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400 riders from 22 states came to the remote farming community of
Oden,
Arkansas to compete in this year’s OC.
Some riders even came from as far away as California, Michigan,
New York, and Florida. Even more incredible was that less than half the total competitors hailed from our
great state of Arkansas. Truly, these stats reveal that
the Ouachita Challenge brought in some of the best mountain bikers in the nation, not just Arkansans.
| Ouachita Challenge Tour Breakfast |
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| Fighting the jitters with some pre-ride pancakes |
| Oden School Parking Lot |
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| Right before takeoff |
Richard had planned to ride in the Ouachita Challenge too, but unfortunately
he came down with a nasty virus and flu-like symptoms. As you might expect, if
you know Richard, this determined warrior wanted to charge on. However, his family
wisely convinced him that participating in such a physically demanding event while still sick would definitely make his illness
much more severe. So instead of riding, Richard contributed by giving words of
encouragement and making food handoffs (Tour de France style).
| Heather catches up to the riders |
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| Scott, Clayton, and Kevin |
| Meeting the support crew in Sims |
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| The Tour Riders are very happy to see their support crew |
Saturday’s Tour riders also exhibited some excellent handling
skills as they scaled mountains, crossed creeks, and bounded over boulders. All
three Tour riders stuck close together for the first 30 miles and made excellent time with no mechanical malfunctions and
no crashes. Unfortunately, Scott had been battling a cold the whole ride, and
his symptoms were getting more severe as the ride wore on. With the insistence
of his teammates, Scott pulled out immediately before a treacherous creek crossing, which would have certainly soaked Scott
to the core and made his cold much more unbearable. Despite his cold, Scott had
a great ride and was on the trail for over 4 ½ hours.
| Fiddler Creek |
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| Kevin is one of the few riders to successfully navigate Fiddler Creek |
| Zipping through the OC |
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| Kevin shows Clayton the way |
Clayton also reeled off a great ride and caused Heather and Lee to
scream and hold their breaths as he barely snuck through the third checkpoint with less than a minute to spare. Clayton was utterly exhausted, but was able to sprint through the checkpoint after hearing his wife and
mom screaming for him as he was flying towards them. Upon reflection, Clayton
realized that to make the last cut-off time he was forced to ride smoother, harder, and faster than he had ever done in his
life. As Clayton narrowly crossed the checkpoint, he was congratulated by fellow
teammates, Tia and Randy Bradford. Hearing Randy say, “You made it, you
made it!” was exactly what Clayton was hoping to hear. After the checkpoint
drama, Clayton had smooth sailing back to Oden where he became one of the 79 Tour riders to complete the treacherous and exciting
course. As he crossed the finish line, Clayton was told he had finished 59th
in just under 9 hours.
| Bell & Company Mountain Bike Chicks |
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| Heather Bell and Tia Bradford |
On Sunday morning, the Ouachita Challenge Race kicked off and the
best of the weekend’s athletes took the stage. After an early breakfast,
Clayton and Heather headed down to catch the racers crossing Fiddler Creek. It
wasn’t long before Bell
& Company Mountain
Biking’s very own Robert Newcome came sprinting through the freezing stream water.
Robert had an awesome day and proved to be one of the fastest riders in the whole event. Amazingly, Robert was able to finish the entire 60 miles in less than 6 hours! That means he averaged just over 10 mph through some of the most technical and raucous trail around. This proves that Robert is not only one of the best riders in the state, but also
in the nation.
| Womble Trail |
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| Jason wheelies off the Womble |
Undoubtedly, the Bell & Company Mountain Bikers had an awesome
weekend at the Ouachita Challenge. This event solidified that our team is legitimate
and will be a force to be reckoned with in the upcoming year. At the end of the
weekend, everyone agreed that the event was tons of fun. You can look for the
Bell & Company Mountain Bike Team to make another great showing at the Ouachita Challenge in 2007.
| Oden School |
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| Relaxing before the epic ride |
| 10 miles into the Ouachita Challenge |
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| Kevin runs away from the pack |
| Fiddler Creek |
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| Robert sprints through the Ouachita Challenge Race |
| Ouachita Challenge Tour |
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| Kevin cranks out the last few miles |
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| Ouachita Challenge Tour Riders |
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| Scott, Clayton, and Kevin |
So how did the Bell & Company Mountain Biking Team size up to all these stellar athletes? Amazingly, Bell & Company Mountain Biking did extremely well.
On the Saturday morning of March 24, several members of the team met at the school in the tiny town of Oden to begin the adventure. At 8 o’clock
in the morning, Clayton Bell, Kevin Williams, and Scott Whittlesey rolled away to begin their epic voyage. Fortunately, these riders were not alone. Throughout the day
they would receive encouragement, food, and much needed water from the supporting trio of Richard, Lee, and Heather Bell.
| Proud Fathers and Mountain Bikers |
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| Randy Bradford and Richard Bell |
Lee helped out by taking pictures, filling water bottles, shouting
kind words of support, and by surrounding the team with her optimism and glowing personality.
Heather also took pictures and had the daunting task of driving the support vehicle.
Fortunately, Heather demonstrated superb handling skills very similar to a NASCAR racer. Her driving expertise came in very handy as she weaved to and fro through the masses of scantily clad bikers. Richard even went so far as to remark, “With all due respect to the riders,
Heather’s driving was the most impressive part of the weekend.”
| Ouachita Challenge's Womble Trail |
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| Scott leads the way through the Womble |
After successfully crossing the ice-cold Fiddler Creek, Clayton and
Kevin continued their epic ride into the toughest and most extreme singletrack in the state.
Both riders soon began fighting fatigue and had to dig deep in their souls to summon the strength they needed to carry
on. Everyone knew Kevin was determined, but his performance in the Ouachita Challenge
revealed that he is also one of the toughest and most courageous mountain bikers in the state.
In the end, Kevin completed a whopping 48 miles and finished in the top half of the competitors from across the nation. Without a doubt, Kevin could have finished the 60 mile course, but time restrictions
at Check Point #3 temporarily delayed Kevin’s 60 mile romp till next year.
| Just in the nick of time |
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| Heather is relieved as Clayton makes Checkpoint #3 by less than a minute |
Well into the afternoon, Tia began her ride at Check Point #3 as
a sweeper. Her sweeper duties included helping all the riders to ensure that
they safely made it through the last section of the Ouachita Trail unharmed and before darkness fell. Her mission was successful and everyone made it back to Oden with no catastrophes. Too bad for Tia, she helped sweep some of the hardest trail of the whole ride, Her section of the Ouachita Challenge included a seemingly infinite 5 mile climb to the highest elevation
point on the whole course.
| Gaston Mountain Rode |
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| Robert pulls away from his competitors in the last climb |
A new recruit for Bell & Company Mountain Biking from Jonesboro
named Jason Sossaman also terminated the Ouachita Challenge course in stellar time.
Like Robert, Jason Sossaman is an expert caliber rider and proved that he is one of the best of the best as he finished
in a mere 7 hours. Jason was even kind enough to give the camera a little wheelie
action while coming off the Womble Trail.
| Back at Oden School |
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| Ouachita Challenge Tour Riders at the finish line |
| All laughs before the Challenge |
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| Clayton and Kevin |
| The tiny town of Sims |
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| Father and son enjoy the day! |
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