Thursday's Internet Edition, September 09, 2010.

“I think the importance of this race can be seen just by going out to the lake and seeing all the improvements,” Mark Bossert, vice president of the Friends of Charles Fork Lake, said. “Until a small group of people showed interest 17 years ago, it was in pretty rough shape.”

Bossert credits volunteers and the city of Spencer for working to make the venue better for the community and the race. Recent additions by the city, which owns the property, include the development of rustic campsites, a new dock and a picnic pavilion.

Everything is expected to be in fine shape for this weekend’s event, which kicks off with a Kids’ Day Race on Saturday and continues with the main event on Sunday.

“We’ve had a couple of workdays out there and cleared the trails,” Bossert said. “They’re ready to go.”

Sunday’s 17th annual Tour will begin at noon with two races run concurrently – a single-lap 15K and a two-lap 30K on the challenging trails around the lake.

Bossert said the course would be the same as last year, when Jeremy Rowand of Morgantown won the Pro/Expert division in 1 hour, 43 minutes and 18.9 seconds.

The race is part of a point series conducted by the West Virginia Mountain Bike Association. Last year’s Tour attracted 96 riders, and Bossert said the number of participants for Sunday would not be known until race time because pre-registration is no longer necessary, but predicted that improved marketing efforts aided by the city should boost the turnout. He said city marketing director Jacob Fetty, an avid biker, has distributed materials promoting the race.

A timing system introduced two years ago will allow times of riders in 13 divisions to be immediately displayed on a screen.

Along with the Tour, the Fitness Complex will sponsor the free Kids’ Day Race on Saturday starting at 10 a.m. Divisions are planned for ages 6 and under, 7-8, 9-10 and 11-12. Participants are required to wear a helmet.

Refreshments and snacks will be available after an awards presentation during which every rider will receive a prize.

Bossert said he was anticipating bigger and better things for the Tour beginning next year, adding that Fetty, whose father Jeff was a race founder, was working on several ideas.

“I’m really looking forward to us building on things in future years,” Bossert said.