Bishop to Compete in Fool's Gold 100

July 25, 2008 - Newly crowned USA Marathon and Short Track Mountain Bike National Champion Jeremiah Bishop (Trek/Volkswagen) is set to compete in the Fool's Gold 100-mile mountain bike race, August 16, 2008 in Dahlonega, Georgia.

The race is the sixth event of the National Ultra Endurance series and is part of the three-day Fool's Gold Mountain Bike Races & Festival. The event, presented by 55nine Performance in conjunction with the Southern Off-Road Bicycle Association (SORBA) and the International Mountain Bike Association (IMBA), will benefit the Land Access Fund in support of the Bull Mountain trails - the site of the first IMBA Epic.

"[IMBA-] SORBA is an amazing group," Bishop says. "I've seen their work at other races in the southeast - they're one of the most active groups in the country. It's great to see the work they perform, and I'm excited to see the trails they've prepared for the race."

With some race proceeds to benefit the local trail efforts, Bishop says he is "encouraged by the 100-mile races and how they're such good stewards of the land areas which they use."

Race Director Eddie O'Dea says, "the Fool's Gold races and festival rides will travel a historic trail system and showcase some of Georgia's most epic riding. 55nine Performance, along with the United States Forest Service and IMBA-SORBA, recognize the opportunity for improvements to the current trails and the need for opening additional trails in this area. We are creating an event that brings together a national caliber race, recreational riding and trail advocacy in a way that will generate revenue to build and maintain trails. It's a perfect circle."

To race the Fool's Gold 100, Bishop says he is excited for two reasons. "It will be my first opportunity to rock the Stars and Stripes jersey at an epic long-distance mountain bike race, and it's a great reason to explore the legendary trails of north Georgia."

"It's going to be an awesome competition; the most competitive endurance race in the southeast. I look forward to it, and I'm really excited to see all the trails," he says. "A race like this is a really cool way to see a region's best trails. One hundred miles really highlights an area. Without even having to use a map, you get a great tour of the best riding in the region."

The Fool's Gold Festival will have organized rides, games, bands, on-site food & lodging, and more for the entire weekend of August 15-17, 2008.



For more information about the festival and mountain bike races, visit www.55nineperformance.com/100.html.

Labels: Advocacy, Race Headlines

posted by E Bishop  # 1:14 PM 0 comments

Bishop Short Track National Champion, Promotes Clean Sport

Bishop Claims Another Title: In A Surprise 'Burg Cyclist Wins Short Track
Posted 2008-07-22
By Mike Barber, Daily News Record

HARRISONBURG - Jeremiah Bishop had never won a professional short-track mountain bike race. Now, he's the surprise national champion.

Bishop pulled away with five laps to go and held off a surge by Barry Wicks to win the pro men's short-track title at the USA Cycling mountain bike championships on Sunday in West Dover, Vt., just 16 days after claiming the national crown in the mountain bike marathon.

"That sprinting mentality and super high speed, attack speed, was never my strength," Bishop, a Harrisonburg resident, said by phone Monday as he drove back to Virginia. "To win this race, it's really just amazing. I don't think I would have believed that I won both of them. The marathon for sure, that's my specialty. Longer races are definitely better for me."

The 32-year-old Bishop finished the course in 24 minutes, 16 seconds. Wicks placed second in 24:24.

"I conserved my energy," Bishop said. "I picked one major move. I'm not much of a sprinter."

On July 4 in Breckenridge, Colo., Bishop won the national championship in the longer marathon race, the kind of endurance affair that is his niche. The pair of wins helps raise his national prominence in the cycling world, and gives him a more visible pulpit to talk about the issue of doping in athletics.

Bishop recently got involved in the U.S. Anti Doping Agency's My Victory campaign, submitting to extra drug testing - both urine and blood samples - and serving as a spokesman for the anti-doping effort.

"He did that on his own individual initiative," said Zack Russell, manager of Bishop's Trek Volkswagen team. "Jeremiah is fervently anti-doping in mountain biking, road racing, all athletics. He's very vocal."

Among the notable athletes also participating are track stars Tyson Gay and Allyson Felix and swimming stars Michael Phelps and Dara Torres.

As part of the program, Bishop said, a film crew followed him for a day as he trained in Harrisonburg, gathering material for a public service announcement aimed at convincing children that doping is not the way to victory.

"Trying to send a positive message, I think, is really important," Bishop said. "It's really got to stop and it requires a positive role model approach that kids can believe they can actually win clean."

Voluntarily subjecting himself to the additional screenings - which also can include experimental testing methods - allows Bishop to prove he is competing without the aid of performance-enhancing drugs.

"Mountain biking has not had the crisis with doping that road cycling has, but some of the general public doesn't discern between the disciplines," Bishop said. "It does really feel good to have that in my corner. You can really look back on your accomplishments when you compete clean, and say, ‘Look what I did."'

That's exactly what Bishop was thinking when he crossed the finish line to win the short-track title Sunday.

"It came out of the blue," said Bishop's teammate and fellow Harrisonburg resident Susan Haywood, herself a three-time short-track national champion.

Haywood's competing at the nationals was cut short when she suffered a broken tibia and fibula in her left leg in Saturday's cross-country race.

"It was the end of the first lap, coming around the corner and I stuck my foot out and stepped on a rounded rock," Haywood said Monday from her home, where she is recovering from surgery that will keep her off her feet for two weeks and off a bike for at least six. "It just rolled my ankle and I knew it broke right away. It was very painful."

As for Bishop, the short track has never been his best event, but that doesn't mean he doesn't enjoy those races.

"Short track, it's kind of got some NASCAR elements to it," Bishop said. "It's a really short lap. It's high energy, action packed. There's drafting in the start-finish area, a good straightaway stretch."

How did he manage the win? Bishop said he's been working on improving his short-track starts; Sunday, he got to the front of the pack early. Once there, Bishop had the stamina to stay in the lead.

"I think his fitness has come to a remarkable peak," Russell said. "It's a combination of the hard work that he does at home and the extensive racing he's doing during the season. Despite his natural gift for the longer races, I think the hard training he's done has given him an extra edge."

USA Cycling doesn't use the national championships to select the Olympic team, so Bishop won't be heading to Beijing. Instead, the Olympians are chosen based on their performance in the early part of the World Cup series of races and the World Championships.

But after falling ill before some of the early World Cup races, Bishop readjusted his plan for the year to be ready for the national championships.

"Sometimes you have to chart your own path," Bishop said.

Labels: Race Headlines

posted by E Bishop  # 4:09 PM 0 comments

Bishop Wins Firecracker, U.S. Marathon Mountain Bike National Championship

July 4, 2008 - For Jeremiah Bishop (Trek/Volkswagen), Independence Day began parading down Main Street of Breckenridge, Colo. alongside more than 800 other mountain bike racers in the neutral start of the Fourth of July Firecracker 50, which served as the 2008 U.S. Marathon Mountain Bike National Championship.

Before the day's first fireworks would burst into the sky, Bishop would see his share of excitement, competing on two laps of the 25-mile Firecracker course.

Following the neutral start, Bishop commanded the race lead by mile 15, after the course's first 2000-foot ascent. "I had a strong race going with a 90-second lead," he says, "when my chain got caught in the spokes."

Bishop was forced to repair his bicycle while his closest competitors passed him by. Focused on mending his chain and spokes, he was unaware of whom or exactly how many had passed him.

When Bishop resumed racing, he began his chase hoping to rally his efforts for a top-5 finish. He caught up with former teammate Travis Brown and the duo was able to work together and regain lost time on the flat fire road before the major descent to the start/finish where they would begin lap two.

"I just buried my head and went flat out the second time up the 2000-foot ascent. I was fired up after losing the lead," Bishop explains.

Then, just as it seemed that Bishop was making good headway, his chain snapped yet again.

"I laughed as [Brown] passed me again just as I was remounting. That's the nature of bike racing," and Bishop hoped nothing else would go wrong.

Resuming the chasse, Bishop says he charged up every hill at his maximum effort. As he caught up with another rider, he realized it was veteran racer Dave Wiens, who Bishop had looked up to as he was beginning his own racing career. "[Wiens] encouraged me to chase hard, there were two riders who were just 30 seconds ahead."

With seven miles to go and only one major climb remaining between him and the finish line, Bishop says he was in the "hurt locker." Pushing himself to the limit, Bishop caught one of the riders just before the pair was set to enter a single-track section of trail. Bishop says he momentarily recovered before launching an attack to be the first onto the trail. Then he relied on his technical handling ability to make up time on Evan Plews, the remaining rider whom Bishop thought he had a chance of catching before the finish line.

"I caught [Plews] about halfway down the descent," says Bishop.

As the two riders charged for the finish, Plews entered a rocky section at a high speed and flatted one of his tires. Bishop continued the charge, but conceded it was unlikely that he would catch any more racers. "At that point, I just tired to stay smooth and not crash."

Bishop rode the final stretch to the finish line in front of a crowd of cheering spectators and racing fans, content with a valiant effort and a probable spot on the podium.

Upon crossing the finish line, Bishop was mobbed by jubilant members of his Trek/Volkswagen team, doused with beer and became the center of what seemed to him like an overeager celebration.

Amidst the cheering and shouts of "you won!" and "congratulations!" the reality hit Bishop - he had just won the race and would don the stars-and-stripes jersey of National Champion.

"I had no idea why people were spraying me in the face with beer and jumping on me. But after a second or two it started to make sense." To win the National Championship on Independence Day, Bishop says, "It was a great Fourth of July surprise!"

Labels: Race Headlines

posted by E Bishop  # 10:54 AM 0 comments

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