Calendar. They expressed their support for the new format and look forward to more races on the calendar in the coming years.
For information about the event: Mike Long, Desert Sports, 888-989-6900, info@desertsportstx.com, or www.tmbra.org.
This Article Published 2007-02-20 06:28:11
For more information contact: luskelli@charter.net
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