The rough riders: About 100 cyclists compete in Cape Mountain Bike Challenge

About 100 cyclists

Southeast Missourian

The eight-year mountain bike racing silence in Southeast Missouri was broken on Sunday as about 100 bikers participated in Cyclewerx's inaugural Cape Mountain Bike Challenge.

The turnout at the event, which took place at the corner of Lexington and Old Sprigg at the Delaware Park Trail, was mediocre for a mountain bike race, but directors Dustin Gross and John Dodd were content with the smaller crowd.

"For the first race, this has actually been really good," Gross said during the competition.

"We've gotten a lot of positive feedback," added Dodd. "The first time, you just want to get it under your belt and hope it goes smooth. I think the rain all around this area probably scared some people away."

In the end, it was 26-year-old Chris Ploch of DRJ Racing in St. Louis who claimed the overall title in the men's expert class. Ploch finished the 20-mile race in 1 hour, 42 minutes, 33 seconds.

Cyclewerx's Brad Brown was the highest local finisher in the expert class, placing second in the 35-and-older division at 1:49.51.

"It's quite a hard course because of the climbs and tight turns," Brown said of the 3.7-mile trail that Gross and Dodd created last summer. "And the heat and humidity made it even harder today.

"It's a really nice course. It's a great venue for spectators because it's a multi-lap course and you can sit in one spot."

Matt Pobst of Cyclewerx placed second in the 19-34 sport division in 1:16.0, and Cyclewerx's Andy Walker was third in the 35-and-older sport division at 1:20.17.

The event was the part of the National Off-Road Bike Association series and featured four classes, including first-timers, beginners, sports and experts. It marked the first local mountain bike race since 1997.

Cyclewerx is hopeful about the race becoming an annual event, and Gross said a larger turnout is expected next year as a result of more advertising and word of mouth.

"Mountain bike racing is pretty small," he said, "so people will talk about it. Hopefully next year we'll do some better marketing and get it posted on more Web sites so more people will be aware of it."

Expert

19-34 -- 1. Chris Ploch, DRJ Racing, 1:42.33; 2. Bob Arnold, DRJ, 1:58.25

35-over -- 1. Tim Kakounis, Big Shark, 1:48.57; 2. Brad Brown, Cyclewerx, 1:49.51; 3. Paul Krewet, DRJ, 1:55.21

Sport

19-34 -- 1. Grant Bemont, DRJ, 1:13.22; 2. Matt Pobst, Cyclewerx, 1:16.00; 3. Wesley Biermann, DRJ, 1:19.56

35-over -- 1. Chad Brixey, Cycles Unlimited, 1:19.16; 2. Kelly Bryson, Gear Head, 1:19.55; 3. Andy Walker, Cyclewerx, 1:20.17

Beginners

19-29 -- 1. Sean Wibbenmeyer; 2. Bart Wolczyk

30-39 -- 1. Andrew Short; 2. Alan Kloss; 3. Keith Hente

40-over -- 2. Mark Hasheider