Tour de Grandview wrapup

06/27/2011

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Video review determines top four finishers

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The Men's Pro race at the Tour de Grandview produced a blur of speed with a slow shutter camera. (Photo by Jeff Hinckley)
By AJ Mazzolini
The Columbus Dispatch 

The bicycle has been around for nearly 200 years, but 21st-century technology helped determine the winner of the Tour de Grandview yesterday.

Jonathan Atwell was crowned the men's pro race winner after he and three other riders crossed the finish line separated by fractions of a second. Upon reviewing video of the finish frame by frame on a MacBook laptop, race officials determined that Atwell, 30, beat out Ryan Knapp by inches.

"None of us really knew," Atwell said, recalling the anxious conversation the riders shared during a cool-down lap after the finish.

Said Knapp: "I felt like I was as likely to come in fourth as I was to be first."
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Tour de Grandview: Races' teamwork pays off

06/27/2011

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(Photo by Gavin Jackson)
By AJ Mazzolini
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

When riders cross the finish line this afternoon in the Tour de Grandview Cycling Classic, a cycling-filled weekend will end 100 miles from where it started.

That isn't the length of the Grandview Heights races, now in their 19th year; it's the distance between the city and the starting line for another race that started the weekend, outside of Cincinnati.

Starting last year, three Ohio bicycle races pooled their hopes and resources. Race sponsors were hard to come by, and purses were dwindling. The Tour de Grandview and Cincinnati's Hyde Park Blast still were likely to survive, but to keep thriving, they required a shake-up. Independent preparation wasn't working.

"It can be difficult because you end up cannibalizing each other's events," said Julie Whitley, president of the Grandview Community Association, which organizes the local event.
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BMX, skateboard tour hits Columbus

06/25/2011

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Flying High

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Spencer Scott, 17, of Alexandria jumps on the BMX dirt park at the Flow. (Photo by Fred Squillante)
By AJ Mazzolini
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Three weeks ago, the parking lot of the Flow Skatepark looked like the site of an archaeological dig. Mounds of dirt covered the asphalt surface, and shovels lay strewn about.

Since then, the piles have evolved into specifically crafted hills built for one main purpose: the Gatorade Free Flow Tour's stop in central Ohio.

The summer tour travels the country seeking the best amateur skateboarders and BMX riders younger than 21. It has been a staple in the action-sports community since 2005. This is the tour's third stop in Columbus in as many years, a two-day stay with park events in the skate and BMX disciplines, and a BMX dirt event for the first time.

A total of 21 skate parks are on the tour this summer.

Before the skateboarders drop in on Sunday, the Flow will debut its dirt-covered jewel today for the first runs of live competition. The dirt event - in which bikers ride a course made of jumps and perform high-flying tricks - made its first appearance on the tour in 2010. It's still rare among tour stops, with only three parks offering the event this year.
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Cleveland-area resident to test his mettle in endurance Death Race

06/22/2011

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A 2010 Death Racer crawls under barbed wire. (Cronin Hill Photography)
By AJ Mazzolini
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

In preparing for an upcomng endurance race, Dave French had just received his list of essential items to pack.

An ax. Ten feet of climbing rope. One pair of goggles. One No.2 wooden pencil. A live fish.

All the items might sound strange. But ... a live fish?

"Yeah, one live fish," said French, 42, an officer in the U.S. Coast Guard from the Cleveland area. "They don't really elaborate on anything, and I think that's what frustrates a lot of people about this race."

French's fish - any kind he wants as long as it's still breathing - is the first of many curveballs he can expect at the Spartan Death Race. Two hundred competitors, including four Ohioans, will start the race on Friday in Pittsfield, Vt., but no more than 20 percent have ever reached the finish line in any given year.

"We think it'll be closer to 5 or 8 percent this year," said Joe Desena, the mastermind behind the adventure marathon.
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Central Ohioan headed to Special Olympics World Games in Athens, Greece

06/22/2011

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Taking on the world

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Jeff Brewer of Columbus runs with a parachute that provides more resistance at Grandview High School. (Photo by Jonathon Quilter)
By AJ Mazzolini
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Jeff Brewer's cleats pounded the synthetic surface of the running track at Grandview High School, the silver and black on his shoes having faded to shades of gray long ago.

Brewer's cleats have carried him many miles over the years, usually on tracks in and around his hometown of Columbus. This week, they will take the 37-year-old farther than he ever imagined.

The next time Brewer laces up his cleats for track competition, it will be inside the white marble Panathinaiko Stadium in Athens, Greece.

Brewer is one of two Ohioans and 300 total athletes from the United States participating at the Special Olympics World Games, which start Saturday and run through July 4.
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Arenas, stadiums will keep gun bans

06/17/2011

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By AJ Mazzolini
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Major sports venues in Columbus plan to continue their bans on weapons, even after state legislators approved a bill yesterday to allow concealed weapons in establishments that serve alcohol.

Arenas and stadiums will continue restrictions on guns and knives under a current state law that permits privately owned or leased property to prohibit weapons.

The new bill allows concealed-carry permit-holders to bring firearms into facilities with Class D liquor licenses, which cover on-premise alcohol consumption. Permit-holders may not drink alcohol while in possession of a weapon.

"Our policies as they pertain to weapons will not change; weapons of any type are prohibited," said Karen Davis, director of communications for the Columbus Blue Jackets, who play National Hockey League home games in Nationwide Arena.

"We don't anticipate any issues with our policies," Davis said regarding potential boycotts from concealed-carry proponents.
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First story at the Columbus Dispatch in Columbus, Ohio

06/10/2011

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Fans at a Columbus Clippers game in Hungington Park. (Photo by Jonathan Quilter)
Daytime a great time for Columbus ballgame

By AJ Mazzolini
The Columbus Dispatch

Inside Huntington Park yesterday afternoon, the Columbus Clippers were an inning into an eventual blowout of the Rochester Red Wings.

Beyond the park's right-field wall - dodging the day's intense sunshine for a moment - Stu Harris and Scott Gainey were taking in an inning or two during their lunch break.

"We go running every day, and when we can, we make a quick stop here at the knothole," Gainey said, referring to one of several shaded screens in the wall that provide a look into the Huntington Park outfield from Nationwide Boulevard.

Clad in running shorts and sweat-stained T-shirts, the two Nationwide Insurance employees were a contrast with most of the patrons inside.
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