AUGUST 12, 2010 ISSUE
Boone Native Scharns Still Winning on a Mountain Bike
Local cyclist Drew Scharns recently completed a stretch of racing eight times in 10 days, and he finished with a first, second and fourth-place finish. Photo by Jason GilmerDrew Scharns may have ridden in other races, but his mind was set on the Tour de Burg.
The 29-year-old High Country mountain biker had trained for months for the recent event in Harrisburg, Va., and it showed in his finish.
He won the six-day grassroots race, besting last year’s second place performance.
“I intentionally peaked for that race,” Scharns said. “I did a lot of racing in the spring but kept holding back and holding back and then let it all out. Now I’m suffering from going that hard for so many days.”
Scharns finished the Tour de Burg in 20:20.35, winning by only 1:58.
This was only Scharns’ third time in the race. He finished 14th two years ago.
“It’s pretty prestigious,” he said about the race. “It’s a lifetime accomplishment. It’s the most important race that doesn’t matter.”
Endurance and being in shape has a lot to do with who wins, but so does luck. He had six flat tires one year, but only had one this year and it was during a time trial and he didn’t lose too much time off his lead.
The Tour de Burg is a series of races that mixes mountain and road cycling, yet it still wasn’t enough for Scharns. He arrived home on Thursday, July 8, rested and then got ready to race The Grizzly on July 9, in which he finished second in 3:24.58. He was five minutes off the leader.
He then went to the Iron Mountain 100 in Damascus, Va., on Sunday, July 11, and finished fourth.
Scharns said that was eight races in 10 days in which he spent an average of six hours a day riding.
“That was a lot,” he said.
He trains six days a week for most of the year, only taking some time off during the cold winter months.
Scharns has been racing mountain bikes since he was 9 years old, but took a few years off in his late-teens and early-20s. He got back into the sport five years ago.
One of his goals was to obtain his pro license for mountain biking, which he earned last year. He rides eight to 20 races each year and has competed in 14 this year already.
He goes to State College, Penn., this weekend to race in the Wilderness 101, which is one of three 100-miles races he plans to compete in in the coming months.
Scharns said there are only a few guys in the country earning a living from mountain bike racing, so he plans to “start doing more road biking type stuff to pursue it.”
While he’s not racing, he’s serving as a fly-fishing guide out of Elk Creek Outfitters, taking people on guided trips in the area and into Tennessee and Virginia.
“I spend most of my time outside,” he said.
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