Piney Hills Classic Stage Race, Ruston, Louisiana

Written by: Sean Sindt
TMBRA Fall Series Race #4

Round #4 of the Texas Fall Racing series took place last weekend with a stop in Louisiana. Racers made the long drive to Ruston, LA to enjoy the best race on the fall series schedule. Ruston is a rider favorite due to it’s stage race format including a short track race, time trial, and cross country race. This type of format is rare so it attracted many racers. In addition to the stage race format, the promoters were guaranteeing a $1500 pay out to the pro class. With this kind of money up for grabs, the best riders in Texas were all shooting for a great weekend. On top of all of that, the weather was nearly perfect with race temperatures in the 70’s. The course was in perfect shape too with dry weather for a week leading up to the race. The course is a lot of fun offering everything a racer is looking for, climbs, technical descents, flats, and plenty of smooth flowing single track.

The first stage took place on Saturday afternoon with a short track race. Just 2 weeks earlier, Mitch Comardo(Gary Fisher 29er), had won the Bryan Power Pedal riding a single speed. Everybody knew he was riding on form but the defending champion Brian Fawley(Park Place Lexus) wanted to get revenge. Right from the gun Comardo and Fawley jumped to the front and set a pace nobody could match. After lap one, they already had created a 10 second gap from the rest of the field. Despite many surges from multiple chase groups, nobody could match the dominant pace set by these two riders. By the time the bell rang for the last lap, Fawley and Comardo were completely out of site of any other riders in the field. Fawley muscled his was to the front and out kicked Comardo to the line to take the first place points. After this dominant performance by these two riders, it was clear to everyone else competing this weekend that they were all riding for 3rd place.

Stage 1 Results: Short Track Race

1 Bryan Fawley Park Place Lexus
2 Mitchell Comardo Gary Fisher 29er
3 Rick Wetherald Solar Eclipse
4 Tracy Martin S3
5 Tristan Uhl Hotel San Jose
6 Sean Sindt Bicycle Sport Shop
7 Chris Carlson
8 Wallace Groda Bike Barn/Gary Fisher/Subaru
9 Joshua Rosby Raising Cane's Racing
10 Keith Hargis Team Coady & Lewis
11 Noel Reuter Bicycle Sport Shop
12 Shaun Bonavita Giant
13 Mason Quintana Austin Bikes
14 Craig Kunz Bicycle Sport Shop
15 Greg Parham NRC/Pedalmashers


Stage 2’s time trial was 3 miles. Riders took to the line with 1 minute intervals and hoped to ride a flawless race. In a race this short, the slightest mistake could put you back several places. This is exactly what everyone was hoping would happen to the two dominate riders from the early afternoon’s short track race. Unfortunately, Fawley and Comardo once again showed everybody why they are untouchable this weekend. Fawley won the time trial easily by 14 seconds over Comardo and then another 11 seconds separated 2nd place to 3rd. In the same order they finished in the short track, Rick Wetherald(Solar Eclipse), Tracy Martin(S3), and Tristan Uhl(Hotel San Jose) finish 3rd, 4th, and 5th respectively. After 2 stages, the top 5 riders were sitting very comfortably in the top 5 spots.

Stage 2 Results: Time Trial

1 Bryan Fawley 10:46 Park Place Lexus
2 Mitchell Comardo 11:00 Gary Fisher 29er
3 Rick Wetherald 11:11 Solar Eclipse
4 Tracy Martin 11:12 S3
5 Tristan Uhl 11:23 Hotel San Jose
6 Chris Carlson 11:23
7 Noel Reuter 11:32 Bicycle Sport Shop
7 Wallace Groda 11:32 Bike Barn/Gary Fisher/Subaru
9 Sean Sindt 11:32 Bicycle Sport Shop
10 Keith Hargis 11:34 Team Coady & Lewis
11 Shaun Bonavita 11:40 Giant
12 Joshua Rosby 11:41 Raising Cane's Racing
13 Greg Parham 11:53 NRC/Pedalmashers
14 Craig Kunz 11:53 Bicycle Sport Shop
15 Mason Quintana 11:57 Austin Bikes

Stage 3 was a cross country race taking place Sunday morning. With the top five riders scoring high points the day before, the only thing left to work out was who was going to take the overall. Everybody knew it would be Fawley or Comardo, but which one? Coming into the 3rd stage, Fawley had a 10 point lead over Comardo. So if he won the race or just finished in the top 3 he would be going home with another victory. The race was exciting right from the start as once again Fawley and Comardo separated themselves from the field. Fawley knew he needed just to win, or at least finish close behind Comardo, but as the race went on he felt stronger and stronger. Heading into the last lap of the 3 lap race his lead over Comardo was only at 1 minute. “I was feeling good so I figured on the last lap I would open it up and see how much distance I could get on Mitch” said Fawley.

This turned out to be more than he expected. Fawley proved to everyone that he was the strongest rider in the field by finishing the race 3 ½ minutes in front of 2nd place Comardo. “I felt great. Everything seemed to be going my way this weekend. I love this course, I think I will always come back here.”

The final general classification had Fawley finishing with a perfect score taking a victory in all 3 stages. He walked away with nearly $500 in prize money and payout for the GC went 6 deep. If the promoters of the Piney Hills Classic promise big money every year this will be sure to be a favorite for elite riders for years to come.

Stage 3 Results: Cross Country

1 Bryan Fawley 2:03:37 Park Place Lexus
2 Mitchell Comardo 2:07:09 Gary Fisher 29er
3 Tracy Martin 2:08:35 S3
4 Rick Wetherald 2:09:28 Solar Eclipse
5 Sean Sindt 2:09:48 Bicycle Sport Shop
6 Noel Reuter 2:11:20 Bicycle Sport Shop
7 Wallace Groda 2:12:40 Bike Barn/Gary Fisher/Subaru
8 Keith Hargis 2:13:56
9 Chris Carlson 2:14:31
10 Joshua Rosby 2:16:01 Raising Cane's Racing
11 Mason Quintana 2:17:58 Austin Bikes
12 Greg Parham 2:18:06 NRC/Pedalmashers
13 Shaun Bonavita 2:18:14 Giant
14 Craig Kunz 2:19:50 Bicycle Sport Shop
DNF Tristan Uhl Hotel San Jose
DNF Jesse Moran PACC

General Classification-Final

1 Bryan Fawley 180 Park Place Lexus
2 Mitchell Comardo 165 Gary Fisher 29er
3 Rick Wetherald 149 Solar Eclipse
4 Tracy Martin 145 S3
5 Sean Sindt 118 Bicycle Sport Shop
6 Chris Carlson 112
7 Wallace Groda 111 Bike Barn/Gary Fisher/Subaru
8 Noel Reuter 108 Bicycle Sport Shop
9 Keith Hargis 97 Team Coady & Lewis
10 Joshua Rosby 91 Raising Cane's Racing
11 Tristan Uhl 88 Hotel San Jose
12 Shaun Bonavita 81 Giant
13 Mason Quintana 75 Austin Bikes
14 Greg Parham 73 NRC/Pedalmashers
15 Craig Kunz 69 Bicycle Sport Shop