2009 Berryman Epic Pictorial

The second running of the Berryman Epic was a wet one. With the river out of its banks and the trails in less than great shape, riders got wet and muddy but the weekend's spirit remained high.

This year the promoters scored a Mueller's beer trailer from the Springfield, MO microbrewery. The BT Epic crew provided tons of prizes and very fairly pulled tickets from a Tour or Race bucket. The winner then pulled out another ticket to see what they won. Cool! - you could end up with Winter Mint Gu or a Garmin GPS unit, it was your call.

The stars were aligned, however, because both Scott Whitaker and Lisa Troehler won two of the three Redline 8-speed d440 29ers being raffled off. The raffle entries were sorted based on sizing so the odds were better for the bikes. Way to go GORC!

Here are some weekend photos from my camera. Unfortunately, I'm missing good photos of Kevin, Steph and myself due to some blurry images.

Here's a link to the race results and below is the list of Tour riders I found online:
First finishers of the Tour are in:

Gerald Hart 6.41.16
Nate Means 6.50.56
Lawrence Colvin 6.54.53
Clinton Chandler 7.13.39
Lonnie Kinkade 7.13.40
Scott Saunders 7.22.26
Jamie Roberts 7.46.27
Bill Turner 8.17.16
Matthew Soraghan 8.17.17
Cynthia Bradley 8.23.47
John LeBlanc 8.24.03
Lorinda Putter 8.24.33
Yuri Cook 8.24.34
James Mercer 8.24.35
Alan Corum 8.28.30
Lisa Longinotti 8.28.31
Jessica Kovarik 8.35.10
Dan Clinkinbeard 8.35.11
Donovan Evans 8.55.23
Jiri Doksansky 8.55.46
Joshua Carroll 8.57.08
Jim Davis 9.03.55
Jeff Mittler 9.03,56
Jeff Foes 9.06.20

As for GORC member racers here's some from the list:

Placement out of 110 finishers or so

12 Mike Barro - Momentum Cycles Racing 5.10.03 (2nd place SS!!!)
20 Larry Koester - GORC 5.30.35 (4th place SS ?!!?)
38 Bryan Adams - GORC 5.58.10
43 Brian Busken - Momentum Cycles Racing 6.01.15
64 Scott Peipert - Wild Trak Bikes 6.46.58
86 Rob Ballou - GORC 7.31.45
90 Kevin Bonney - Mesa Cycles 7.39.46
95 Wendy Davis - Trail Monster 7.49.12
114 Matt Hayes GORC DNF (ouch!)

PS - getting a cabin is the only way to go!

Saturday Tour Day

The river at Bass River Resort was out of its banks and only the taller full-size trucks could brave the waters towing tandem trailers to bring Tour riders to the other side. The water was waist-deep at the low-water bridge crossing.

Joshua Carroll (finished) and Scott Whitaker (rode approx. 28mi) ready for 56 miles of wet fun.

Shot of the Tour riders getting the lowdown.

Lisa (rode about 45mi) crossing the bridge at Brazil creek

Jim Davis (finished) crossing the Brazil Creek

Sunday Race

Racers crossing the river using a tandem trailer and some palettes to stay dry. One rider tried to pass everyone and ended upside down in the river. Wet and foolish at the same time. Ouch.

Scooter checking in at Berryman.

Bryan Adams getting some refills...

Larry Koester on his rigid 29er SS. He did very well on his first Berryman Epic.

Hats off to the promoters - Springfield Bike Co. - for clearing the trail of deadfall and posting 300+ trail arrows. I don't think anyone got lost.

Get ready for next year.

The Berryman Epic - Tour & Race - Oct. 25 - This Weekend

The forecast, unfortunately, has been accurate - it has been raining all day today, Thursday, Oct. 22, 2009. But, the Berryman Epic is upon us and we must be optimistic. This weekend over 100+ mountain bikers from across Missouri and maybe beyond will ride or compete in the Berryman Epic Tour & Race.

Fifty-five miles of singletrack and gravel road awaits us in the middle of the Missouri Ozarks. Hosted by Bass River Resort off Highway 8, mountain bikers will ride for the better part of 6+ hours across some of the state's best Ozark region trails including the Berryman Trail (a 25 miles loop!), almost the entire Courtois section of the Ozark Trail, and some local fireroad/gravel roads.

The Berryman Epic is in its second year and has a substantial cash prize purse and swag offering. While it has been raining this week off and on, racers and tour riders alike look forward to this fall epic. What better way to enjoy the Ozark Trail than to make a weekend of it where all the deadfall has been removed and the trail has been copiously marked?

The race/tour fell on an Ozark Trail Association mega-workday weekend and this year the same has proven true. Be sure to say hi to the great volunteers of the OTA as they camp out in conjunction with the Berryman Epic Tour/Racers at the Bass River Resort. GORC fully supports the multi-use trail efforts of the OTA and commend them for increasing the trail mileage of the Ozark Trail.

Promoting Us at REI National Park Night

Tuesday night several club members went to REI to showcase the goods and the goodness of GORC. Held at the REI in Brentwood, the night celebrated being outdoors and the country's treasures - our National Parks. REI sponsored the night and promoted Ken Burns' new National Parks documentary.

We sold a few hoodies and answered questions about the local trails. If just one new person comes out to a workday or joins the club then you could call the night a success. We also made contact with a few other organizations that are on the lookout for volunteer opportunities for their respective members.

Organizations also in attendance tonight included the Wild Bird Sanctuary, St. Charles County Parks, St. Louis County Parks, Missouri Conservation Department, the Ozark Trail Association and several other groups.

We will also be selling our hoodies and shirts at the Berryman Epic this weekend. Be sure to stop by and say hi.

See you on the trail!

Creve Coeur Workday- Saturday, Oct. 17th

We will be continuing the section of trail that was started last spring along the steep hillside at the North end of the park, heading out and around the tip of a ridge, then exiting the woods opposite the playground area where the road splits into a 1-way loop. When the leaves drop this section will have scenic views of the lake and valley below.

Where: Upper Creve Coeur Lake Park (Entrance off Dorsett Rd - Follow signs to the meeting area at the North end of the park) See here for more discussion.

Please contact Sue Kuhnert at 314-615-8822 or email skuhnertATstlouiscoDOTcom if you plan to attend and post up here.

Volunteers will be rewarded with give-a-ways from Big Shark Bicycle Company, and breakfast snacks and lunch are provided by St. Louis County Parks.