Race Report: 2019 Sheduro Race Report - Frederick Watershed, Maryland

The City of Frederick Watershed, outside Frederick, Maryland, has been quietly called one of the rockiest trail systems on the East Coast for many years but in the last few years the secret has really gotten out - these trails are something special. The big tipping point came last year when the first official mountain bike race was held; the Bike Doctor Sheduro. The 2018 Bike Doctor Sheduro sold out 125 spots in pre-registration and proved to be an amazing day celebrating the vibrant riding community Frederick offers. This year the event was even bigger with 177 racers hitting the course this past Sunday.

The Bike Doctor Sheduro is an enduro format and boasted a new, expanded course for 2019. Open and Master's category racers completed a five stage, 20+ mile course with nearly 3,000 feet of climbing while the rest of the categories skipped the last, most rugged transfer and stage to drop their totals to around 17 miles and over 2,000 feet of climbing. All categories enjoyed a 1,200 foot shuttle from the finish back to the top of the mountain where the race started. The stages were all rocky but they varied from slow, technical riding through baby heads (Stage 1) to full on downhill bike levels of steep and chunk (Stage 5).

After the race a sponsor and local brewery, Attaboy Beer, served up some delicious recovery beverages and food truck extraordinaire Gambrill Mountain Food Company fed the eager racers some of the best burgers and cheesesteaks you'll find anywhere. Thorpewood Mountain Retreats provided the venue for the festivities and their rustic barn seemed to be the perfect backdrop for the day.

The Bike Doctor Sheduro is a fundraiser to support on-going trail projects in the Frederick Watershed and in 2018 the event raised over $4,000 toward that cause. The dust is still settling for this year but the huge turnout, ear-to-ear grins on racer's faces and near non-stop high fives and hugs going around seemed to indicate another big success.



Kinzer Hewitt is all focus as he heads up the two mile road prologue to the trailhead. He finished the day in near disbelief that he'd put up the fastest times overall to win the Open Men's category

Karen Good was the only 45+ female to finish the grueling course and her smile only seemed to grow throughout the day.

Kenan Cole was riding strong all day, taking more than a minute over the rest of the Sport Women's category on nearly every stage.

Local rider Bob Bilson keeping it smooth through the Little Canaan trail at the end of Stage 2.


The course featured two optional gap jumps on Stage Four, but Kinzer Hewitt knew they weren't optional when going for the Open Men's win.

Alex Alfano styles out the dirt jump section at the top of Stage Four on his way to the Junior 15-18 win.

Owen Klimas takes on the Stage Four 'road gap' (which technically jumps over another trail and not a road).

Jocelyn Draugelis pulled a nearly two minute gap from the rest of the Open Women's category on Stage Five - by far the steepest and most technical trail on the course.

Anticipation was high as the final chips came in. The big upset came when Kinzer Hewitt turned in the winning Open Men's chip after leaving local Gilbert Kim on the hot seat until the last minute.

The Gravity Soul crew, who operate a dual slalom track and bike farm on the other side of the mountain, were enjoying the festivities after many of them spent the day racing.

Hungry riders lined up for some of the best food in Frederick from Gambrill Mountain Food Company's food truck.

The future of the Bike Doctor Sheduro - the 14 and Under category. 1st - Gavin Shum, 2nd - Owen Klimas, 3rd - Jeremy Shutt, 4th - Levi Shum, 5th - Sam Klimas.


The Junior 15-18 category had some seriously talented riders with Alex Alfano taking the top step and putting up a time that would have had him on the top step of Sport Men's as well. 1st - Alex Alfano, 2nd - Luke Griffin, 3rd - Ty Teasdale, 4th - Brian McGiffin, 5th - Connor Port.

If you think Karen Good looks excited to be the sole finisher in the 45+ Sport Women' category in this photo you should have seen her when she was handed the XTR brakeset she won! 1st - Karen Good.

The 45+ Sport Men's podium with local legend Bob Bilson on the top step. 1st - Bob Bilson, 2nd - Glenn Griffin, 3rd - Doug McGiffin, 4th - Marc Calderone, 5th - Stephen Ryan.

The Sport Women's podium was missing a few faces who had to start the long drive home, but Kenan Cole made sure to stick around to celebrate her hard work paying off. 1st - Kenan Cole, 2nd - Haille Soderholm, 3rd - Ting Zhang, 4th - Autumn Wright, 5th - Vanessa Berniu.

With 53 riders, the Sport Men's category was the second biggest of the day only behind the Open Men's category. 1st - Adam Lahart, 2nd - Michael Kraemer, 3rd - Mike Neuman, 4th - Nick Sanzone, 5th - Roberto Barbier.

The Master's Men rode all five stages and found local KOM assassin Ian Starr (and his adorable daughter Stella) on top at the end of the day. 1st - Ian Starr, 2nd - Stephen Shum, 3rd - Victor Strassberger, 4th - Nathan Shearer, 5th - Brad Snakenberg.

Open Women's saw a close battle between Joceyln Draugelis and Rebecca Coca, but Jocelyn cemented her win on Stage Five. 1st - Jocelyn Draugelis, 2nd - Rebecca Coca, 3rd - Courtney Moore, 4th - Catherine Riedel.

Open Men's was the biggest category at 54 racers and took on all five stages - competition was fierce but Kinzer Hewitt stayed consistent and took the win. (Notable mention goes to Suka the dog for seizing the chance to try some of Attaboy's awesome offerings!) 1st - Kinzer Hewitt, 2nd - Gilbert Kim, 3rd - John MacInnis, 4th - Zane Mack, 5th - Ryan Leech.

Jocelyn Draugelis and Kinzer Hewitt not only won the Open categories, but also took home the Stage Four win which came with a new set of Alex Rims.

Race director Dan Green presents Frank Comer with the volunteer drawing prize - a Wahoo ELEMNT BOLT. Frank is a regular face helping out at the local events and trail work days, thanks Frank!

Thanks to all of Bike Doctor Sheduro's amazing sponsors there were so many prizes to give out that Todd Bauer had to resort to a faster delivery method.

Bike Doctor Sheduro 2019 Official Results