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Show 18 Vernal Express Wednesday, August 9, 1995 Dina by Eric F. Pye Sports Writer Seldom docs an event come along which is special enough to make a person say, 'I could do a few more days of this,' especially if you were working ihc event. But that is exactly exact-ly what the Dinotrax Fat Tire Festival did last weekend up at Red Canyon Lodge in the Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area. With mountain bike and downhill racers from all over the west in attendance, at-tendance, and some of the most beautiful scenery along the myriad of trails in the area, it was difficult to find a reason for it all to end. 'This is almost an unbelievable area," one rider from Park City stated. stat-ed. "We have the mountains and forests, but not nearly as spectacular or serene. I went for a ride yesterday yester-day (Saturday) morning and never saw another rider the entire time. That seldom occurs in Park City, no matter what the time or place. I enjoyed en-joyed the experience very much." "I look forward to putting this event on," promoter and organizer Ron Lindley of Salamander Promotions said, "probably more than any other I am involved in. Some events become a grind, but this one is not like that. I actually have a little time to relax and enjoy myself. The area and people are just great Marc (Marc Wilson and Red Canyon Lodge) does a good job of hosung the event You couldn't ask for a belter atmosphere or surroundings surround-ings to 'work in." So went the statements from participants par-ticipants and spectators alike the entire en-tire weekend. The competitors were just as impressed as the common folk in the NORAD sponsored Cannondale Cup series event, the fifth race in the Utah State Championship Series. And why not? At a lime in our society so-ciety when mcga-cilics and urban sprawl are a common and accepted occurrence, the peace and beauty of the event were magnified 100 fold. Even during the intense challenge of the 27 mile cross country race and break-neck danger of the downhill, racers spoke of the incredible surroundings sur-roundings and beauty. Spectators used phrases like "poetry of motion" mo-tion" and "graceful maneuvers" to describe what they witnessed. And what they witnessed was a stunning test of man's physical and mental limits pushed to the outer edge. The festival actually got off to a quiet beginning, with mountain bike lours Friday. "We would like to see To really you have by Eric F. Pye Sports Writer Scanning the entry forms and race results Saturday and Sunday, I was amazed at the lack of local participation partici-pation in the just-completed Dinotrax Fat Tire Festival held at the Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area. There were people from 10 different differ-ent states including Rhode Island, Louisiana and Washington who had traveled thousands of miles to experience expe-rience the event, and how many traveled the 40 miles from Vernal? One! That's it! One individual from the 'host' town. Just stop and think about that for a minute. Here we had elite athletes from all over the western United States coming to our little 'neck of the woods' in northeastern Utah for a premier outdoor event and just one person from Vernal participated. As glaring a snub as that is, it unfortunately unfor-tunately fits the mold for the sport of mountain biking in general. You would think a sport which affords af-fords people the opportunity to get out in the wilderness and enjoy first hand the benefits of a peaceful and quiet excursion would flourish in popularity. Mountain bike outlets shouldn't be able to keep up with the demand, or so you would think. But that is exactly why there is such a catch 22 surrounding the sport. It is an activity based on individuality. An individual can hop on his or her bike, get a great workout and get off somewhere for a little soul searching in a matter of minutes. Away from the hustle and bustle of city life. Away from the kids 0raway from the parents! It is a sport which truly docs cater to the needs of each participant and Flaming Gorge-a winning) combination the tours grow," Lindley said, "ihcy offer something for the whole family fami-ly and really give people a chance to experience the area." Saturday morning, the cross country race was held with 167 men and women racers rac-ers ranging in age and experience from junior beginners lo master experts. ex-perts. The professionals were the first off the starting line around 9:30 a.m. with staggered starts for other categories following in approximately approxi-mately 15 minute increments. The proexpert course was a 27 mile test of will and courage. Even the best conditioned finishers were physically physical-ly and mentally drained after completing com-pleting the distance in just under two hours. "It's a challenging race to say the least. Technical in some areas and just flat physically grueling gruel-ing in others. I had nothing left by the end Great course!" Those words, by senior expert Jon Baker of Salt Lake City, who finished eighth out of 19 in his category, generally reflected ihe sentiments of most competitors. Except for the juniors and beginner begin-ner women, who raced twice around the Canyon Rim Loop (eight miles), all other competitors raced 15 miles over the Canyon Rim, and Swctt Ranch trails. The races were filled with equipment failure, crashes and wrecks all standard procedure for this type of event There was also plenty of adrenaline, thrills, encouragement encour-agement and satisfaction after completing com-pleting the race not to mention the . See Dinotrax page 19 'Si Kirstin Luff of Salt Lake City carries her bike through the treacherous treach-erous 'boulder corner' during the downhill race Sunday. understand it, to experience it E5 Which is basically why the sport has enjoyed tremendous growth in the past five years, but it has been a quiet growth. I mean, for the life of me, I can't think of one mountain bike or downhill rider's name who cuts spots for Gatorade, Reebok, Nike or Pepsi. The media exposure and recognition is just not there. The last mountain bike event I saw on television was the World Championships on ESPN II at 1 the morning! in Don't get me wrong. I'm not blaming the media. I can understand how tough it would be to film a world class mountain biker working out. Can you imagine a television crew trying to keep up with a guy peddling 20 miles an hour up a mountain? Or zig-zagging through a heavily wooded forest? It's just not cost prohibitive or safe! Think how much easier it must be to fly into the gym, grab a few shots of Michael hitting the 'J' from 25 feet out, and you're done. What other professional sport which places such rigorous demands de-mands on its compeutors and their equipment has those same competitors competi-tors camping out during the event? Can you imagine Michael Jordan camping out before a game wilh the 1 This rider caught more air than Knicks? Or John Elway cooking his pre-game meal over an open fire? I saw some of the professional and expert competitors doing both those things last weekend without any outward sign that things weren't status sta-tus quo. To expound on that point just a little lit-tle further, it was exactly what I had grown to expect. If even one of the contestants had driven up in some big RV, I think half of the other riders rid-ers would have dropped their pants on the spot! This is a sport where even the team sponsored riders understand the basic tenants of the sport and make no bones about the way things are. Last Sunday during the Downhill event on Ute Mountain, I happened to catch two sponsored riders walking their SJ.OOO plus bikes back up the mountain along the single track trail for their second runs because all of the shuttles had already left. Several times they both quickly slid off the trail as junior beginners zipped by, eyes bulging, pulse racing, sure their time would be close to the 'sponsored men' they had just past. Neither team rider rid-er expressed anger or disappointment, disappoint-ment, it just was the way it was, nothing more, nothing less. In five years of covering every type of athletic event thinkable, never have I met a breed of athlete quite as unique as those in mountain biking. Intensity? Danger? Emotional? Physical? Mental? All of that and so much more. Yet, when the race is over, you would never know who the pro was and who the beginner was. After all, everyone ev-eryone looks the same by the light of the moon . . . 5t - Jr ' intended traveling through the Triathlon by Eric F. Pye Sports Writer The 13th Annual Vernal Dinosaur Triathlon will take place Saturday, Aug. 12 beginning at 7 a.m. at Stcinaker State Park. The 1.5K swim (one mile) will begin and end at the main Stcinaker boat ramp where the 40K (25 mile) bike portion begins. Riders will head out 500 North, but not nearly as far (approximately six miles past the high school) before returning to the Steinaker boat ramp (which will be closed to non-triathlon participants partici-pants until 11 a.m.). The 10K (6.2 mile) run begins at the same staging v area and travels into the trails behind be-hind Stcinaker onto private ground AVMC offers Free Athletic Physicals AVMC (Ashley Valley Medical Center), in continuing their excellent excel-lent record of working in the community com-munity to assist area youth, will be offering free physicals to all interested inter-ested athletes for the upcoming 1995-'96 school year. The governing body of high school athletics in Utah (UHSAA) requires all incoming high school freshmen (male and female) to receive re-ceive a comprehensive physical examination ex-amination by a qualified physician before competing in any high school activities. "We would like to strongly encourage en-courage anyone who is going to participate in any activity whether it be fall, winter or spring sport to take advantage of this offer," Athletic Director Rob DeCol said. The free physicals will take place Thursday, Aug. 10 at 6 p.m. in rooms 104 and 105 in the Northeast wing of the hospital. Dr. Fallon, Hughes, Brietenbach and Allen will donate their time along with Nurse Practitioner Eileen Scaringi. Summer Classic Doubles Horseshoe event The Uintah Recreation Association in conjunction with Imperial Auto and Esquire RV will host the "Summer Classic" Doubles Horseshoe Tournament on Saturday evening, Aug. 19 at the city horseshoe horse-shoe pits located next to the Colton Pavilion. Registration for the tournament will begin at 5 p.m. with the tournament tourna-ment beginning at 6 p.m. Cost for the event will be $10 per team wilh prizes being awarded to the top teams. For more information please contact the recreation office at 781-5486. "T1 ' n $ fit Photo by Eric Pye 'triple jumps' during the Dinotrax Downhill held on Ute Mountain. begins Saturday (Doc Allen's) before returning to ihc Stcinaker Park entry gate for the finish. "We planned on staging everything every-thing from the beach parking lot but decided last Thursday that the gravel grav-el on the asphalt would make running run-ning (swimmers) and biking difficult. diffi-cult. Plus the uphill heading into the 2nd Annual Vernal Junior Golf Classic by Eric F. Pye Sports Writer The 2nd Annual Vernal Junior Golf Classic was held last Tuesday, Aug. 1 at the Dinaland Golf Course with a total of 115 junior (90 local and 25 out of town) players participating. partici-pating. Junior players from three different states (Utah, Colorado and Wyoming) competed in age and gender divisions ranging from three years of age up to 17 years old. Included in the Classic were drawinggive draw-inggive aways, trophies for the top three in each division, a free luncheon lun-cheon banquet donated by the Naples Watcrslidc, and a waterslide party after the tournament. "We try to schedule a full day of activities for the kids to make the event a little more special," tournament tourna-ment organizer Nanette McCurdy said. McCurdy, along wilh co-organizer LeAnn Martin were kept hopping hop-ping during the event, but the re c Three year old Stratton Shultz 22 on the 18th green as father .parking lot would have been difficult diffi-cult for the runners returning, so we changed it back to the boat ramp," event chairperson Marty Fallon said. The post-race food and awards will be served and awarded at the main beach pavilion as originally See Triathlon page 21 ward of witnessing the joy and fun ihc kids had was more than fair compensauon. "It was great to see little kids barely big enough to walk, out trying try-ing to knock the ball around," event volunteer Jim Abegglen said, "some of them had air-filled clubs and others oth-ers were using clubs barely over a foot long. The best part was, all of them had big smiles on their faces and seemed to be having lots of fun." In the girls six and under division (3 holes), Kelsi Robb took first, Bailee Ainsworth second and Mindy Martin third. Ryan Huitt won the boys six and under while Zack Hilkey finished second and Chase Rollins third. In the five-hole seven and eight age group girls, Sara Johnson placed first, Amanda McCurdy second sec-ond and Rachel Simper third. Kris Huitt won the boys side wilh See Junior page 20 finishes off his three hole round of Lee tends the flag for his son. |