The Year is 2000...

Dear Readers,

This is an email I originally sent to my teammates in 2000 during Iron Hill week. I thought it was relevant and folks might enjoy it .  As a point of context at that time I was directing the Wooden Wheels team  and we were in a really good battle with Guy’s for the MASS Team Championship. There was only one team title offered by the MASS in those days. They would win in 2000, we would get our MASS Title in 2001. 

Iron Hill continues to be one of my favorite races. It's place in Delaware Mountainbiking is pretty special.

first sport race circa 1995 maybe? up slime hill.

Anyway, hope you enjoy :

Friends,

This week is perhaps one of my favorite race weeks each season. Iron Hill week. This race is at the center of Mountain Bike racing here in Delaware. This is where it all started. I remember watching Ben Smith, Bob Reuther, Greg Fergusson all battling it out week in and week out.

Doug Mills, director of Wilmington Velocity, was a mountain bike king. Dennis Smith was my ultimate hero and king of the world. Everyone had Vulcan bar ends and was clamoring for purple anodized parts. Nick Riddle had hair down to the middle of his back, and used road rings on the front of his Wicked Fat Chance.

Andrew  (Mein) was among the first with a rock shox fork, and swore he was 5 MPH faster on the DH with it. I remember when Jim McGroetery- "Muncle" himself, was king of the junior experts. Iron Hill is tradition.

It was a 6 week series that was run by FSVS. Each week a different local shop would provide prizes and a name. Races were named " Mudd, Sweat and Gears", and " Curse of the Gravity Cavity" For me Iron Hill brings back memories of my first race, a cat 5 ( that's right folks it was USCF at that time) race that was the end result of a beer bet. Me on my brothers huffy, I had about a lap and a half in me, the bike only lasted a lap.

I had my first win as a beginner at Iron Hill ( back when there was a beginner A and beginner B), and my first win as a sport rider, ( thanks for the great lead out 'Tuna (John Caltuna). For me Iron Hill has been the place to move up as I graduated from beginner to sport, and from sport to expert. (I finished 18th in both move up races). I remember meting a strapping young lad named Justin Thompson here. It's Gumby (Brent Godwin) on a freeride bike, and Lynn (Shaffer) getting a podium  with broken ribs. It's days so hot and humid you can't breath, and trails so muddy that you swear you never race in the rain again. It's the Phantom trail (Now appropriately known as Fuzzy’s Trail), the Mega Dip, the Bone Shaker, the yellow rock, Slime hill and the ugly ass log at the bottom. It's miss and outs on the whoopee do's and getting stung by bees on the 896 climb. It's where it started for me, and where Mountain Biking Racing in
Delaware was born. I love this place. I love this race.

Iron Hill is the final stage of the Delaware leg of the Super Series. (It used to be in early August) We have been successful holding court at both Fairhill and Granogue, and although the team points have not been posted, I have it on a couple of our teammates calculations that we have closed in on our Friend's from Philly: Guy's. This weekend we welcome Paul Gassler to the expert ranks.

The weekend we get to celebrate mountainbike racing at it's birth place here in Delaware. History, Tradition, Honor.... This is what Iron Hill Racing means to me.

Let's have a great week.


Thanks for reading.

respect
Fatmarc