Grom Racing Team members Jay Fesperman (l) and Eric Vest enjoy competitive mountain biking.

Almost the first of May!  Saturday you can go far afield and watch the Kentucky Derby or stay close to home and enjoy Town Day.  Sunday may take you to Quail Hollow to watch wonderful golf or keep you in Davidson to celebrate a Bike Week Kick-off at Fisher Farm.

But for today, Around Davidson reports on mountain bike racers Eric Vest and Jay Fesperman, as well as bike shop owner Mark Sullivan.  Speaking of bikers, the Trail Blazers Mountain Bike Club will be dedicating a new trail at Fisher Farm Sunday (see more on that below).  Keeping with the transportation theme, we also have news of plane travelers Pam and Dick Hay and ship to shore activities with Barbara and Dick Freund.

MOUNTAIN BIKING – RIDING AND RACING NEWS

How nice to visit with eighth graders Eric Vest and Jay Fesperman and hear of their mountain biking successes, and also to learn about Mark Sullivan and the work of the Tar Heel Trail Blazers Mountain Bike Club at Fisher Farm.

Eric is the son of Kenn and Sandy Vest of River Run.  Jay is the son of Chip and Karen Fesperman of McConnell.  These 13-year-old youngsters are part of Grom Racing, a junior mountain bike team with members ranging in age from 13-17.  Their coach is Christopher Herndon of Brevard, who was the 2007 National Mountain Bike Champion.

The Grom junior team has eight members spread across North Carolina and has been racing weekends on the East Coast this year (www.gromrching.com).  Just last weekend, Eric and Jay had great  times (they compete against a clock) in a race at East Tennessee State University which qualified them for USA Nationals in Granby, Colorado, this July 17-18.  Congratulations to these young riders.

Cycle Path owner Mark Sullivan held a bicycle workshop at DCPC Wednesday with help from Eric Vest (left) and Jay Fesperman (right).

Eric started racing with BMX bikes a few years ago but now only competes on mountain bikes.  Jay was encouraged from an early age to ride mountain bikes by neighbor Paul Keller who is now a college student at Western Carolina.  Both boys credit their successes to supportive parents and to Mark Sullivan, owner of The Cycle Path Bicycle Shop on North Main Street in Cornelius.

Mark joined Eric and Jay last evening for a bicycle maintenance and safety class as part of a “Fourth Wednesday” workshop sponsored by DCPC.  Attendees learned minor bike maintenance and the importance of always wearing a helmet.  In addition to keeping long shop hours, Mark is part of the Tar Heel Trail Blazers Mountain Bike Club, which boasts 400 members.  The club works on bicycle trails at Fisher Farm where Mark is the Trail Coordinator.

This Sunday afternoon the Trail Blazers will dedicate  a brand new 1-¼ mile bike trail at Fisher Farm. The dedication is part of National Bike Week, which runs May 1-14.  The new trail will extend the mountain bike/walking paths to 5.2 miles.  Rides on the new trail begin at 1 p.m. although the ceremony is not until 3:30 p.m.  The club will serve free hot dogs, chips and drinks and certainly offer advice on riding.  For more information, call Mark at 704.896.3331.

Thanks to Mark and his fellow club members for their continuing support of the trails at Fisher Farm and good luck to racers Eric and Jay.  These boys will be freshmen at the new Hough High this fall and hope to start a mountain biking team there.

HOLA! ESPAÑA!

Carving out a ten-day vacation over Easter, Pam and Dick Hay flew to Barcelona, Spain.  There they met their daughter, Sarah, who joined them from Seville where she has been staying with a host family while taking classes at the university.

Visiting Plaza Nueva in Seville, Spain, were Pam and Dick Hay with their daughter, Sarah.

After three days of touring Gaudi buildings, the amazing Park Guell, and other notable sites, the family traveled to Seville for a few days.  There Sarah was the tour guide showing them around “her” city with special attractions being the city’s Alcazar (or castle) and the beautiful cathedral, third largest in the world.  (Sorry to say Pam and Dick missed the Holy Week processions in Southern Spain called “Semana Santa” but they saw much of the activity reviewed on Spanish television.)

Leaving Sarah to finish her studies in Seville, Pam and Dick rented a car to drive to Granada and tour the Alhambra.  Continuing to Cordoba they saw the Alcazar there and La Mezquita with its unusual stripped arches atop granite and marble pillars.  Returning their rental car, they booked passage on a train back to Madrid for the flight home to Charlotte.  One day later, Sarah returned to the States having completed her time in Spain.  This was a “gap” year for Sarah who spent last fall in Vina del Mar, Chile, before experiencing Spain this spring.  She hopes to find a job close by for the summer and will enter Davidson College as a freshman in August.  Nice to have you home, Sarah!  (Hope younger brother, Ben, agrees!  We know grandparents, Sam and Dot Hay of The Pines, are delighted to have you back.)

MARINE LIFE LESSONS ON SHIP AND SHORE

10-year-old Justin holds a seahorse.

Lucky youngsters, Justin and Ben Newman of Mooresville, who had a Spring Break adventure of a lifetime thanks to grandparents, Barbara and Dick Freund of Davidson.  Signing up for an Exploratas Class for a week at the end of March where each child had to have a grandparent along, Barbara and Dick packed Justin (10) and Ben (11) into their car and drove to Bogue Banks near Beaufort, NC, for five days of marine life discovery.

11-year-old Ben discovers a tiny squid.

The group of nine children and 11 grandparents stayed in the Trinity Episcopalian Retreat with camp style lodging and family meals.  Their days were filled with exciting assignments.  One day each class member looked for minerals washed from the mountains to the sea in a bucket of sand from the sound.  Another day they went aboard the Duke University Research vessel to retrieve a bucket of dredged material which was put in a bathtub so living creatures could be fished out.  They visited the aquarium in Beaufort, designed imaginary sea creatures out of sand, and learned about sea birds.

A highlight for Grandma Barbara was finding a sea squirt.  The boys were fascinated to dissect a squid and write their names using a piece of the endoskeleton dipped in the ink sac.  What a grand idea to share such a marvelous learning experience with your grandchildren.  When Ben and Justin, sons of Johanna and Brian Newman, returned to their classes at Pine Lake Prep, it goes without saying that they had lots to share with their classmates.

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Have news for Around Davidson? Write to Brenda Barger at hbarger@bellsouth.net.