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GARMISCH, Germany — Kitzingen’s Jack Cartwright didn’t let a broken chain stop him from winning the military men’s open category Saturday at the 18th annual Fat Tire Spectacular.

The race is the eighth and final stop in the 2003 Chrysler U.S. Forces-Europe mountain bike championship series.

“I pushed the bike running and coasted the downhills the last two-thirds of the race after my chain snapped,” Cartwright said. “I had considered trying to fix it but decided to just put the chain in my pocket and keep moving before the competition got close enough to see my problem.”

They never did.

Cartwright, who also competes in road-races and triathlons, completed his five roughly 2½-mile laps over Garmisch’s challenging course in 1:01:13, almost two minutes ahead of runner-up Mark Naglac of Aviano.

“The technical downhills and short sharp climbs make this course hard, since there is really no place to rest during a lap,” Cartwright said after winning his fourth race in four tries this season. “I think that it is the best course I’ve ridden this year — a real mountain bike course.”

Despite his perfect record, Cartwright finished second to Jason Patton of Aviano in the overall series standings, 114-76. Patton finished third in 1:07:43 Saturday, but won the overall title by participating in more races.

— Leigh Plowman, recreation director at AFRC Garmisch, contributed to this report.

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