Wyco's Revenge Results and Race Report

Wyco’s Revenge Offers Plenty of XC Goodness

The 3rd edition of Wyco’s Revenge Mountain Bike Race was held this past weekend at the Wyandotte County Lake Park Trails in Kansas City, Kansas.

The 9 mile course had a wide range of features including single and double track, gravel, a few obstacles, and a technical section at the end of each lap that really challenged the riders. Riders had the option to compete in the full marathon event (4 laps), lite course (2 laps), or the Wyco Sprint (1 lap).

The event started Sunday evening in relatively fair conditions for August but humidity had returned to the area making it a relatively cool but muggy race. The late start meant riders competing in the marathon event would be racing in the dark by their last lap or two and lights were necessary to take part in the marathon.

The start of the race was fast with the different race divisions taking off at intervals. Riders jumped from the gun hoping for a good starting position on the trails, hoping to establish some distance between themselves and the rest of the field. Completing a short loop first, large groups of riders came through the final technical section of the course together. Travis Donn and Roger Williams, competing in the marathon event, were the first two riders to reach the end of the short lap.

This technical section proved difficult for most of the riders as it was very rocky with several quick descents and some short steep little climbs. While the course was mostly dry, there was still a little moisture in the ground through this section which really made for some slippery conditions especially across some of the rocky sections and up the final little climb close to the finishing area. Most riders ended up off the bike running up the hill on foot before remounting the bike and continuing onto the first full lap of the course.

Promotor Chris Locke thought many riders were caught off guard by the technical nature of some sections of the course, “The Wyco’s Revenge was a challenge for most of the riders. Many were not ready for the short rocky sections that were made difficult by the moisture in the soil.”

A very rocky and technical section met the riders at the end of each lap.

By the end of the first full lap, the field had split completely apart. Travis Donn had separated himself from the rest of the field and had an impressive lead going into lap 2 of the 4 lap event. The technical area became even more difficult as a light layer of moist dirt had been kicked up onto many of the rocky sections and the short steep climb out of the woods was becoming slick from all of the riders rolling through.

Despite slick conditions on this climb, a few riders impressed the crowd by making it to the top without having to dismount.

Wyco’s Revenge Sprint Race

As the marathon participants headed out on course for their second lap, the sprint participants were finishing up their race. Damikan Almanza took the top spot on the sprint podium with a time of 55:52. Just one and a half minutes behind Damikan was Vince Delauder. Gerard Arontowicz came in 5 minutes later to round out the men’s sprint podium. Sally Urdang and Liz Giometti took first and second in the women’s field with Jonathan Andrews, the short course’s junior racer, putting in an impressive time of 1:13:04.

Wyco’s Revenge Lite

As the sun disappeared and light was waning, the riders participating in the Wyco Lite race finished up their 2 lap event. With over 40 riders entered, it was the largest field out of the 3 events. In the men’s solo field, Brad Crain, Chris Marks, and Shane Martin took the top 3 podium spots respectively. Kari Anderson took the win in the solo female division. There were seven single speeders on competing on course as well. Tige Lamb took the win with Shane Jones taking 2nd and Brain Batson coming in 3rd. Chuck Fredricks won the clydesdale division.

Wyco’s Revenge Marathon

Finishing in the dark, the marathon racers were out on course for the long haul. Travis Donn capitalized on his early lead holding it through the finish to take the win with an almost 8 minute lead over second place. Roger Williams also held onto is early position on the front of the race to take 2nd place. Daniel Miller came in 3rd just 3 minutes behind Roger. Karmen Woelber took the win in the solo female division, she was the only female rider to complete 3 full laps of the course.

This event has grown over the past three years and is a popular local race. Locke believes the unique nature of the marathon event is one of the draws of this race, “Riding at night can be a challenge but also very fun. That is one reason this event continues to grow.”

He also points out how important local trailbuilding efforts are in allowing events such as this to take place. Locke gives a lot of credit to the Trail Masons and their efforts at building and maintaining the trails in the area, “Without them and all the volunteers these events would not happen.”