The Steel Sports Championship Series 2005 season
Nilda Hassell / 14.11.2005
The Steel Sports Championship Series showdown never came to fruition in the form of a series championship race, however, the stats for the series itself have been carefully recorded and evaluated for the 2005 season of Steel Sports Adventure Racing.Congratulations to Team Backpacker/The Bicycle Shop (or as we've come to know them--"Backpacker") for a consistently spectacular showing all season long, capturing a first place victory in all the Steel Sports events in which they participated and a first place overall series standing. David Bogle, Jeff Diamond, Darius Sampey, and Misty Richard are the core team members with assistance from their hard-working crew.
As a result of their outstanding performance, Backpacker has been featured in Adventure Sports Magazine and OuTek Reports/Eco-USA. Yet, their individual athletic prowess is not the only quality that makes these athletes stand out. When we talk about spirit and heart in adventure racing, nowhere is this more evident than in the recent action taken by Darius Sampey, when he provided a safe haven for one of this community's own racers, David Poleto, whose family had experienced the devastating loss of their home during hurricane Katrina. This is the kind of spirit that is the true heart and soul of adventure racing. Whether you are at the top of the pack or at the bottom of the pack-it is not merely strength of body that defines a winner, but strength of character. Many, many racers from various parts of the region reached out to do what they could for their neighbors.
