Runners Are Faster than Mountain Bikers!

Obviously, there's no point in mountain biking.

Mike


http://www.helenair.com/articles/200...81023_race.txt

Revenge of the runners
By MARTIN J. KIDSTON - Independent Record - 10/23/08

IR photo by John Doran - Runner Thomas Jodoin powers up the final
pitch before reaching the top of Mount Ascension during Wednesday's
Race to the Top. Jodoin ran the 2006 Trail stretch in 8 minutes, 19
seconds, the fastest time overall, as the runners this year beat the
mountain bikers.
Like Pheidippides running from the plains of Marathon to tell his
fellow Athenians of their victory over the Persians, a team of
dedicated runners charged up Mount Ascension on Wednesday to steal
victory from their rival mountain bikers.

The Race to the Top, a grueling test of endurance and grit, pitted the
two teams head to head on the 2006 Trail to settle an old score and
launch a tradition that promises to last.

When the sun settled behind the nearby hills and the light finally
drained from the sky, the runners slipped away with victory, outpacing
the bikers on their way to the top.

“It was fun because the times were really close for the most part,”
said biker Scott Herzig. “That bodes well for next year. We’ve got a
rematch and the training starts now.”

Herzig clocked an impressive 9:02, placing second among the bikers and
doing his part to hold down his team’s score. But Greg Wirth, the
runner who followed Herzig, made the dash eight seconds faster,
finishing in 8:54.

And so went the night for team cycling, losing six seconds here and
seven seconds there to a competing runner. In the end, each of the
seven runners outpaced each of the seven bikers they were paired
against, helping seal the deal.

“There are a couple tight switchbacks and there’s a little loose
dirt,” said Will Snider, a member of the cycling team. “Everyone’s
cheering you on, so you want to do as good as you can, and you don’t
want to fall off your bike.”

At the top, more than 20 spectators clad in jackets and caps turned
their backs to the chilling wind. The views of the valley stretched
north to the Big Belt Mountains while the city, spread just below,
gleamed in a kaleidoscope of light cast by another Montana sunset.

One by one, the competitors brushed past the last stand of pines to
make a final push to the summit, where Brian Wieck stood keeping time.
The crowd lined the stony course, cheering each racer to the finish
while trying to keep their dogs off the trail.

No matter the team, the crowd applauded the same. Some — like Jenn
Baker and Wendy Brooke — secretly pulled for the bikers. Others had
their money set on the runners.

“I wasn’t in quite the shape I wanted to be,” said runner Tim Davis
after cooling down. “My arms went a little numb. I guess it means I
wasn’t getting enough oxygen. It was a little further than I wanted to
go.”

It was his lungs, not his legs, which hurt the most.

The pain didn’t discriminate between teams. Bikers and runners alike
embraced their knees to catch their breath.

Words like “hurt” and “pain” and more colorful elocutions were common.
Spectators offered the sweaty athletes jackets and caps and beanies to
fend off the cold wind pouring over the mountain.

The event was started last year to resolve a friendly bet between
cyclist Eric Grove and runner Michele Bazzanella on who could reach
the top the fastest — a biker or a runner.

In that race, Grove reached the top in 9:24 while Bazzanella finished
in 10:11. Victory went to the cyclists, but the inaugural event hardly
settled the score.

Grove improved his time this year by four seconds while Bazzanella
dropped five seconds off last year’s pace. Backed by a lineup of men
and women, however, the runners took Race to the Top II.

“It confirmed my theory,” said Bazzanella after the race. “I was so
pleased. I was so excited. I just knew we could do it.”

Cyclist Frank Gonzalez logged the fastest time among the male riders
at 8:37, while Thomas Jodoin, the fastest male runner — and the
fastest person up the mountain — clocked a blistering 8:19.

Among the female riders, Michelle Richardson rode the fastest time at
12:22. Bazzanella — the fastest female runner — completed the course
in 10:16.

“Next year, I think we need to do this downhill,” said Richardson,
while reviewing the times with Herzig after the race.

“On a mountain bike, there are a lot of mistakes you can make, like on
a corner or spinning out,” Herzig added. “Running, you just can’t
trip.”

No matter who won, the competitors were happy to support the Prickly
Pear Land Trust, which netted close to $20,000 during its recent
Harvest Moon banquette and will draw more from the fundraising held by
the teams in conjunction with Wednesday’s race.

“It was good to help out Prickly Pear,” said Snider. “I’ll do any kind
of fundraiser for them. I’d even swim for them if I had to. But biking
is more fun.”

Reporter Martin Kidston: 447-4086 or
--
I am working on creating wildlife habitat that is off-limits to
humans ("pure habitat"). Want to help? (I spent the previous 8
years fighting auto dependence and road construction.)

Please don't put a cell phone next to any part of your body that you are fond of!

http://home.pacbell.net/mjvande

On Oct 23, 9:19*pm, Mike Vandeman wrote:
Obviously, there's no point in mountain biking.

Kind of like spending 8 years fighting road construction.

Mike Vandeman wrote:
Obviously, there's no point in mountain biking.

Mike


http://www.helenair.com/articles/200...81023_race.txt
[...]

Make the race and "out and back" instead of just up and the mountain
bikers will easily beat the runners.

--
Tom Sherman - 42.435731,-83.985007
If you are not a part of the solution, you are a part of the precipitate.

If its about pure speed, then surely motorised transport would be faster, or
even a helicopter?

They taste better too. Just ask the bears.

Jeff Strickland wrote:
They taste better too. Just ask the bears.

Actually, hikers taste the best since they are not working at such a
hard exertion level just before consumption.

--
Tom Sherman - 42.435731,-83.985007
If you are not a part of the solution, you are a part of the precipitate.

Oh...so runners are faster....then that means they cover more ground
than bikers and disturb more wildlife and tear up the soil more...

Ban runners, they do more trail damage than mountain bikers!!