By Nancy Adams

The Mid-Atlantic Super Series (MASS) took members from the visitPA.com Mountain Bike Team to Fair Hill, Maryland for the Fair Hill Classic, promoted by the Delaware Trail Spinners Mountain Bike Club. Due to the lengthy drive for Ray and me, we decided to travel halfway Saturday night, through the heart of Amish Country, in Lancaster County. We camped at the White Oak Campground, located a couple miles outside of Strasburg. We immediately bought some homemade zucchini bread from an Amish farm stand that was set up at the campground. We were also treated to some good' ole fashioned "pickin" because the White Oak hosts bluegrass jam sessions from 6 - 9 pm on Saturday nights.

We cooked dinner and relaxed by the campfire. The wind picked up, and we noticed some kind of tree nut (beech?) was rocketing to the ground from high above, from the trees above our campfire. Ray got pelted right in the noggin', and I could hear others hitting the ground nearby. I took a defensive approach to the situation and decided to wear my bike helmet for the remainder of the evening. Wonder what our neighbors thought?

Sunday morning, we woke up early to make it to Fair Hill for the 10:15 a.m. start. The elite men went off first, with visitPA.com racers Wes Schempf, Mike Yozell, Mike KuhnDog, Mike "The Legend" Hebe, Rob Lichtenwalner, and X-Ray Adams contesting the race. Wes led from the gun and was able to stay in front the entire race, crushing any hopes second-place-finisher Gary Fisher's Chris Beck had at catching him. By the end of the race, Wes had an insurmountable five-minute lead over Beck. Mike Yozell, riding a Cannondale 1FG singlespeed well-suited for the course, had a very strong race and finished third overall. The Legend, Ray Adams, and Rob Lichtenwalner also had good races finishing in the top 15 of the elite field.

I entered the elite women's category, which has historically been a stacked field. This year was no different, with 20 women on the starting line. Several women passed me in the first sections of singletrack, but as the race progressed, I was able to pick several riders off to finish 6th in my class. Janel Demeter (Guy's Racing) continued her MASS domination in the elite women's class by taking home another top podium spot for the Guy's team.

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