Dirt Sweat & Gears - NE

Fayetteville, Tennessee, USA, May 3, 2008

2007 Results Results MBNC Ultraendurance Standings

Juarez and Sawicki win Dirt Sweat & Gears

By Ron Sawicki and Clay Higgins in Fayetteville, Tennessee

Pua Sawicki
Photo ©: Some Bloke

The third round of the USA Cycling National Ultra Endurance Mountain Bike Calendar drew some of the most talented male and female competition for the second consecutive year to Fayetteville, Tennessee, for the Dirt Sweat & Gears 12 hour race.

The weather forecast called for rain the night before and continuing into the morning and that is exactly what the racers experienced. As soon as they hit the singletrack into the woods, the mud-fest began. Bikes clogged up, derailleurs and chains broke for many during the first 20 minutes of what would prove to be a very long 10.6 mile lap for most.

Tinker Juarez (Monavie / Cannondale) won the men's race with 11 laps. Brandon Draugelis (SoBe / Cannondale) finished second with the same number of laps while Josh Tostado (Giant) completed 10 laps for third place. In the women's race, Pua Sawicki (Mata / Ellsworth) defeated Rebecca Rusch (Specialized / Red Bull) for the win although both racers had nine laps. Carey Lowery (The Outdoor Store) finished in third with eight laps. Dejay Birtch won the men's singlespeed elite race ahead of John Mylne and Greg Martin.

Tinker Juarez
Photo ©: Some Bloke

Juarez only brought one bike and it was a hardtail. Before the race, he thought this might not be a wise choice due to the rocky and bumpy course, but it would ultimately pay off given the muddy conditions. While others were messing with there bikes in the mud during the race, Juarez was way out front and able to keep pedaling.

Juarez kept himself out front and held on to his lead until the end. Draugelis was just six minutes back while Tostado made an impressive comeback after mechanicals and a huge deficit to round out the top three.

2007 Dirt Sweat & Gears Champion Nat Ross (Subaru / Gary Fisher) suffered a bad day at the office with no less than three mechanicals on the first lap. Flats, broken chains and shredded derailluers were the overriding issues plaguing the day.

Brandon Draugelis
Photo ©: Some Bloke

Singlespeed racers such as Dejay Birch and John "Fuzzy" Mylne (both ShoAir) also had an advantage over the geared racers - they finished first and second in the singlespeed category. Idaho's own Greg Martin (Sawtooth Velo) took third among the singlespeeders.

Sawicki opted for the suspension as most did and she also got caught in the muck, with stops required to remove the mud just to keep on pedaling. After the first lap she switched onto her hard-tail and she was able to move at a steady pace again.

The women's winner rode strongly to increase her lead over the second placed Rusch, who was about 19 minutes back after six hours. After the halfway point, Sawicki settled in for the next five hours on her way to the win. Rusch finished 16 minutes later on the same lap with Lowery one lap back.

Race organizers announced a significant increase in race registrations with about 300 riders competing. Promoter Clay Higgins is expecting to have to cap registration next year for the popular event.

Photography

For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here

Images by DS&G / www.dirtsweatandgears.com

Results

Elite solo men

1 Tinker Juarez                         11 laps
2 Brandon Draugelis                     11
3 Josh Tostado                          10
4 Nat Ross                              10
5 Mark Hendershot                        9
6 Ernesto Marenchin                      9
7 Dave Norton                            9
8 Yuri Hauswald                          8
9 Douglas Smith                          8
10 Lee Unwin                             8
11 Chris Janiszewski                     6
12 Chris Baker                           3
13 Taylor Sullivan                       3

Elite solo women

1 Pua Sawicki                            9 laps
2 Rebecca Rusch                          9
3 Carey Lowery                           8
4 Rebecca Tomawicki                      7
5 Sandra Tomlinson                       6
6 Janis Sandlin                          6

Elite duo men

1 Harpeth Bicycles/ Reliant Bank        12 laps
2 Kobold Watch Company/Cannondale       11
3 Union College/mtbracenews.com         11
4 Spin/Soulcraft                         9
5 Tim Carson & Sally Marchand Collins    9

Singlespeed solo elite men

1 Dejay Birtch                          10 laps
2 John Mylne                             9
3 Greg Martin                            9
4 Dave Holmes                            9
5 Jake Kirkpatrick                       8
6 Chip Meek                              5
7 Jamie Pillsbury                        5
8 Sean Reeder                            1
 
Four person amateur

1 KnoxVelo/Dirt Digglers                11 laps
2 Dement/Chambers/Giles                 11
3 Smitty's Cyclery                      10
4 Smitty's Cyclery 2                     9
5 2 Corn Cobs and a Cheeseburger         9
6 Team Lungless                          9
7 The Good,Bad,Broke, and Ugly           9
8 Wheels Of Unfortune                    9
9 4 men no team                          9
10 Back For The Raffle                   8
11 Not Gonna Win                         8
12 Ride4Reading v1.0                     8
13 Everything But the Squeal             8
14 Luv Handles                           7
15 The R.O.U.S.                          7
16 Benkwith/Bonner/Combs/Rogers          7
17 Rejects                               7
18 team beerus                           7
19 Team Real Sore Rears                  7
20 Muddy Sisters                         6
21 2ndtimearound                         6
22 Cannondale Midwest Racing             5
23 Loadhogs                              5
24 ACE                                   5
25 The Nerd Hurd                         4
 
Duo amateur

1 Skillet & Borolegs                    10 laps
2 Retrotec                               9
3 Team Long John                         9
4 Steiner/McKeegan                       9
5 Pirtle/Gennari                         9
6 Faster Mustache: Brobots               9
7 Bear Wheels Defeated Creek             9
8 Biker's Choice                         8
9 Starbrite                              8
10 COD4                                  8
11 Princeton Tec                         7
12 Spoken' Jokers                        7
13 Pain Train                            7
14 Faster Mustache: Yallbros             7
15 Cumberland Transit                    6
16 Old Kentucky                          6
17 The Next Level                        5
18 Whiskey Teets                         5
19 Team NMB.com                          4
20 Singlespeed Productions               3
 
Four person singlespeed

1 Team Wood-N-Wave SS                    9 laps
2 Single Speed Hellbillies               9
 
Here for the Beer

1 Stanky Cowboys                         9 laps
2 Team NMB                               8
3 BUMP                                   8
4 Da Cul-De-Sac                          7
5 Uphill w/o A Pedal                     5
 
Solo amateur men

1 Jeremy Chandler                        8 laps
2 Tom Spence                             7
3 John Carr                              7
4 Brian Schaefer                         7
5 Christopher Stark                      7
6 Eddie Whittemore                       6
7 Steve Swindall                         6
8 Tim Yuska                              6
9 Dan Hall                               6
10 Kevin Conerly                         6
11 Christopher Pesce                     6
12 Joseph Jefferson                      6
13 Jarret Kinder                         5
14 Steven Meyers                         5
15 Thad Hoffman                          5
16 Darren Earle                          5
17 Chris Davis                           5
18 Calvin Hill                           4
19 T J Gaines                            4
20 Chris Hartsfield                      4
21 Randy Coddington                      4
22 Tom McGill                            4
23 John Eighmey                          4
24 Brad Oakley                           4
25 george powell                         3
26 Christopher Michels                   3
27 Derek Sipe                            3
28 Charles Barnes                        3
29 Gary Lane                             3
30 Ryan Edwards                          3
31 Ray Beckmen                           3
32 Rick Kimmel                           2
33 Eric Brown                            2
34 Judy Wallace                          2
35 Tommy Reagh                           1
36 Cody Hilker                            
37 Brian Geringer                         
38 Al Smith                               
39 Shannon Smylie                         
DNF Robert Alt                            
 
Co-ed two person amateur

1 Union College                          8 laps
2 Pace-N-Grace                           8
3 Jamison/Chandler                       7
4 Kolenbrander & Cavaliere               6
5 Kicklighters                           6
6 The Unknown Hinsons                    2
7 Bolesky/Hollis                         2
8 Nugglers                               1
 
Singlespeed solo amateur men

1 Scott McConnell                        7 laps
2 Francis Bach                           7
3 Rich Szecsy                            6
4 Jeff Scott                             5
5 Andrew Ingram                          5
6 Michael Neumeyer                       4
7 Jason Glover                           4
8 Morisson Cabonilas                     4
9 Joseph Queen                           3
10 Chris Ivory                           3
11 Hardwick Gregg                         
 
Solo amateur women

1 Rita Jett                              7 laps
2 Heidi Shilling                         7
3 Susan Williams                         6
4 Sheryl Turse                           1
5 Cricket Butler                          
6 Carol Clemens                           

Mountain Bike National Calendar Ultra endurance standings after three events

Men

1 Harvey Minton            60 pts
2 Jason Sager              60
3 Nat Ross                 41
4 Brandon Draugelis        40
5 David Wood               40
6 Evan Plews               40
7 Bryan Fawley             30
8 Joshua Tostado           30
9 Robert Lichtenwalner     30
10 Chris Janiszewski       28
11 David Hall              25
12 Michael Mccalla         25
13 Ernesto Marenchin       18
14 Jed Schober             18
15 Raymond Hall            18
16 Dave Norton             16
17 Douglas Smith           14
18 Nathan Winkelmann       14
19 Yuri Hauswald           14
20 Loren Dodson            12
21 Lee Unwin               10
22 Scott Henry             10
23 Kevin Hofmann            8
24 Matt Gordon              8
25 David (Shawn) Adams      6
26 William Sullivan         6
27 Mitchell Comardo         4
28 Andy Lee                 2
29 Matthew Davis            1
 
Women

1 Carol Clemens            60 pts
2 Christina Smith          60
3 Pua Sawicki              60
4 Jennifer Wilson          40
5 Rebecca Rusch            40
6 Rita Borelli             40
7 Alice Pennington         30
8 Carey Lowery             30
9 Kim Jennings             25
10 Karen Minor             20
11 Leslie Reuter           20
12 Sandra Tomlinson        20
13 Janis Sandlin           18
14 Jennifer Turner         18