Cesal Hopes Climb Continues On To Pro Ranks
Correction ran in story “Troika takes off this Sunday,” August 18, 1995: Mark Cesal’s name was misspelled in a story on last Fridau’s Recreation page. (Note: As originally published, Mark Cesal’s name was spelled Mark Cecil.)
Mark Cesal has a goal. Two, actually. His first is to beat one of the area’s top mountain bike racers, Caleb Stolte, of Whitefish, Mont. His second is to turn his avocation into a profession.
Cesal, 23, has zoomed to the top of the men’s expert class in the Washington-Idaho-Montana Mountain Bike Series in just his second year of racing, and hopes to run into Stolte in this weekend’s Pend Oreille Pounder WIM event at Schweitzer Mountain in Sandpoint.
“He’s a professional and one of the top riders around,” Cesal said of Stolte. “He’s the guy I really want to see … the guy I set out to beat. It gives me something to go for.”
Cesal, a 1991 graduate of East Valley High School, is a guy others in the WIM cross country competition have been chasing this season. He’s been a steady top-five finisher, with three victories. In his last race, he won by 9 minutes, 20 seconds.
“When he started last year, he started right in the expert class,” said Wendy Zupan, an event spokeswoman. He finished seventh.
So much for beginner status.
Last year, Cesal competed in both downhill and cross country - the two disciplines that will be contested this weekend - but has concentrated on cross country this year.
“Besides the fact I crashed twice (last year), I just like cross country better,” Cesal said. “I like the climbing … (and) more technical courses. I like the total physical challenge.
“It’s a lot more fun for me.”
Cesal, who became interested when he borrowed a friend’s mountain bike a couple years ago and rode in the hills near his Valley home, said he’s hooked to the point “I want to go pro. I want to make it a career. … I’d like to win the national championship.
“That’s a long-range goal, of course.”
This weekend, he’d settle for a chance to ride against Stolte, who’s already on that professional road.
The 6-mile cross country event, with 600 vertical feet of climb and descent per lap, will be Sunday. Jolanda Van Ooyen of Sandpoint is the favorite in the women’s expert class, where she’s the WIM leader. There’ll be a special fun division for riders who weigh 190 pounds or more, called the Clydesdale class.
The weekend starts Saturday with the WIM downhill. The top riders are expected to hit 50 mph. Also Saturday will be a race for 6- to 12-year-olds and a fat-tire criterium.
More than 200 riders are expected.
Registration for the WIM events runs from 7:30-9 a.m. both days, with the first riders out at 10. Info: (800) 831-8810.
Softball
It’s championship season in Spokane. The next three weekends will be filled with title events - all for women - at Franklin Park.
Saturday and Sunday is the women’s modified pitch Metro tournament, with five teams vying for two spots in the national tournament here the end of the month.
The following weekend, Aug. 19-20, 20 teams will compete in the Evergreen Games women’s D slowpitch tournament as part of a statewide competition.
Then Aug. 25-27, as many as 30 teams from throughout the country will converge on Spokane for the Amateur Softball Association Women’s Modified National Tournament.
The two qualifiers from this weekend will join three other members of the local league in the field - Team Spokane, Brunette’s Sportswear and Colville Hites.