Bordertown Challenge

Utah racers take cross country;

Idaho riders claim DH and DS

By Ron Dillon

Utah racers, Art O'Conner and Leigh Hale, were the top men's and women's finishers at the ninth annual Bordertown Challenge mountain bike race on May 22-23. Run at the beautiful, Pequop Ranch, located between Wells and Wendover, Nevada, the race featured perfect weather and 313 racers for the weekend. The race was round two of the Wild Rockies "Unplugged" Mountain Bike Series, and was also designated as the Nevada State Mountain Bike Championships.

For the second year in a row, deep snow above 7,500 feet forced the promoter to cut off the expert-only section of the cross country. Racers didn't complain though, as the 21 mile sport course proved to be plenty tough enough.

From the start, Art O'Conner, Cris Fox and Idaho's Stacy Stuart, set a torrid pace. The course wound and twisted through deep cedar woods, stream crossings and meadows filled with flowers. Three dark tunnels under I-80 helped to lead racers all over the Pequop Valley. Assorted steep climbs and long descents also kept people honest. Fox and Stuart led for most of the race, but on the last big climb, O'Conner hammered by to take the win.

"I love this race" he said afterward. "This is the second time that I've won here and I'll be back next year." Idaho Champion, Stacy Stuart finished 19 seconds behind with Fox another 35 seconds back.

Utah racers finished 1,2,4 in the Pro Women's class. Leigh Hale inherited the lead mid-way through the race and pulled away to win by over six minutes. Jennifer Tribe took second, with Eastern Idaho's Debra Straho-Smith taking third.

"Fun and tough" said Hale at the end. "I loved it last year and it was even better this time around. You sure do have some neat terrain out here."

Racers and spectators alike wandered over to the nearby dual slalom course. Designed by team Voodoo pro, Keith Defiebre, the slalom course featured banked turns, bumps, jumps and flat turns on grass. A number of spectacular, but uneventful crashes, kept spectators cheering for more. SJ Thoreson appeared to be the fastest female slalom racer, but a huge crash relagated her to second behind Jenny Hennessy.

On the men's side, Utah's Rob Pyne upset Voodoo pro, Keith Defiebre in the quarter-finals. This set up the final showdown between Pyne and Idaho's Dave Golden which Golden won.

Snow again forced the promoter to run the shorter, alternate downhill course. But, the 1998 course was substantially modified. Dave Golden pulled out his heavy, 8-inch travel bike and smoked everyone.

"The course was much better than last year" he said. I still hope that we can run the big, 2,000 foot, eight-minute pro course next year, but this year's route was over four minutes long and had 1,000 feet of descent. It was fine."

Many racers commented on what a great time they had. The ranch featured huge sections of mowed grass and looked like a golf course. More toilets solved the messy bathroom problem of 1998 and the Boy Scouts sold awesome food. The low entry fees of $5 to $20 per class, and no NORBA license required, helped boost spirits. The 10th anniversary Bordertown Weekend will happen next year and we hope you'll attend.

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