The third round of the NORBA NCS Series was held at Snowshoe, WV June 20-23, 2002. Team Peggy was represented by Linell Wright in Master Expert XC, Trish Albert in Senior Sport XC, Rebekah Venable in Senior Sport DH, and Petty Smith in Senior Sport DH. Noticeably absent from the Team Peggy line up was Kym Flynn. Kym cracked several ribs the previous week at the Alpine Valley, WI NCS and was unable to make the trip.
In stark contrast from 2001 NCS race at Snowshoe, the course was in great condition and was especially dry for this area although the West Virginia singletrack never completely dries. The Weather Channel reported that no rain fell in June up until racing began on the 20th. The forecast for the weekend called for sunny skies and highs in the lower 80's with no chance of rain. On the Cross Country course, Linell and Trish agreed that the biggest challenge was going to be climbing the two massive hills up the ski slope. The downhillers walked the DH course on Thursday. The course was in great condition with hardly a slick spot to be found. Several large rock gardens, a log drop off, and several very steep sections would challenge them as they made their way down the mountain.
The action started on Saturday morning with the Beginner and Sport Amateur XC races. Trish lined up with 6 other Senior Sport Women. Trish would fight it out with the two other podium finishers from Wisconsin. In the end, she claimed the third spot. Trish said, "I had an average race. My legs were definitely better last week in Wisconsin. The two major climbs took a lot out of me. Still, I'm happy to have placed 3rd and made another podium appearance." The Sport Downhill finals were held Saturday afternoon on the other side of the mountain. Rebekah had a solid run and met her goal of riding the course in under 8 minutes. Petty was competing in her first downhill race in a year and was satisfied with her performance. Rebekah took 6th, and Petty placed 7th in a very large women's field.
Sunday brought the Expert races. Course conditions were still good; not a drop of rain fell all weekend. The Master Expert 30-34 division had 21 entries. Linell had a hard fight against her own bike from the beginning. Within the first few miles, she'd fallen, had her rear skewer come undone, and dropped her chain. Never one to give up, Linell fought back and had a fast second lap. She came back to grab 13th.
The Peggies also had fun off of the race course. Snowshoe is unique in that all of the events take place at the top of the mountain and all of the accommodations are within walking distances of the venues. Someone noticed that the awards podium was out of the way and that not many people watched the Pro awards. Linell, Jennifer (Team Peggy friend and Expert XC), and Trish came up with idea to try to meet some of the Pro Men. Sven, one of Trish's friends from Atlanta, was on hand to take pictures. The Peggies met Roland Green-current XC World's Champion-, Ryder Hesjedal, and Alison Dunlap-current XC World's Champion. Jennifer got Roland's flowers, and Linell finally got to stand near her man! At dinner Saturday night, the ladies took in the sights of Pro Men Jeff Kabush and Peter Wedge of Kona, and Tinker, Christophe Sauser, and Kashi Leuches (Cannondale). Also spotted were Sue Haywood (Trek-VW), Leigh Donvan, and Fionn Griffiths.
The weekend was saddened with an accident that Luke had during the Sport Downhill race on Saturday. He was less than 100 yards from the finish line when he fell off of his bike and broke his collarbone. He got a lot of sympathy and support from the ladies, especially Petty, all weekend.
The West Virginia NORBA National was very successful for Team Peggy. Team members are looking forward to the NCS Finals in Vermont in August.