Sunday, October 11, 1998 -- Moundsville
Grand Vue Park Fall Mountain Bike Challenge

[Coverage/Recap w/Pics] [Pictures Set 1] [Pictures Set 2] [Results]

Karen Jones enjoys the beauty of Grand Vue

You couldn't ask for nicer weather, or a grander fall view of West Virginia, than everyone had at the Grand Vue Park Fall MTB Challenge. The sun was shining and a cool breeze set the scene for Sunday's race through Grand Vue Park. The race course consisted of mostly narrow single track through the well groomed park on a 5 mile circuit (2.5 Miles for Youths 10-15) that ended with a steep grueling climb to the finish. The race distance was increased with multiple laps based on your skill level with Experts doing the most, at 4 laps. Everything got underway at around 1:00 p.m. with ideal conditions.

Daniel Ondrick fought tooth-and-nail to win his first MTB race

The Youth division left the start first and, unlike the other classes, began with a fast downhill. Daniel Ondrick blasted down this first hill at break-necks speeds as he gave it 110% the whole way. Even a flat tire couldn't slow him down as he removed the tire and continued to the finish on the front rim. With determination like this, the future mountain biking generation looks to be in good shape. Soon after the Youth race got started, the other races began a staggered start with the Experts first, then Sports, then the Veteran, Beginner and Novice classes.

Scott Glegg wins the Sport division at the race with a vue

In the adult divisions the single lap (5 mile) racers completed their races with Karen Jones and Eric Lovell winning the Women's and Men's Novice divisions, respectively. In the Beginner class (2 laps, 10 miles) Becca Starbeck and Stuart Stickel won in the Women's and Men's groups, respectively. Doing three laps (15 miles), the Veteran winner was Roy Gryskevich and the Sport winner was Scott Clegg. Finally, the Expert group (4 laps, 20 miles) saw Justin Skarbek take the honors.