This obviously is not Texas bicycle related other than the fact that I am from the town where the championships were held, Zanesville. The terrain around this part of Ohio reminds me of the eastern US MTB race locale. I have been to the Dillon State Park many times but there wasn’t any place even thought of hosting this type of an event. The MTB had not been invented yet when I lived there. This part of Ohio is very rural. Several counties have a population of a few thousand. This is the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. Coal, cows and corn reign here.

Jordan Morozowsky of Roseville

So if you are interested in how a small town in Ohio can host the MTB championship take a look at this link and the one below. The stories are carried by the local TV station (WHIZ) and the newspaper, The Zanesville Times Recorder. There are some good pictures.

Excerpt from the WHIZ website:

Dillon State Park Hosts Cycling Race
By: Katie Jeffries
It was off to the races this morning in Dillon State Park. Professional and novice cyclists alike gathered to compete in the Ohio Mountain Bike Championship. The professional cyclists practice almost everyday and were ready for the race to begin.

And from the Times Recorder:

Mountain bikers flock to Dillon State Park
BY JIM BARSTOW • Staff Writer
NASHPORT — Things got a little rocky for Jordan Morozowsky and about 100 of his friends. A resident of Roseville, Morozowsky navigated over and around hundreds of boulders strewn along the wooded hillsides of northern Muskingum County Sunday and captured first place in his class during the Ohio Mountain Bike Championship Series at Dillon State Park.