June 28/99 1:05 am - O-Cup #3 Story

Posted by Editor on 06/28/99
 

Sport Swap Ontario Cup - Mansfield, June 26/27

The 3rd round of the Ontario Cup Series was an example of extremes. Extreme sun and heat on Saturday, and extreme rain on Sunday. Despite the conditions, the racing was excellent, with large fields for both the downhill and the cross country.

Under incredibly brilliant skies, the field of 125 downhillers were treated to a new course with many more technical sections than have been presented at the Mansfield Ski Club before. The fastest of the fast was Doug Beattie (Kona Factory Team ) who
smoked the course in 1:15. Doug's closest competition was Mark Wells (OGC/K2/Freewheel), who came in at 1:17. In the women's competition, Lalena Desautels (Ellsworth/Java Racing) was the victor with a time of 1:28. Second place winner was Cecile Gambin (Schwinn Toyota) with a time of 1:29.

What a difference the next morning. Sunscreen and sunglasses were replaced by umbrellas and raincoats by noon. It's very fortunate that the fine trails of the Mansfield Outdoor Centre are able to tolerate rain better than any other facility in the province. The racing remained fast and hard. To make things interesting for the men, a $100 prime was offered by W.O.W. for the leader at the end of the first lap. This produced a hard charging pack up the climb at the start. The winner of the prime by a bike length was Julian Hine (Schwinn Toyota) over Paul Spadaccini (Oryx Procycle). Despite the hard effort on the first lap, these two recovered quickly and built a good lead over the rest of the field. By Lap 3, Spadaccini had pulled away from Hine and had built a lead of 2 minutes by lap 4. He put the hammer down on the final lap and gained another 2 minutes to finish with a fine time of 2:20:13. This was Spadaccini's third straight victory at Mansfield. "I don't know what it is about this place, but I always seem to be at my best. Everything just fell into place for me". Although fading a little in the last lap, Hine held off a hard charging Osmond Bakker (OGC/Gary Fisher) to finish at 2:20:13 to Bakker's 2:25:49.

The women's competition was another two person battle. Leslie Greene (Ford Devinci) and Susan Trimble (Gears Racing) fought it out for the entire race. The winning move was on the last lap, with Greene pulling away to get the win with a time of 2:15:03. Trimble came across a minute back at 2:16:01. Rounding out the top three was Jennifer Brown (Trek) with a time of 2:20:44.

Other highlights of the day were the draw prize of the Ford/Devinici Team Replica bike to lucky racer in the 9am beginners race. This generous prize was offered by Ford/Devinci to help give new racers a bit of an equipment edge in their next race. The lucky winner was Minime racer Michael Barylski. Michael was leaning on the stage when the announcement was made. His name was called out twice before he realized that he was in fact the winner. Congratulations Michael. Many thanks to Scott from Ford/Devinci for his assistance in arranging this great prize.

Many thank you's to all of the following for their generous support. The race wouldn't have happened without you. The biggest thank you's to all the folks at Sport Swap for the great prizes. Many to Bruzer for the generous sponsorship and the excellent t-shirts. Is is any wonder that you see W.O.W./Bruzer shirts at all the races? The staff at Mansfield Ski Club and the Mansfield Outdoor Centre for the use of their excellent facilities. Thanks to our huge number of volunteers: Mom and Dad Sahl, David Grant, Spurge & Louise, the Godwins, MC Dylan, Kevie and John, Dax & Mike's St. John's crew and Father Time. Many thanks to the exhibitors for their generous product donations - Mountain Dew, Canadian Cyclist, Schwinn, Devinci, OGC, & KHS.

Full results are posted on the W.O.W. website at www.wowmtb.com. A few photos have been posted as well, with more to be posted by tomorrow. Check it out - you may be there on the web. See you at the Enduro in July!