With the Texas mountain bike racing series set to kick off February 14th in Terlingua, Texas, the following is a preview of some of the front runners from last year and what to expect this year. Check back with MTBracenews.com for full results from this weekend's Mas O Menos in Terlingua, Texas.
Scott Henry (Hammerhead)-Scott finished 6th in last year’s series and looks to be in great shape this year. He already has 2 wins under his belt so far this year, winning the Excruciation Exam and Miles of Discomfort marathon races in January. He won the Excruciation by 10 minutes and Discomfort by 6 minutes.
Bryan Fawley (Park Place Lexus)-Bryan is last year’s series champion and will be looking to repeat. Widely regarded as the fastest mountain bike racer in Texas, when he is on form he’s very difficult to beat.
Rick Wetherald (Solar Eclipse)-Rick is a new racer to the Texas scene. He moved to Austin last summer from Colorado. Rick had an outstanding debut race winning the first round of the fall series at Rock Springs, and then finishing the fall series 3rd overall.
Ray Hall (Trek/VW)-Ray Hall, a former winner of the state series (2005), finished the series last year 2nd overall. Besides Fawley, Ray is considered to be the next fastest rider in the state. He did a lot of cyclocross races during the winter so look for him to be in great shape again this year.
Sean Sindt (Bicycle Sport Shop)- Finished the spring series last year a disappointing 9th overall but came back and rode well in the fall claiming a 3rd and a 4th at Rock Springs and Ruston and then finishing 5th in the series. Sindt finished 4th and 2nd at the Excruciation Exam and Discomfort marathons in January and hopes to get into the top-5 overall in this year’s spring series.Billy Kurtz (Sage Cycles)-Billy won the state series twice (2006, 2007) but was plagued by bad luck and was forced to DNF the last 2 races of last years series with mechanicals. That caused him to drop to 4th overall last year but look for him to bounce back this year and try to reclaim his title from Fawley.
Mitch Comardo (Bike Barn)-Mitch is one of the fastest improving riders in the series. It seemed like last year he went from a mid-pack rider to a front runner over night. He finished 8th in last years spring series but then came back and took 2nd in the fall series. During his spectacular fall series, he managed to win the Bryan race and finish in the top 4 at 3 other races. Based on his form last fall, he should be one of the front runners this spring.
Matthew Davis (Coady and Lewis)- Matthew finished last year in 5th overall, surprising many people. In 2007, he was racing expert and when he made the jump to the pro class last year he turned a lot of heads. He didn’t race much in the fall but should be a contender for the spring.
2009 Spring Racing Calendar:
2/14 Mas-O-Menos Terlingua, TX
3/1 Bar H Bash St. Jo, TX
3/15 Outback Blowout Waco, TX
3/29 Warda Race Warda, TX
4/5 Singletrack Stampede Austin, TX
4/19 Hill Country Challenge Comfort, TX
5/3 Big Ring Challenge Cold Spring, TX
5/17 X Bar Shootout Eldorado, TX