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About Illinois Valley news. (Cave City, Oregon) 1937-current | View Entire Issue (June 30, 2004)
Page 16 Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, OR Wednesday, June 30, 2004 UP AND AWAY - An Inner Foal Workshop was conducted by Molly Ayers (left) at Out ‘N’ About Treesort in Takilma on Saturday and Sunday, June 26-27. The intent was to offer tips and tricks to train horses. Karen Parker and Lisa Shelton also assisted in the work- shop. Approximately 20 people participated in the two-day event. For more information about future programs phone 592-5452. (Shane Welsh photo) One of the secrets of life is to make stepping stones out of stumbling blocks. - Jack Penn - Members of ‘Chain Reaction,’ an outstanding bicycle club led by Jim Heern at IVHS (Photo provided) State-winning bike club outstanding spokesmen By CHRISTINA HILL Correspondent Being the best is not always easy. But a bicycle club at Illinois Valley High School, known as “Chain Reaction,” makes it look easy. The coed team, which consists of 15 boys and five girls from Lorna Byrne Middle School and IVHS, recently snagged first place for the high school series state title in mountain biking. How- ever, its success didn’t come overnight. The team spent many grueling months practicing and pre- paring for the five races that showcased their skills. “We started riding in the rain and cold in Janu- ary,” said Jim Heern, team coach. “I was kind of sur- prised that some of those kids would come out and do it.” Heern has been teach- ing welding and agricul- ture at IVHS since 1978, when he moved to the val- ley. He began coaching the team in 2003 after he was approached by a couple of students. “I’ve been riding for 14 or 15 years,” said Heern. “Caleb Culver and Andy Brooks came to me,” he said, “and asked me if I could start a team.” Brooks, whose parents and brothers race as well, has been racing since he was 6. For the past three or four years, he has ad- vanced to racing on a pro- fessional level. “I’m ranked fifth in the junior division for the na- tion,” said Brooks. “In January I went to Europe for two weeks to compete in the world championship series for mountain biking, but I didn’t place because I ended up crashing and messing up my bike pretty good.” While Brooks may not have fared so well, back home he was an asset for “Chain Reaction,” as he raced in the elite division and scored high points for his team. However, everyone on the team made a huge con- tribution toward winning the state title, he added. According to Heern, practice wasn’t easy, even for those who were already athletic. “When you’re biking, you’re using a lot of leg muscles that you don’t normally use,” Heern said. “Even for the people who were really athletic, it was hard keeping up the endur- ance while using all those new muscles.” The rigorous practices, which whipped the team into shape, were harder than some of the races, Heern said. “For practice, we would ride to the Califor- nia tunnel and back, a roundtrip of 25 miles,” he said. “We would also go to Rockydale Road and do 1- mile sprints. We would also do hill climbs and a race pace, where we started out really fast and would go hard the whole time. We also did mock races before any of the real races, which were usually 17- or 18-mile-long rides,” said Heern. The team peddled its way to victory without any Three Rivers School Dis- trict funding. Members relied heavily on fund- raisers and sponsorships, and were able to purchase team jerseys and travel across Oregon to the five racing events. The first event, “Mud Slinger,” was in Corvallis. Next the team traveled to Roseburg for the “Big K,” and then it was on to Ash- land for “The Spring Thaw.” Team members concluded the season with the two final races, “The Chain Breaker” and “Picket’s Charge,” both of which were held in Bend. “The first-place winner of each race was awarded 30 points; second place 25 points, and so on down to one point for the first 15 racers who crossed the fin- ish line,” said Heern. “All the points from all the races were combined to determine the winning team. In the end, we had the most points.” The team appreciates all the help it received from its sponsors: Oregon Caves Chevron, Spin Cy- cle, Bike Craft, Old Stage Auto, Wild River Brewing & Pizza Co., Z Coffee, Junction Realty, McHugh Enterprises, I.V. 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