Race volunteers kept fires going throughout the night for cold racers.

Held over the weekend of the daylight savings time change, the third annual 25 Hours in Frog Hollow boasts 25 hours of non-stop racing from 10 am Saturday to 10 am Sunday.

Held just outside of Hurricane, Utah, the 12.2 mile course features some of the classic trails of the area including the fast and smooth JEM Trail and the rocky Rim Trail. Part bike race, part costume party, with an excellent crew of volunteers and spectacular scenery in the shadow of Zion National Park, Frog Hollow is quickly gaining the reputation as one of the best all-day races on the calendar.

With many racers flocking to the desert to escape the snow and cold temperatures around the west, the weather played a cruel trick and racers were greeted with snow flurries and cold temperatures on Saturday morning with bitterly cold temperatures forecasted for the night.

Luckily for racers, especially those in costume, the weather began to clear just minutes before the race start and a strong north wind quickly dried the damp course. As the day wore on, the weather continued to improve and the 20 mph winds died down leaving the night dead calm with temperatures well below freezing. With the cold temperatures, many racers from colder climates took advantage of competitors’ cold hands and feet to open up race deciding leads. Sunday arrived clear as racers were treated to a brilliant sunrise illuminating the cliffs of Zion for the final laps of the 25-hour endurance test.

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (ST)– A feeling of warmth was in the air at the 22nd Annual Bell’s Brewery Iceman Cometh Challenge, the largest single day point-to-point mountain bike race in North America.

Maybe it was due to the unseasonable balmy, sunny fall conditions, which approached 60 degrees. It could have also been the result of the event’s new title sponsor, Michigan based Bell’s Brewing, who let the taps flow free at the massive finish line expo area resulting in a ten barrel high keg pyramid – the contents of which helped to replenish the bodies and spirits of over 4,800 racers.

No, that isn’t a misprint – 4,800 racers going off in 3-minute waves in a start that lasted half a day. The Iceman has come a long way, baby! From its humble beginnings in 1990 with 35 entrants and a $0 purse, to a total prize purse of over $54,000 today, including a $5,000 payout for the first place Men’s and Women’s Pro Class finishers.

With big money on the line it isn’t a surprise that in recent years the Iceman has been attracting more and more top USA national pros. This year was no exception, with recent Pan-American Games winner Heather Irminger and former USA National Marathon and Short-Track Mountain Bike Champion Jeremiah Bishop gracing the field.

So, what was new to the Iceman Pro Class this year? The podium went finally went global with Swiss National Lukas Flückiger (Trek World Racing) taking the overall Pro Men’s victory in a tight finish line sprint with 2008 Iceman winner Jeremiah Bishop (Cannondale).

In the Women’s Pro Class, Heather Irminger (Subaru-Trek) finally got to take home the title of Icewomen, having had to settle for the Bronze Medal on the podium in two prior years. Irminger piped BMC Mountain Bike Development Pro Chloe Woodruff by 12 seconds and current UCI World Champion Catharine Pendrel by just over a minute.

TITLE

• 1. Todd Wells, (USA), in 9:38:31 OPEN
• 2. Rom Akerson, (Cri), in 9:45:42 OPEN
• 3. Milton Ramos, (Hon), in 9:53:28 OPEN
• 4. Luis Mejia, (Col), in 10:06:39 OPEN
• 5. Federico Ramirez Mendez, (Cri), in 10:09:33 OPEN
• 6. Alex Grant, (USA), in 10:12:34 OPEN
• 7. Moises Hernandez Araya, (Cri), in 10:22:46 OPEN
• 8. Ben Sonntag, (Ger), in 10:36:35 OPEN
• 9. Gerry D Cody, (), in 10:58:22 OPEN
• 10. Alexander Sanchez Calderon, (Cri), in 11:03:11 OPEN
• 11. Santos Corea Gutierrez, (Cri), in 11:12:40 MALE 30-39
• 12. Leighton Poidevin, (Can), in 11:18:30 MALE 40-49
• 13. Jonathan Camacho, (CRI), in 11:21:03 OPEN
• 14. Manuel Prado, (Cri), in 11:26:08 OPEN
• 15. Jeff D Herrera, (CRI), in 11:37:20 MALE 30-39
• 16. Hector Fernando Riveros Paez, (Col), in 11:43:24 OPEN
• 17. Dennis Porras Murillo, (Cri), in 11:52:11 OPEN
• 18. Travis Hauck, (Can), in 11:54:21 MALE 30-39
• 19. Sharlys Silva De Oliveira, (Bra), in 12:09:09 OPEN
• 20. Nate Whitman, (Usa), in 12:11:40 OPEN
• 21. Ruderick Marcel Juarez Sequeira, (Nic), in 12:15:34 OPEN
• 22. Adriana Rojas, (Cri), in 12:30:21 FEMALE
• 23. Dax Jaikel, (Cri), in 12:30:59 MALE 30-39
• 24. Eddy Perez Mata, (Cri), in 12:30:59 MALE 30-39
• 25. José Joaquin Rojas Acosta, (CRI), in 12:31:24 OPEN
• 26. Yanan Briceño Gutierrez, (Cri), in 12:36:46
• 27. Juan Pablo Sanchez, (Cri), in 12:36:52 MALE 30-39
• 28. Luis Diego Chaverri Madden, (CRI), in 12:39:33 MALE 30-39
• 29. Jose Octavio García Larrañaga, (Mex), in 12:43:13
• 30. Rebecca Rusch, (Usa), in 12:47:14 FEMALE
• 31. Jonathan Firth, (Can), in 12:47:55 MALE 30-39
• 32. Mario Alfredo Meneses Bonilla, (CRI), in 12:50:02 OPEN
• 33. Ross Farrel, (N Irl), in 12:55:02
• 34. Michel Alfonso Larrain, (Ven), in 13:04:03 MALE 30-39
• 35. Adam Pulford, (USA), in 13:04:47
• 36. Melvin Alexander Mora Garita, (CRI), in 13:12:06 OPEN
• 37. Victor Alonso Araya Pereira, (CRI), in 13:12:33 MALE 30-39
• 38. Louise Kobin, (USA), in 13:15:02 FEMALE
• 39. Fernando Salazar, (CRI), in 13:20:33 MALE 40-49
• 40. José Andres Rojas Meza, (CRI), in 13:28:23 OPEN
• 41. Jesus Hernandez Sanabria, (Ven), in 13:30:06 OPEN
• 42. Jose Alberto Porras Alvarez, (CRI), in 13:36:26
• 43. Renato Cisneros, (Ecu), in 13:37:12 MALE 40-49
• 44. Vincent Ruddy, (CRI), in 13:44:02
• 45. Ajay Pandit Chhetri, (Nep), in 13:46:35 OPEN
• 46. Szymon Zacharski, (Pol), in 13:49:19
• 47. Alex Ter-Vrugt, (Hol), in 13:51:34
• 48. Hendrick Rojas Arroyo, (Cri), in 13:54:09 OPEN
• 49. Max Araya Orozco, (Cri), in 13:58:10 MALE 30-39
• 50. Mario Alberto Araya Mena, (Cri), in 14:02:01 MALE 30-39
• 51. Stefano Tomirotti, (Ita), in 14:04:44 MALE 40-49
• 52. Daniel Garcia Matamoros, (CRI), in 14:05:14 OPEN
• 53. Anthony Fonseca Sanchez, (Cri), in 14:06:24 OPEN
• 54. Allan Gonzalez Brenes, (Cri), in 14:12:53 OPEN
• 55. Kenneth Sanabria Sanabria, (CRI), in 14:18:16 OPEN
• 56. Ivan Jimenez Camacho, (CRI), in 14:21:22 MALE 30-39
• 57. Jane Rynbrandt, (USA), in 14:21:47 FEMALE
• 58. Luis Fernando Mora Hidalgo, (Cri), in 14:30:18 MALE 30-39
• 59. Rafael Herrera Herrera, (CRI), in 14:53:54
• 60. Esteban Mendez, (CRI), in 14:54:47 MALE 30-39
• 61. Maxwell Da Rocha, (Bra), in 14:57:14 MALE 30-39
• 62. Brian Vaughan, (USA), in 14:59:05 MALE 40-49
• 63. Esteban Calleja Montealegre, (CRI), in 15:01:18 OPEN
• 64. Brian Oestrike, (Usa), in 15:01:29
• 65. Eric Warkentin, (USA), in 15:02:39 MALE 40-49
• 66. Guillermo Monge Ramos, (CRI), in 15:05:15
• 67. Marlon Alonso Mena Brenes, (Cri), in 15:07:57
• 68. Jose Guadalupe Cruz Salas, (Mex), in 15:08:55 OPEN
• 69. Ligia Madrigal Moya, (Cri), in 15:08:55 FEMALE
• 70. Alejandro Diez, (Mex), in 15:12:24 MALE 30-39
• 71. Roy Rojas Garbanzo, (Cri), in 15:15:47 MALE 30-39
• 72. Edgardo Sanchez Paniagua, (CRI), in 15:16:59
• 73. Federico Amador Leon, (Cri), in 15:17:34 MALE 40-49
• 74. Mark Jeffery, (UK), in 15:20:33 MALE 40-49
• 75. Erick Barboza, (Cri), in 15:21:06 MALE 30-39
• 76. Nathaniel Grew, (CRI), in 15:27:47
• 77. Mauricio Alvarado Rivera, (CRI), in 15:29:53 MALE 40-49
• 78. Tom Ebbern, (Can), in 15:32:43 MALE 50+
• 79. Roberto Solorzano Nuñez, (CRI), in 15:34:27
• 80. Diego Bernini Esquivel, (CRI), in 15:40:18
• 81. Juan Carlos Villa Solano-Mayflower Research Team, (Cri), in 15:43:38
• 82. Staffan Bjorklund, (Swe), in 15:50:52
• 83. Javier Gurdian Astúa, (CRI), in 15:51:29 MALE 50+
• 84. Lutz Frank Karbe, (Ger), in 15:53:09
• 85. Alvaro Lang, (Cri), in 15:56:08 MALE 40-49
• 86. Christian Gerardo Valerio Varela, (CRI), in 15:57:59 MALE 30-39
• 87. Ricardo Alvarado Quiros, (Cri), in 16:08:55
• 88. Matt Luhn, (USA), in 16:16:15
• 89. Eduardo Saenz Corrales, (CRI), in 16:18:40 MALE 30-39
• 90. Javier Alexander Rojas Acosta, (CRI), in 16:23:29
• 91. Jhonny Francisco Sanchez Chavarria, (Cri), in 16:23:29 OPEN
• 92. Carlos Calvo Ramazzini, (Cri), in 16:23:46 MALE 40-49
• 93. Francisco Javier Matamoros Hdez., (CRI), in 16:28:53 MALE 30-39
• 94. Leonel Gomez Navarro, (CRI), in 16:33:18 MALE 40-49
• 95. Alejandro Lopez Quesada, (CRI), in 16:46:24 MALE 30-39
• 96. Christian Paul Lesko Madriz, (Cri), in 16:47:07
• 97. Detinne Denis, (Bel), in 16:49:17
• 98. Luis Alberto Barquero Solano, (CRI), in 16:51:02
• 99. Luis Urain, (CRI), in 16:52:53 MALE 30-39
• 100. Rafael Bosco Ferreiro Melo, (Bra), in 16:57:45 MALE 30-39
• 101. Erick Ballestero Cruz, (CRI), in 16:58:23
• 102. Ronald Araya Garcia, (CRI), in 16:59:25
• 103. Christian Palomo Campos, (CRI), in 17:06:18
• 104. Scott Rake, (USA), in 17:09:53
• 105. Odd Mjaland, (Nor), in 17:14:25
• 106. Luis Mariano Viquez Vargas, (CRI), in 17:17:52 MALE 30-39
• 107. Alvaro Sauma Rossi, (CRI), in 17:18:57
• 108. Carlos Cabezas Charpentier, (CRI), in 17:21:00 MALE 40-49
• 109. Juan Simon Ocaña Ortiz, (Mex), in 17:21:58 OPEN
• 110. Alejandro Arias Victory, (CRI), in 17:22:41
• 111. Troy Malmin, (USA), in 17:30:01
• 112. Tyler Dominguez, (Esp), in 17:30:01
• 113. Jonathan Bullock, (USA), in 17:30:01
• 114. Eddie Clark-Mayflower Research Team, (USA), in 17:30:10
• 115. Will Muecke, (USA), in 17:36:25 MALE 40-49
• 116. Arnaldo Brenes Rojas, (Cri), in 17:40:56
• 117. John Stimpson, (USA), in 17:46:28
• 118. Martin Robb, (UK), in 17:46:51
• 119. Steven Rules, (USA), in 17:49:23
• 120. Dominic Yee, (USA), in 17:50:51
• 121. Darrell Jones, (Can), in 17:51:47 MALE 40-49
• 122. Francisco Sanchez Castillo, (CRI), in 17:54:14 MALE 50+
• 123. Rob Bilich, (HRV), in 18:00:43
• 124. Randy Taylor Rhodes- Mayflower Research Team, (Usa), in 18:02:01
• 125. Sebastian Bolaños, (CRI), in 18:07:18
• 126. La Kelly-Mayflower Research Team, (USA), in 18:09:47
• 127. Caterina Tellini, (Cri), in 18:11:32 FEMALE
• 210. Jimmy Chinchilla Sanchez, (CRI), in 18:19:50
• 128. Kathy Judson, (USA), in 18:20:53 FEMALE
• 129. Mario Andre Cordero Alfaro, (CRI), in 18:23:17
• 130. Alan Arguello Díaz, (Cri), in 18:25:24 MALE 30-39
• 131. Pablo Pessoa Soto, (Cri), in 18:28:39
• 132. Juan Pablo Ramirez Araya, (Cri), in 18:29:13
• 133. Sergio Acuña Aguilar, (CRI), in 18:33:29
• 134. Carlos Martinez Masis, (Cri), in 18:34:07 MALE 40-49
• 135. Jake Sinn-Mayflower Research Team, (USA), in 18:37:05
• 136. Roger Gonzalez Salvador, (Esp), in 18:37:09 OPEN
• 137. Jorge Horacio Ramirez Basurto, (Mex), in 18:38:01
• 138. Gerardo Alfaro Soto, (CRI), in 18:42:45
• 139. Mary Dannelley, (USA), in 18:44:40
• 140. Mike Dannelley, (USA), in 18:44:40
• 141. Chris Carmichael, (USA), in 18:52:37
• 142. Gerardo Alvarado Sanchez, (CRI), in 19:03:44
• 143. Mauricio Richmond Padilla, (CRI), in 19:07:41 MALE 30-39
• 144. Luis Diego Castro Martinez, (CRI), in 19:15:55
• 145. John Hessian, (USA), in 19:17:41
• 146. Timothy O’keeffe, (Usa), in 19:21:30
• 147. David Kibler, (CRI), in 19:21:34 MALE 50+
• 148. Giancarlo Loria Fonseca, (Cri), in 19:23:24 MALE 30-39
• 149. Marvin Hernandez Monge, (CRI), in 19:25:27
• 150. Luis D. Peregrina C., (Mex), in 19:26:29 MALE 30-39
• 151. David Engelbrecht, (Usa), in 19:28:11
• 152. Thomas Wolf-Mayflower Research Team, (USA), in 19:38:13
• 153. Abraham Finkelman, (ISR), in 19:44:07 MALE 40-49
• 154. Rony Garcia Mendoza, (CRI), in 19:47:12
• 155. Andres Garcia Mendoza, (CRI), in 19:47:20
• 156. Cesar Nuñez Monge, (Cri), in 19:51:15 MALE 30-39
• 157. Krzysztof Pniewski, (Pol), in 19:54:34
• 158. Andres Clarke Holman, (Cri), in 19:58:50 MALE 50+
• 159. Rito Baez Rojas, (CRI), in 19:58:51
• 160. Franco Gomez, (CRI), in 19:59:31
• 161. Alejandro Murillo Paniagua, (CRI), in 20:00:12
• 162. Geovanny Gomez Navarro, (CRI), in 20:00:39 MALE 40-49
• 163. Ignacio Merino, (Mex), in 20:01:01 MALE 40-49
• 164. Yuryil Aguilar Gutierrez, (Cri), in 20:03:37
• 165. Andres E. Cordovez F., (Ecu), in 20:06:31 MALE 40-49
• 166. Felix De Leon, (Mex), in 20:10:22
• 167. Mario Alberto Mata Aguilar, (CRI), in 20:11:13 OPEN
• 168. Marc Hoffmeister, (USA), in 20:15:52
• 169. Omar Esteban Roman Marin, (CRI), in 20:17:26 MALE 30-39
• 170. Scott Sidener, (USA), in 20:21:31
• 171. Miguel Rodriguez, (PR), in 20:35:15
• 172. Gabriel Porras Chacon, (Cri), in 20:36:06 MALE 30-39
• 173. Benito Canales Martinez, (Mex), in 20:51:33
• 174. Roberto Quesada Witte, (CRI), in 20:53:49
• 175. Gustavo Padilla Umaña, (CRI), in 20:56:44
• 176. Christine Dietsche, (Ger), in 21:06:22
• 177. Johan Garcia Barquero, (CRI), in 21:16:33
• 178. Arturo Fernandez Vega, (CRI), in 21:16:33 OPEN
• 179. Jose Luis Del Bosque, (Mex), in 21:19:09
• 180. Esteban Mora Cyrman, (Cri), in 21:21:52
• 181. Rafael Angel Salazar Castro, (CRI), in 21:26:53
• 182. Alvaro Chacon Soto, (Cri), in 21:42:05
• 213. Gerardo Cambronero Aguiluz, (Cri), in 21:44:35
• 183. Modesto Arostegui, (R. Dom), in 21:46:08
• 184. David Fernandez, (R. Dom), in 21:46:14 MALE 40-49
• 215. Heart Akerson, (USA), in 22:14:57 MALE 50+
• 185. Brian Cooke, (Can), in 31:05:16
• 186. Esteban Quesada Arias, (CRI), in 32:00:27 OPEN
• 187. Evelio Delgado Castro, (CRI), in 32:20:42
• 188. Dan Weatherbie, (USA), in 32:32:20
• 189. Esteban De La Garza, (Mex), in 32:37:41 MALE 40-49
• 190. Dany Corrales Zeca, (CRI), in 32:39:12
• 191. Juan Luis Bonilla Cervantes, (Cri), in 32:56:12
• 192. Kurt Hellweg, (USA), in 32:56:35
• 193. Scott Olson, (USA), in 33:10:19 MALE 40-49
• 194. David Haines, (USA), in 33:12:06
• 195. Christian Gerardo Guillen Solano, (Cri), in 33:31:19
• 196. Tucker Szymkowicz, (), in 33:31:22
• 197. Oscar Tejero Carrasco, (Esp), in 33:38:03
• 198. Alicia Ortega Calvo, (Esp), in 33:38:03
• 199. Daniel Jimenez Bravo, (CRI), in 33:38:48
• 200. Anthony Rick D’amico, (USA), in 33:44:12 MALE 50+
• 201. Steve Phillips, (USA), in 33:44:12
• 202. Julio Molina, (), in 33:46:09
• 203. Roy Wallack, (), in 33:58:21
• 204. Peter Dillane, (IRL), in 34:06:50
• 205. Alex Richmond Padilla, (CRI), in 34:07:44
• 206. Erick Richmond Padilla, (CRI), in 34:07:44 MALE 40-49
• 207. Victor Pereyra, (Arg), in 34:09:24
• 208. Alvaro Jose Salazar Kruse, (CRI), in 34:17:37
• 209. Julio Alberto Rodriguez Obaldía, (Cri), in 34:20:33
• 211. Fernando Marin Davalos Gonzalez, (Mex), in 34:24:57
• 212. Ileana Soto Alvarez, (CRI), in 34:25:25 FEMALE
• 235. Lucia A. Ardon Morera, (Cri), in 34:30:13
• 227. Brent Sparkman, (USA), in 34:39:03
• 229. Eduardo Barth Ulate, (CRI), in 34:39:03 MALE 40-49
• 231. Rocío Monge, (Cri), in 34:39:17
• 222. Alison Jones, (Can), in 34:40:58 FEMALE
• 228. Juan Miguel Ortega Navarro, (Cri), in 34:40:59
• 238. Gabriela Morera Guerrero, (Cri), in 34:56:24 FEMALE
• 236. Juan Carlos Zumbado Montero, (Cri), in 34:56:26
• 224. Efraín Arturo Bolaños, (CRI), in 34:56:34
• 237. Minor Sanchez Nuñez, (Cri), in 34:56:36
• 232. Arturo Vargas Morera, (Cri), in 35:06:24
• 230. Roger Francisco Jimenez Miranda, (CRI), in 35:11:36 MALE 50+
• 221. Josep Maria Sunyer Cabayol, (Esp), in 35:16:34 MALE 30-39
• 234. Luis Horacio Siller Garcia, (Mex), in 35:17:03
• 239. Linethe Rosely Gamboa Mendez, (Cri), in 35:17:59 FEMALE
• 220. Gemma Rossell Comabella, (Esp), in 35:18:28 FEMALE
• 226. Hesiquio Merino, (Mex), in 35:18:28 MALE 40-49
• 214. Cliff Richmond, (Usa), in 35:19:23
• 219. Idelfonso Alejandro Oporta Reyes, (Cri), in 35:27:20
• 223. Ken Shuart, (USA), in 35:27:57
• 216. Freddy Quesada Miranda, (CRI), in 35:33:36
• 217. Patrick Hayes, (Can), in 47:59:58
• 218. Ever Obando O., (CRI), in 47:59:58 MALE 30-39
• 225. Rodrigo Jose Ramirez Camacho, (CRI), in 47:59:58
• 233. Omar Edgard Kferman Alonso, (Mex), in 47:59:58
• 240. Kevin Hayes, (Can), in
• 241. Joseph Semple, (USA), in
• 242. Juan Carlos Soto Brenes, (CRI), in
• 243. Julio Argentino Hormaechea, (Arg), in
• 244. Lucas Di Luzio, (Arg), in
• 245. Jan Brataas, (Nor), in
• 246. Marco Antonio Cerdas Barrantes, (Cri), in
• 247. Gerardo Padilla Garza, (Mex), in
• 248. Erick Barrientos Cordero, (Cri), in MALE 40-49
• 249. Rolando Fonseca, (Cri), in

La Ruta regular Heart Akerson is the father of Rom Akerson, who is currently second overall. Photo: LeadAdventureMedia

Two days into the 19th edition of Costa Rica’s La Ruta de los Conquistadores mountain bike stage race two things are certain: La Ruta is as grueling as ever and just who the winner will be come Saturday is uncertain.

While America’s reigning cross-country national champ Todd Wells posted a commanding victory in Wednesday’s 108km stage one, he placed fourth in stage two on Thursday. Although Wells leads the overall going into Friday’s third stage he is a newbie to the unique suffering that is La Ruta and mountain bike stage racing in general.

Add those factors into the La Ruta equation — mother of all mud, racing up and down volcanoes, hectic traffic, staying on course, jungle and miles of railroad tracks — and anything is possible if not likely.

Stage 1
Wells, winner of the 2011 Leadville Trail 100, set the tone in Wednesday’s stage one by topping the field by more than 10 minutes. In his first-ever mountain bike stage race, Wells (Specialized) crossed the line in 5 hrs 27 mins 32 secs, 10:34 ahead of Milton Ramos of Honduras who was followed by Rom Akerson of Costa Rica.

The spoiler on the first of four days of racing was when defending champ Ben Sonntag crashed in the notoriously muddy Carara rainforest and snapped his carbon fiber handlebar. The mishap dropped the German well off the pace leaving him to pull his Cannondale Factory Racing teammate Alex Grant to a podium spot or take a stage victory for himself.

With all the steep climbing and crazy descents in La Ruta, not to mention traffic, traditional cycling teamwork isn’t so much the case when it comes to Sonntag working for Grant, as Grant did last year when the German won the overall.

“Let’s call it mental drafting,” Sonntag said. “There’s no real drafting, but to be on somebody’s wheel still makes it a little easier. The climbs are pretty bumpy so picking a line is important.”

In the women’s competition, 2011 Leadville record holder Rebecca Rusch finished second in stage one, ten minutes behind Costa Rica’s
Adriana Rojas. Five-time La Ruta women’s champ Louise Kobin of California placed third.

Stage 2
While 63km doesn’t appear too daunting, stage two’s distance was tough, said Grant after he and Sonntag crossed the line in fifth and sixth place about 30 seconds behind Wells.

“It just gets so steep and people are out of the saddle sprinting up the thing,” Grant said.

The day’s monster climbs didn’t keep Colombia’s Luis Mejia from taking a flyer early and holding it to the end. Mejia, who was disqualified from the 2010 race for accepting aid outside designated checkpoints, finished the day in 4 hrs 1 min and 21 secs, which was 3:05 ahead of Akerson and 7:07 ahead of Costa Rica’s favorite son, Lico Ramierez, five-time La Ruta champ.

After dealing with a flat and a subsequent wheel change that left him riding solo for most of the stage, Wells finished fourth 9:38 off the lead.

GC into Stage Three

At a total time of 9hrs 38mins 31secs, Wells holds a tenuous 7:11 lead on second-place Akerson and third place Ramos at 14:57 back. At La Ruta a seven-minute lead with two stages to go isn’t ironclad. And Wells found out during stage 2 how unforgiving La Ruta can be.

“It’s hard to push yourself when you’re alone out there. You want to do well but it’s the second day of a long race, the climbs are steep and you’re tired and you don’t know what’s coming up, so having those guys around in the beginning helped me quite a bit … to motivate,”

Wells said after the stage. “Riding the last third of the race by myself was tough,”

Like Wells, Rojas also kept her overall lead in the women’s race. Going into Friday’s third stage the Costa Rican holds a commanding 16 min 53 sec lead over Rusch and 44:41 advantage on Kobin.

Friday: Stage Three

For those who think Costa Rica is all jungle and humidity, Friday’s stage three will help disabuse you of that notion. Racers will head up the Irazú Volcano, with the high probability of bitterly cold weather much of the day. The day starts at about 4,200 feet and tops out at about 10,000 feet. After a brief respite that takes riders past the Turrialba Volcano, one of the fastest and longest downhills in Costa Rica awaits.

Logan Collins (Lindsey Wilson) flying through the mud in the dual slalom. Photo: Eszter Horanyi

ANGEL FIRE, NM (ST) — On the final day of the 2011 Collegiate Mountain Bike National Championships, with only the dual slalom left to race, single points separated the many of the top teams in the overall team omnium competition and similarly small gaps separated those riders competing in all four events aiming for an individual omnium title.

The dual slalom track had been covered in snow when racers first arrived on Thursday and had slowly been melting over the course of the weekend. The event director had kept the sloppy course closed until Saturday afternoon to preserve the track and then was forced to close it again after the first few riders carved deep ruts into the professionally built track during practice Saturday afternoon. To compensate, practice opened at 7:30 on Sunday morning, long before the sun could melt the course.

During the day, timing of runs was key as the course quickly melted and turned muddy as the sun hit different parts of the course. Combined with generator problems that stopped racing for extended periods of time, racers faced a multitude of conditions, from icy to muddy to dry, over the course of the seven hours of racing.

Qualifying, which was delayed halfway through, consisted of a run on each course with the combined time used for seeding. Unfortunately, gate problems caused over half the field to qualify on a far muddier, and slower course for their second run, leaving some riders seeded far lower than expected as they slipped and slid down a muddy course that had been frozen solid on their previous run. The difficult and variable conditions showcased the riders who were able to not only ride the course both frozen and in mud, but were able to handle both conditions on the same run. With the course changing rapidly between runs, racers were forced to improvise their riding and line choice, not only on each run, but each corner within a run.

In the DII men, Paul Mayes (Michigan Technological University) defeated defending champion Blake Carney (California Lutheran University) in the big final while Joseph Leahy, racing for the East Tennessee State University dual slalom powerhouse won the bronze ahead of Brad Nelson of Union College. The DI men saw another upset as Joey Schusler (University of Colorado) showed that he had improved his gated racing skills to win his second national title of the weekend, adding to his collection of four stars and bars jerseys won in the downhill. He defeated Timothy Price (University of Virginia) narrowly in both runs. The small final saw teammates Daniel Caluag and Chase Hines of Lindsey Wilson College pitted against each other with Caluag coming out ahead. Logan Collins, also of Lindsey Wilson, showing the team’s depth in gated racing events, finishing fifth.

The women’s DII saw the match-up of the Rocky Mountain Conference’s strong woman, Coleen Pacurariu (Air Force Academy) with defending mountain cross champion, Essence Barton (California Lutheran University). Barton showed that regardless of the gated discipline, she was the fastest woman down the hill. Kate Weisenfluh (Brevard) defeated Christin Boyer (School of Mines) for the bronze. In DI, Lindsey Wilson College once again dominated with Crystal Kalogris, Stephanie Barragan, and Madison Pitts places first, second, and fourth. Brittany Clawson (Fort Lewis College) was the only rider able to break the stronghold.

Fort Lewis wins D1 overall

Overall team omnium titles were awarded at the end of the weekend with Fort Lewis College beating the University of Colorado by a mere eight points for the DI title and Union College putting on a dominating display of teamwork and consistency to beat Warren Wilson College for the DII title.

A University of Nevada rider works his way through the trees. Photo: Eszter Horanyi

Unlike in the XC Friday, Lauren Catlin (Fort Lewis College) was unable to get off the line quickly. While the rest of the field got off smoothly, Catlin slipped a pedal and was last off the line. While Catlin was working her way back through traffic, her teammate Sarah Sturm quickly went to work stringing the field out. Then disaster struck Catlin as another rider stalled over the pumptrack during a pass and took both of them down.

Back in last again, Catlin nearly gave up. She credited her coach, Dave Hagan, with making her get back on her bike and continue chasing. As Catlin made an impressive charge in the second half of the race to finish an amazing 2nd, the ride of the day came from Sturm who rode consistently fast laps to claim her first individual national championship. Jill Behlen (University of Wyoming), Claire Bensard (University of Colorado), and Diedre York (University of Colorado) rounded out the podium.

The DII women saw far less drama in their race as Rebecca Gross (University of Denver) went to the front of the field and led wire to wire to win her first national title. Friday’s XC winner, Alexis Skarda (Colorado Mesa University), worked her way up from a start near the back of the pack to finish second.

The massive group of DI men took to the course just as the sun was starting to melt the ice and turn the track into a sloppy mess. With the 80 percent rule in effect, the entire field raced full speed off the line but with a short course and a big field, the first group of nearly 40 riders was pulled less than 10-minutes into the event. Rotem Ishay and Howard Grotts, both of Fort Lewis College quickly went to the front of the field and put a gap on Kerry Werner (Lees-McRae) and the rest. Grotts sat patiently on his teammate’s wheel until three laps to go when he put in an attack on the hill. Ishay quickly closed the gap down and was able to pass his teammate back through the start finish in the same lap, and while he was unable to shake him on the final two laps, Ishay was able to hold onto the lead for his 3rd short track National Title. The smaller DII men’s field saw another dominating performance from the University of Denver by Matt Lyon. Like his teammate in the women’s race, he led the race wire to wire. Matt Schiff, the XC winner the day before, put in a valiant chase but was unable to close the gap down.

Gravity

In the afternoon, it was time for the gravity riders to test themselves against each other and the mountain. While the top of the course was still covered in snow and ice, parts of the trail lower down were turning into a quagmire of mud and riders were finishing their runs looking like they had rolled in a mud puddle. In the DII women’s field, Colleen Pacurariu showed that her domination of the Rocky Mountain conference was no accident by posting the fasted female time of the day by nearly a minute and a half. Kate Weisenfluh (Brevard) posted the second fast overall time of the day and Eva Wilson (Warren Wilson) finished 3rd in the division that has consistently posted the fastest times in the women’s races this weekend.

In the DI race, Andrea Napoli (University of Nevada) took the win over Fort Lewis’ Brittany Clawson who just got doctors clearance to race after she suffered a shoulder injury a few weeks before.

Few surprises came from the men’s race as riders rocketed down the rapidly deteriorating course. In DI, Joey Schusler (University of Colorado) took his 4th Collegiate National Championship title after getting caught up in traffic from the DII women. Because of the long track, officials had decided to race the fastest qualifiers in each category first, but even with a 12-minute gap between the final woman and Schusler, the professional downhill racer was forced to pass several women during his race-winning run. David O’Day (Colorado State University) and Michael Larson (University of Colorado) both finished within 10 seconds of Schusler on the nearly 8-minute course.

In DII, Alex McAndrew (Clarkson) was able to avoid traffic and post the fasted time of the day of 7:35:89. He was followed by the Western State College of Colorado duo of Owen Tulip and Collin Pickett.

Racing concludes on Sunday with a dual slalom.

A Lees-McRae rider leads through a snowy switchback in the DI XC. Photo: Eszter Horanyi

In the DI contest, Katie Sodergren (University of Colorado) took an early lead on the start loop followed closely by Lauren Catlin (Fort Lewis College). Jill Behlen (University of Wyoming), Sarah Sturm (Fort Lewis College) and Ashley James (Appalachian State University) joined the two leaders on the first climb but Catlin was able to take the lead before the descent and never looked back. At the end of the first lap, Catlin had opened up a significant gap on her chasers. She willingly took risks on the descent, hoping that if she could get out of sight of the rest of the field, she would have a better chance of staying away. James was able to shake Behlen on the final lap and Sodergren suffered a lost contact lens in a crash on the slippery course and was forced to finish her second lap with compromised vision. Diedre York and Claire Bensard, both of the University of Colorado, put in a late race push to round out the top five.

Alexis Skarda (Colorado Mesa University) and Rebecca Gross (University of Denver) dominated the DII race. Starting 10 minutes after the DI women, the pair caught and passed the majority of the DI field within the first lap. Skarda, an elite cross-country runner, joined the cycling team after tendonitis in her foot forced her to take a break from running. At the end of two laps she had opened up a four-minute gap on Gross and finished the race with the fasted female time of the day. Essence Barton (California Lutheran University), Elisa Otter (Union College), and Angela Vitulli (Western State College of Colorado) rounded out the top five.

The men took to the course at noon after a significant increase in temperature. Instead of riding on frozen mud like the women had before them, the men were faced with lava-like mud-flows on both the climb and descent of the course. The 81-person DI field took off in a mass but 43 minutes later it was Howard Grotts (Fort Lewis College) who came through alone. He described the course on first lap as ‘perfect’ but said the trails deteriorated rapidly afterward. He was followed, after a significant gap, by teammate and two-time defending Collegiate XC National Champion, Rotem Ishay and Gregory Carpenter. Bradford Perley (Lees-McRae) was the first non-Fort Lewis rider to come through on the first lap. Grotts continued to increase his lead on the rest of the field and after two hours of racing finished with nearly a five minute gap. Kerry Werner, the defending XC champion, finished 5th.

The DII men faced the same muddy conditions and many were forced to hike large portions of the climb. Matt Schiff (Humboldt State University) took the early lead with a chase group consisting of Brae Patten (Western State College of Colorado), Sam Chovan (University of Denver), Benjamin Senkerik (Ripon), Wesley Lamberson (Union), and Taylor Schmidt (Colorado School of Mines). Schiff was able to hold onto his lead with Chovan, Snekerik, Lamerson, and Schmidt all finishing on the podium.

Racing continues on Saturday with the short track in the morning and gravity riders take to the track, which is described as ‘terrifying’, in the afternoon.

Full results

After 1,200 kilometers across the rain forests and outback of North Queensland, Jeroen Boelen finished with almost an hour’s lead of Austrians Wolfgang Krenn and Josef Benedseder. The result could have been different, if main challenger Urs Huber from Switzerland hadn’t dropped out on the eve of the ninth stage.

Dust and sun...must be Australia. Photo: Crocodile Trophy 2011

Boelen is a successful former road rider and his mountain bike career has now just begun. Earlier this year he finished seventh with Bart Brentjens in the Cape Epic.

“This victory is so important for me and for the team,” said Boelen. “The Crocodile Trophy has a big name in mountain bike community. It is important for my sponsors too. Without sponsors we have no sport. I am glad I can give them this victory.”

The race promised to be a battle between Swiss champion, Huber, former Olympic champion Brentjens and Belgian rider “IronMike” Mulkens. The first, second and third place finishers of the past two years were back to win this crazy mountain bike race once more.

Brentjens arrived sick in Cairns and was unable to start. Huber got sick during the race and Mulkens just lacked power.

Huber’s illness could have been caused by the terrible weather during the first two days of the race. Stage 1 needed to be neutralized as support cars were unable to follow the muddy course. An epic stage 2 in the never ending rain showed Huber’s lack of strength.

Only Dutch rider Boelen could keep the damage under control. Huber sought a unique third in a row overall victory.

Boelen raced very consistently for 10 days and claimed his moment of honor in the fourth stage. It would not be his last victory.

The former road rider is fast at the finish, but also just strong. “I think I am more talented as a road rider, but I needed a new challenge,” he explained. In his former road career, Boelen won two stages in Olympia’s Tour (Netherlands) and was overall winner of the Tour de Liège (Belgium).

“Many people told me that I am too social to be professional road rider,” joked Boelen, “but I don’t regret having become a mountain biker now.”

Boelen won 50 percent of the stages, including stage 6. It was in the 189 kilometer sixth stage that he took the leader’s jersey.

Termite mounds tower over the riders. Photo: Crocodile Trophy 2011

“Bart and I are as strong,” concluded Boelen. “We would have started here together and observed during the first days which one of us was going to do best and then make up plans together. Now, I did it alone. It was harder, but the pleasure is even bigger now.”

Until that point, Huber looked unbeatable, but broke that day. He was unable to regain his lead after a puncture and the outback heat drained his remaining energy.
With or without Huber, the race stayed very animated. Former pro rider René Haselbacher attacked every day. Krenn and Benedseder rode a consistent race. Their overall second and third place reflects the right stance in the Crocodile Trophy peloton.

The Crocodile Trophy saw participants from Australia, New Zealand, Austria, Switzerland, Germany, The Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Korea, Czech Republic, Italy, USA, South Africa, Denmark and Korea.

The Crocodile Trophy will return to Far North Queensland in 2012 with race organizer Gerhard Schönbacher. “I already have ideas for the track next year,” he promised Thursday.

Fast Facts

Stage 4: Rio de Contas to Rio de Contas, an 81.5km loop that included 2343 meters of climbing. But the real difficulty was the heat. Midday temperatures on a nearly cloudless Wednesday soared into the triple digits. There was also the most technical bit of trail yet, a sustained, twisting piece of singletrack that ranged from rough and rocky to slick and muddy. Many proverbial lunches were eaten.

Rocks are ever present by I. Photo: Jason Sumner

Stage Winners: Open Men: Kristian Hynek and Robert Novatny (Future Cycling-Sweep) attacked primary rivals Luis Pinto and Alejandro Lopez (Team Spano-Luso) on the last climb, and made it stick, taking the stage win and the yellow leaders jersey in the process. But the gap is small with the top two teams separated by just 1:10. Mixed: Ivonne Kraft and Kraft and Mateus Ferraz (Brasil Soul-RC Bikes). Women: Adriana Nascimento and Sabrina Gobbo (Ladies Brasil Soul-RC Bikes). Both teams also have commanding overall leads.

What it looked like in GPS form Notice the rising heat as the day wore on. Ugh …

Goodbye: Singletrack.com was sad to say goodbye our Brazilian partner, Luiz Escudero. We were paired up with the 49-year-old, ear-nose-throat doc by race director Mario Roma. But after conquering the first two days of racing together, Escudero took a nasty digger on stage 3 and could not start the fourth day. That means no finisher’s medal for either of us because both riders must finish all seven stages, but your author is plodding on just for the sake of it. Thanks for a great couple of days, Luiz.

Stage 5: Another Rio de Contas start/finish stage, this time covering 95km with 1750 meters of climbing. Start time is 7a.m. Cut off is 10 hours. Features include testing rock-strewn double track with some decent sized ledge drops, and the final grueling asphalt climb that passes the stunning Cachoeira do Brumado waterfall.

Brazilian Portuguese Words of the Day:

• Quente (Hot, as in so hot you think you are going to melt. And yes this is a repeat word, but today mandated its use.)
• Gorduroso (Greasy, as in the main batch of singletrack that required solid tire hook-up and a little bit of nerve to get down in one piece.)
• Molhar-se (Keep yourself wet, as in pour water over your head at every chance lest the sun cook your skull.)

• 1. 3. LUIS PINTO TEAM SPANO – LUSO ALEJANDRO LOPEZ 0:31:11 6:32:24 1:39:16
• 2. 1. KRISTIAN HYNEK FUTURECYCLING-SWEEP ROBERT NOVOTNY 0:30:51 6:35:21 1:37:23
• 3. 2. JOSEMBERG PINHO JC BIKES RAPHAEL MENDES 0:31:41 6:57:50 1:38:22
• 4. 5. LUKAS KAUFFMANN TEAM EASTON ROCKETS CHRISTOPHER MALETZ 0:30:39 7:03:04 1:40:32
• 5. 6. HUGO NETO OCE-TREINE/KHS/INFANTI DOUGLAS NETO 0:31:43 7:06:18 1:41:48
• 6. 4. TOMAS VOKROUHLIK BMC SPECIALIZED MARTIN HORAK 0:30:26 7:22:29 1:39:17
• 7. 7. STEFFEN THUM ULTRA SPORTS ROSE RACINGTEAM SIMON GEGENHEIMER 0:29:55 7:17:30 1:44:55
• 8. 8. JOSE SILVA BRASIL RIDE TIAGO FERREIRA 0:35:03 7:17:39 1:46:15
• 11. 9. MARCO ALMEIDA SPECIALIZED /ROBERTO HERAS TRAINING SYSTEM MARCO FERNANDEZ 0:35:41 8:06:52 1:49:12
• 12. 11. THOMAS VANDENDALE FIRSTENERGY CHRISTOPHE CLERCQ 0:38:03 8:01:01 1:56:13
• 13. 12. RYAN DRAPER TEAM 29ER CANADA LEIGHTON POIDEVIN 0:33:52 8:06:12 1:57:48
• 15. 15. BRENO DE LUCA TREK/BIKETECH BRASILIA/BIKENFIX RODRIGO NUNES 0:35:44 8:22:37 2:03:59
• 16. 13. ALEXANDRE SOUSA CANTA GALO E A /CHAPADA DIAMANTINA 1 MAURICIO PEREIRA 0:43:06 8:22:00 1:58:38
• 18. 17. COREY COLLIER LIGHT GIVES HEAT/WORLD BICYCLE RELIEF GILBERTO GOIS 0:41:26 8:15:06 2:11:09
• 21. 10. UIRA CASTRO LM/TRIPP/SPECIALIZED GUSTAVO SANTOS 0:33:40 8:57:10 1:52:06
• 22. 16. ROGERIO PIRES MOUNTAIN BIKE BH GUSTAVO CAIXETA 0:39:26 8:45:21 2:07:15
• 23. 21. ULISSES VALARELLI MOÇO BIKE FELIPE TAMBASCO 0:38:24 8:40:00 2:17:09
• 24. 20. RODRIGO SANTOS PÃO DE QUEIJO E CHIMARRÃO MAGNUS DIAS 0:39:39 8:52:48 2:13:31
• 26. 22. GUSTAVO ASTOLPHI PEDAL URBANO MARCELO SAMPAIO 0:37:24 9:41:09 2:18:07
• 27. 14. JEAN BOSSLER LOOK VELO TOUT TERRAIN FREDERIC ISCHARD 0:35:02 10:02:51 2:00:46
• 28. 18. RODRIGO SILVA CICLOPE/CARBO ENERGY MAURICIO NETO 0:44:29 9:45:51 2:11:54
• 29. 19. AGNALDO SANTOS DAGUE PAIA 3 LUIS FILHO 0:41:58 9:53:36 2:12:52
• 33. 27. EDMILSON SANTOS CANTA GALO E A /CHAPADA DIAMANTINA 2 ANILTON ROCHA 0:36:47 9:53:05 2:33:06
• 35. 24. FREDERICO KASTRUP BEEP BEEP PAPALEGUAS/MPR ROGERIO MODA 0:40:52 9:56:37 2:27:54
• 38. 33. ANGELO HAYASHI 13° MTB PONTA GROSSA CRISTIANO SILVA 0:49:52 9:58:12 2:40:17
• 39. 25. ALEXANDRE SILVA MTB FLORIPA/ULTRASPORT PEDRO PINHEIRO 0:43:26 10:23:00 2:29:32
• 40. 30. WALTER GERMANO COROAS DO CERRADO – TIME A ANDRE GUIMARAES 0:42:34 10:20:39 2:36:23
• 42. 32. HUGO NORONHA SALTA POCINHAS III RUI CARDOSO 0:54:46 10:16:12 2:39:29
• 43. 28. ZBIGNIEW MOSSOCZY SIKORSKI BIKEBOARD TEAM PRZEMYSLAW MACIEJOWSKI 0:40:23 10:37:21 2:33:09
• 45. 31. FAUSTO OLIVEIRA DAGUE PAIA RONALDO JUNIOR 0:42:45 10:39:30 2:39:19
• 48. 34. FILIPE XAVIER COMPETITION NA TRILHA EMERSON FURLANETTO 0:44:37 10:47:04 2:45:39
• 49. 36. EVERTON SIQUEIRA TRILHA CAPIXABA / TERRA BIKE MARCO MELO 0:46:25 10:49:54 2:48:54
• 50. 35. DANIEL CORREIA RD MECANICA / ORTOLIFE LEONARDO FERNANDES 0:43:12 11:10:14 2:47:31
• 52. 29. DANIEL VILELA FELTRIN MOTO SPORT RICARDO PUPO 0:44:18 11:22:31 2:35:04
• 53. 23. DIEGO FERREIRA PELAGGIO / SAVANA JUVENAL BATISTA 0:40:55 11:38:05 2:26:30
• 56. 37. HEDER MENDES ATIVO / ADVOGADO AVENTUREIRO ALEX MARIANO 0:39:18 11:42:09 2:52:08
• 57. 43. VICENTE SOUZA CAJUBIKERS WILLAMY BRITO 0:44:25 11:26:12 3:05:03
• 58. 40. MARCELLO CENCI SAI BABA EDUARDO MARCOLINO 0:50:16 11:31:36 2:55:45
• 61. 38. JOSE SILVA FLY BAHIA WALLACE BRITO 0:43:29 11:49:12 2:52:16
• 62. 26. HARRY BEUTE TEAM A.HAK JOSIAS SILVA 0:42:53 12:28:31 2:32:36
• 63. 39. ANDERSON OLIVEIRA DAGUE PAIA BRASIL TEAM ROMEU FRANCIOSI 1:00:02 11:52:04 2:53:22
• 64. 39. MARCIO MONTEIRO PICC PEDAL/ALAMBIKERS ISRAEL FERREIRA 0:48:11 11:52:27 3:15:30
• 65. 41. CARLOS GARCIA FORMATOS / PRIMIL ALEX FONSECA 0:50:02 12:11:30 3:03:33
• 67. 40. PLINIO JUNIOR ARESE PHARMA / HST / SINGULARE GRUPO TADEU MALAVAZZI 0:44:51 12:09:27 3:22:24
• 69. 42. SERGIO GUSMAO VO2MAX MARCELO TORRES 0:48:20 12:33:29 3:04:55
• 72. 41. MARCOS DIAS GRANOLA TIA SONIA MANOEL DIAS 0:55:47 13:18:29 3:28:17
• ALEXANDRE MANZAN CALANGO SOUL RAFAEL BORGES 0:36:14
• LUIZ VILELA THE OGROS GIULLIANO MENDES 0:38:31
• ALEX CONSTANCIO PROWELL BRASIL BOB NOGUEIRA 0:40:09
• MARCIO MAY CONTINENTAL/FIZIK/CRANKBROTHERS/SCOTT GEAN HOFFMANN 0:42:39
• JULIANO NUNES TCHEBIKERS GUILHERME BRANDENBURGER 0:42:52
• EDUARDO LESSA BTT TOTAL ANDRE SOUZA 0:46:14
• TIAGO ABATI CHEFE MAIA RODOLFO CARVALHO 0:46:20
• OSWALDO MARTINEZ TWINS BIKE PAULO MARTINEZ 0:47:00
• ALFREDO MANSUR VALOREM OCE FELIPE PAIS 0:48:27
• GUILHERME GUNNEWIEK DELTA / SUPERMERCADO EVA / TRANSTIM OTAVIO FREITAS 0:48:58
• MOA RIBEIRO FACA AMOLADA DIOGO NEBIAS 0:52:03
• RODRIGO BARBOSA FALTA MUITO? MICHEL ZVEIBIL 0:54:52
• THIAGO ARARUNA CRAJUBAR / SAVANA MANOEL PINHEIRO 0:55:54
• ADAUTO BELI TANDEM BRASIL SOUL – RC BIKES CLAUDIO CARRACA 0:51:52 2:49:29
• TIAGO BIRSCHNER IGH – BLACK BIKE ALLAN DIAZ 0:56:24 3:14:55
• GETULIO FILHO BIKE HORIZONTE CLEIDIMAR VAGNE 0:51:07 12:04:51
• SILVIO AMORIM CEMIL – OTG CESAR MOURA
• SANTO FELTRIN FELTRIN MOTO SPORT / ADRIANA NASCIMENTO RICARDO PUPO
• VINICIUS CANHEDO ARANHA TEAM FLAVIO ALVES
• EDICARLOS SILVA BROU AVENTURAS / TRIP / SPECIALIZED THIAGO ELIAS
• COREY COLLIER LIGHT GIVES HEAT / WORLD BICYCLE RELIEF RICHARD SCHNELL

• 1. 37 BARTI BUCHER (BIXS -ZELLEWEGER ARCHITEKTEN) in 0:33:55 10
• 2. 4 ABRAAO AZEVEDO (MASTER BRASIL SOUL – RC BIKES) in 0:34:27 11
• 3. 6 PLINIO SOUZA (BRASIL / ALEMANHA) in 0:36:22 19
• 4. 38 PEDRO NETO (PEDAL POWER EPIC) in 0:38:42 26
• 5. 139 MARTIN PORTMAN (FBC) in 0:41:31 37
• 6. 144 HELENO BORGES (KONSKRITOS DBIKE) in 0:42:43 41
• 7. 40 JASON SUMNER (VELO NEWS / BIKE FAM) in 0:43:04 45
• 8. 71 MARCOS SOARES (MOVIMEC SOCA BOTA) in 0:43:21 49
• 9. 150 ANTONIO FILHO (TERRA CHAPADA / SCOTT / CRISTAL) in 0:43:42 52
• 10. 43 PAUL ROMERO (TEAM SOLE) in 0:44:12 54
• 11. 78 CLAUDIO MATA (UAI OCE BIKERS) in 0:44:20 56
• 12. 41 ALFREDO MONTENEGRO (SAVANA BIKE TEAM) in 0:44:39 63
• 13. 58 ALEXANDRE MARIUTI (T3 IRON TEAM) in 0:45:14 65
• 14. 114 OTHON SOUTO (VO2 MAX 2) in 0:46:36 69
• 15. 45 JOSE GUSMAO (2G MTB) in 0:46:48 70
• 16. 123 WEIMAR PETTENGIL (BRASILIA) in 0:47:59 73
• 17. 39 GIANCARLO CLINI (BRAGMA – SCOTT) in 0:48:31 77
• 18. 54 ANTONIO RODRIGUES (TIA SONIA) in 0:48:50 79
• 19. 106 CARLOS SANGIORGIO (ALPHAVILLE) in 0:50:34 84
• 20. 104 RODRIGO ABREU (CISCO BIKERS) in 0:53:27 91
• 21. 66 ALEXANDRE ALMEIDA (ECOCLIP) in 0:53:36 92
• 22. 65 ROGERIO GOMES (PEDALA JOINVILLE) in 0:54:57 96
• 23. 68 IRINEU MASIERO (MASIERO) in 1:11:20 102

Singlespeed

Gerry Pflug

Salsa/Notubes/Pro Bikes

7:58:24

0.332222222

Dylan Johnson

Oasis Bike Works

8:24:34

0.350393519

Mike Montalbano

Dark Horse Cycles

8:31:17

0.35505787

Matt Ferrari

Freeze Thaw Cycles/ Hub Cap Cycles

8:43:24

0.363472222

Hal Batdorf

D and Q Racing / Lone Wolf Cycling

8:46:56

0.365925926

Jason Pruitt

29er Crew/ LAS/ Hodson Bay Company

8:52:44

0.369953704

Kelly Klett

Trips for Kids Triangle

8:54:28

0.371157407

Sean Leader

Team ED Racing

8:57:58

0.373587963

Ben Barnard

Revolution Cycles NC

8:58:40

0.374074074

]]> http://singletrack.competitor.com/2011/09/race-results/results-nue-series-shenandoah-mountain-100_20926/feed 0 http://singletrack.competitor.com/2011/09/news/adam-craig-and-pua-mata-prevail-at-usac-marathon-championships_21361 http://singletrack.competitor.com/2011/09/news/adam-craig-and-pua-mata-prevail-at-usac-marathon-championships_21361#comments Sun, 18 Sep 2011 20:40:44 +0000 Singletrack.com http://singletrack.competitor.com/?p=21361 BEND, Ore. (ST) — It was a day for the locals as Bend residents took stars and stripes jerseys in five of the 14 categories at the 2011 USA Cycling Mountain Bike Marathon National Championships. This included the men’s pro race, where Adam Craig (Bend, OR/ Rabobank-Giant Off-Road Team) edged teammates and fellow Bend resident, Carl Decker, by just 12 seconds. It was a different story in the women’s pro race as Pua Mata (Anaheim, CA/Team Sho-Air) rode away from the field to win by more than four minutes.

Craig and Decker rode together for the majority of the race, widening a gap from the rest of the field that ended up being more than 10 minutes at the finish line. The battle for third was taken in a sprint to the line by Sam Schultz (Missoula, MT/Subaru-Trek), who bested two-time defending champion Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (Boulder, CO/Subaru-Trek) by just four seconds. For Craig it is his third national title of 2011; at the Mountain Bike Cross-country Nationals he won both the all-mountain title and the super D with Decker as runner-up. Craig is also the reigning singlespeed cyclo-cross national champion.

The top woman in this year’s Pro Ultra-Endurance Tour, Mata handily won the women’s pro title. Kelli Emmett (Colorado Springs, CO/ Giant Factory Off-Road Team) finished second, more than five minutes ahead of two-time defending champ Heather Irmiger (Boulder, CO/Subaru-Trek).

Age Group Winners

Partly sunny skies and temperatures in the high 50s to low 60s meant ideal racing weather for the more than 200 competitors. This proved to be a fortunate break for the riders, who had to contend with a tough 52-mile course that offered few places to relax and required an almost constant effort.

Convincing victories highlighted the 19-29 age groups, with Carson Miller (Bend, OR/Jelly Belly Presented By Kenda) earning the men’s title and Rose Grant (Kalispell, MT/Sportsman & Ski Haus) taking victory as well as the distinction of being the fastest non-professional female competitor.

Ty Kady (Brea, CA) won the 30-34 men’s race to claim his third Stars-and-Stripes jersey of 2011, which include wins in mountain bike cross-country and short track cross-country earned in Sun Valley, Idaho, this past July. Benjamin Thompson (Bend, OR) rode to victory in the men’s 35-39 race, while Lisa Curry (Bozeman, MT/ Gallatin Alpine Sports/Intrinsik Architecture Cycling Team) won the women’s 30-39 age group.

In the largest field of the event, Dario Fredrick (San Anselmo, CA/Whole Athlete-Specialized) bested 45 riders to become the new men’s 40-49 champion. Erika Krumpelman (Hayden, ID/Velo Bella) rode to the title in the women’s 40-49 race.

Scott Seaton (Bend, OR) 3:48:23 won one of the closer masters races of the day, taking the men’s 50-59 victory by less than a minute. On the women’s side of that age group, Muffy Ritz (Ketchum, ID/Mud Honey Cycling) took the top podium spot.

The only 2010 champion to successfully defend his title, Dwight Hibdon (Park City, UT/Mad Dog Cycles Race Team) rode to his second straight men’s 60+ stars and stripes jersey.

Cary Smith (Jackson, WY) earned his second singlespeed national championship of the year, adding to his mountain bike cross-country win in July. Alice Drobna (Bend, OR) donned the stars and stripes in the singlespeed women’s category.

Visit the official USA Cycling Mountain Bike Marathon National Championships webpage for more information, including complete results and a photo gallery.

Pro Men
1. Adam Craig (Bend, OR/ Rabobank-Giant Off-Road Team) 3:10:16
2. Carl Decker (Bend, OR/Giant Factory Off-Road Team) 3:10:28
3. Sam Schultz (Missoula, MT/Subaru-Trek) 3:20:50
4. Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (Boulder, CO/Subaru-Trek) 3:20:54
5. Colin Cares (Boulder, CO/ Kenda/Felt) 3:21:18

Pro Women
1. Pua Mata (Anaheim, CA/Team Sho-Air) 3:38:58
2. Kelli Emmett (Colorado Springs, CO/ Giant Factory Off-Road Team) 3:43:28
3. Heather Irmiger (Boulder, CO/Subaru-Trek) 3:48:57
4. Amanda Carey (Victor, ID) 3:59:41
5. Jana Repulski (Boise, ID) 4:07:59

Men 19-29
1. Carson Miller (Bend, OR/Jelly Belly Presented By Kenda) 3:31:12
2. Jafer Beizer (Conyers, GA/TBB Sports) 3:44:47
3. Connor McCutcheon (Bigbearlake, CA) 3:48:09
4. Michael Stearns (Bozeman, MT/Montana State University-Bozeman) 3:52:01
5. Matt Deshazo (Arcata, CA) 3:53:18

Women 19-29
1. Rose Grant (Kalispell, MT/Sportsman & Ski Haus) 4:13:53
2. Holly Horner (Oviedo, FL) 5:08:45
3. Elizabeth Lee (Martinez, GA) 5:09:04
4. Petra Davis (Bozeman, MT) 5:30:00
5. Merrill Oakley (Spokane, WA) 6:05:10

Men 30-34
1. Ty Kady (Brea, CA) 3:30:01
2. Marco Arocha (Newbury Park, CA/Team Velosport Club) 3:43:10
3. Casey Hill (Denver, CO) 3:44:41
4. Joel Shehan (Kalispell, MT/Sportsman & Ski Haus) 3:44:47
5. Shawn Rader (Hillsboro, OR) 3:47:55

Men 35-39
1. Benjamin Thompson (Bend, OR) 3:32:58
2. Eric Bostrom (Las Vegas, NV) 3:39:46
3. Dustin Phillips (Kalispell, MT/Team Hammer Nutrition) 3:42:52
4. Oliver Hutchinson (West Hills, CA/ 8th Wonder Cycling/Team Helen’s) 3:43:45
5. Dan Ourada (Sunriver, OR) 3:54:28

Women 30-39
1. Lisa Curry (Bozeman, MT/ Gallatin Alpine Sports/Intrinsik Architecture Cycling Team) 4:15:05
2. Jamie Busch (Los Gatos, CA) 4:21:58
3. Sarah Max (Bend, OR) 4:24:57
4. Elizabeth Carrington (Poway, CA) 4:44:53
5. Kellie Wirth (Boise, ID/Wild Rockies Inc) 4:47:22

Men 40-49
1. Dario Fredrick (San Anselmo, CA/Whole Athlete-Specialized) 3:36:04
2. Ross Delaplane (Golden, CO/Feedback Sports Racing) 3:39:08
3. Donald Myrah (San Jose, CA) 3:40:08
4. Chuck Ross (Auburn, CA/ SHO-AIR/SERT) 3:40:30
5. Bruce Rogers (Bend, OR) 3:41:25

Women 40-49
1. Erika Krumpelman (Hayden, ID/Velo Bella) 4:16:31
2. Heidi Volpe (Topanga, CA) 4:27:17
3. Karoline Droege (Ketchum, ID/Mud Honey Cycling) 4:30:31
4. Lynn Stott (Boise, ID/Wild Rockies Race Team) 4:36:58
5. Cherie Touchette (Bend, OR/ Webcyclery Racing/webcyclery.com) 4:38:36

Men 50-59
1. Scott Seaton (Bend, OR) 3:48:23
2. Russell Kappius (Littleton, CO) 3:49:05
3. Mark Gouge (Colorado Springs, CO/ Justin’s/Titus Mountain Bike Team) 3:54:24
4. Timothy Wykle (Trinidad, CA) 4:02:43
5. Randy Beckner (Helena, MT/Montana Velo) 4:02:54

Women 50-59
1. Muffy Ritz (Ketchum, ID/Mud Honey Cycling) 4:38:28
2. Lori Smith (Boise, ID/Wild Rockies Race Team) 4:43:31
3. Ellen Guthrie (Salt Lake City, UT/Revolution Cafe Rio) 4:46:59
4. Victoria Wiseman (Ketchum, ID/Mud Honey Cycling) 5:24:39
5. Sheli Thomas (Kalispell, MT/Flathead Cycling) 5:42:04

Men 60+
1. Dwight Hibdon (Park City, UT/Mad Dog Cycles Race Team) 4:18:17
2. Don Leet (Bend, OR/Bend Endurance Academy) 4:20:08
3. Dan Meyer (Lake Elmo, MN/Loon State Cyclists) 4:29:24
4. Gary Myers (Golden, CO) 4:43:04
5. Randy Bowman (Pleasanton, CA/ East Bay Cyclists/Infovista Cycling Team) 4:48:44

Singlespeed Women
1. Alice Drobna (Bend, OR) 5:00:16

Singlespeed Men
1. Cary Smith (Jackson, WY) 3:29:09
2. Evan Plews (Salem, OR) 3:30:35
3. Cody Peterson (Bend, OR) 3:36:00
4. Dax Massey (Boulder, CO/Honey Stinger) 3:40:56
5. Ryan Voss (Waterford, WI) 4:01:56

The Shenandoah 100, a highly anticipated one-hundred-mile showdown that would ultimately decide who would be the NUE Men’s Open and Masters Division Champions included shakeups in every division followed by unrivaled post-race race festivities that carried on well into the evening but, for one NUE Series Contender from Michigan, it would be a day that threatened to forever change his life.

Women’s Open

Sornson pulls out all the stops, winning the biggest race of the NUE Series

While Amanda Carey (Kenda/Felt) celebrated her second straight NUE Series victory and the win at the Park City Point to Point on Saturday, another thirty six deep, talented women’s field made the journey to Virginia on Sunday for a final opportunity to improve their series standing.

2008 NUE Women’s Champion, Cheryl Sornson (Team CF), has never failed to take the podium at every race she finished this year, including wins at the Mohican 100 and the Fool’s Gold 100.

According to Sornson, “The race was awesome and epic as Shenandoah 100 always delivers. This year lots of the trails were improved and more enjoyable than ever to climb and bomb down.  On the flip side, some areas were wet and freshly graded which made things a bit slow, especially the hanky climb.

Going into the race I was very positive and determined to enjoy my ride.  I started out very conservative and planned to pick up the pace as I warmed up.  Vicky, Karen and I were together until the road section leading to climb two.  I believe they were on the train leading to the single track but a few riders back.  I was relieved to go into the climb first and that is when I got a gap and never saw them again.

Not knowing what the gap was, I did need to keep the gas on for the whole race.  Fortunately, I felt good and, although it was very hot, I managed to hydrate and fuel well without distress. The aid station volunteers at this race were beyond amazing.  Every rider is treated like gold and the hand offs and assistance given is first class.”

According to race director, Chris Scott, “Vicki Barclay (Freeze Thaw/Stans NoTubes) was able to put her back pain aside for the first two mountains, challenging Sornson for the victory before yielding to sharp pain that would shoot from her backside without any rhyme or reason eventually causing her to pull out of the event.”

In the end, it was Sornson who would claim her third victory of the year, the only woman to finish in sub nine at 8:49:43, and in the process, second place overall in the NUE Series.

As Sornson rode away from the pack, another battle was brewing for the final podium position. Brenda Simril (Motor Mile) and Karen Potter (MTBRacenews.com), rivals last season as well, went down on the death climb. Simril led out of Braley Pond, aid station four, but was overtaken by Potter who held onto the second spot until the finish, 9:01:43.

In doing so, Potter not only completed her fourth qualifying race, but tied Simril in the points. In the NUE Series rules state that all ties are broken at the final race which gave Potter the exact margin she needed to take the podium and third place overall in the NUE Series. Simril finished just minutes later, 9:08:43, to take third in the race and fourth overall in the NUE Series.

With Vicki Barclay dropping out, Andrea Wilson, who finished eighth on the day, moved into fourth place overall in the NUE Standings. As an added bonus for being the only woman to complete the series on a singlespeed, Wilson received her own bottle of champagne, celebrating by shaking it up and spraying over any and all men who dared to stand nearby. She encouraged women to give singlespeed a try next season.

Mens Open

Tanguy fights for the win at Shenandoah, obtaining his first NUE Series Title

For three time defending NUE Series Champion, Jeff Schalk, this race would very well be his final ride as the marque “Trek Racing” professional endurance specialist before he begins his third career next week, the second time as an engineer.

No other racer has claimed three straight NUE Series wins yet, for Schalk, the consummate professional, one more win would elevate the bar even higher for those that would follow and it would allow him to go out on top as the undisputed reigning endurance champion, following what was has arguably been the most difficult title defense of his pro racing career.

For Christian Tanguy (Team CF), Shenandoah represented one final opportunity to obtain his first NUE Series victory since he will likely be absent for many years to come, and could be potentially “retired” from the NUE Series, with a move overseas to pursue his career as an engineer in China.

Schalk and Tanguy both entered the race tied with four points, each having at least four wins in this “best four of eleven” series. With all ties broken here, both racers realized that the entire series was on the line, each as highly motivated as the other to make this final one hundred mile journey the greatest of their racing career.

According to race Director Chris Scott, “Chris “Chas” Michaels (American Classic/Kenda/Tomac) led it out on his home course like a champ up Narrowback Mountain with his teammate Robert Marion (American Classic/Kenda/Tomac) in tow. “Chas” let Schalk, Tanguy, and Michael Simonson (RBS Trek MTB Team) pull through and lead into the singletrack at the tower while the sun rose over Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley below.

The lead group of more than ten hit Tillman Road at mach speed! Schalk and Tanguy displayed their determination as they pounded it, trading pulls at the front leading into Lynn Trail that was just freshened up last weekend by the Bridgewater College Cross Country team, while everyone just tried to hang on.

Schalk and Tanguy escaped on the super steep Lynn trail ascent and took a left at the top of the mountain on Wolf Ridge Trail. The trail had been eagerly awaiting this event since October 2010 when Trail Dynamics rerouted the bottom half of the trail onto a sustainable alignment, removing it from a super steep fall line route that is considered a legacy trail or an old logging road or fire line ridge top access road.

The reroute is the result of five years of collaboration between the Shenandoah Valley Bicycle Coalition, The United States Forest Service with leadership planning assistance from the International Mountain Bicycling Association. The trail was completed as a small part of the SVBC North River Trail Restoration Grant funded by the Department of Transportation FHWA Recreational Trail Program.

Sam Koerber (Trek 29er Crew) was easily able to bridge up the Wolf Ridge Trail as it flowed down to Tillman Road. Kevin Carter (Gripped Films) caught on just as the leading trio was about to escape for good on Tillman Road.

Following down Wolf Ridge trail was “THE” chase group consisting of Brandon Drauglis (Team CF), Greg Kuhn and Mike Simonson (RBS Trek MTB Team), Chris Beck (Team CF), Jens Nielsen (Sport System), and Jonathan Schotttler (Michelob Ultra/ Big Shark) with Matthew Baily (Trek 29er Crew) and Chris Michaels following just thirty seconds back.

The lead group of four stayed together until the steeps on the death climb when the Schalk/Tanguy dual commenced. Schalk was feeling strong and increased the tempo disposing first of Kevin Clark with Koerber soon to fall off. Tanguy sat on patiently for Schalk’s acceleration and then responded with his own attack. Schalk was unable to respond and fell off what became the winning pace.”

According to Jeff Schalk (Trek), “It was a very appropriate final race to the NUE season, with the year-long fight between Christian and I being settled without much outside interference or mishap.  Both he and I appeared to feel good and be in top form, and neither of us had a mechanical or a flat.

We also marked each other all day long, trading pulls at the front of the race.  Only Sam Koerber and Kevin Carter were able to stay with us past mile 25, and they both let us go once we got to the base of the big climb around mile 70.  I think both Christian and I knew that the race would be settled there.  Althugh he is a better climber than me, I thought I had the race in the bag at that point because I noticed that he was completely out of water as we began to climb.  It was a relatively humid/hot day, and I knew that the 2000′ + ascent would last at least 30 or 45 min.  So when he began to attack at the base, I allowed him some leash just to keep my own effort under control.  Once he’d gain 10 or 20 seconds on me, I’d bridge back up, and continue to bide my time as I waited for him to blow up in the heat.  But after several rounds of rubber-banding behind him, I began to realize that I was the one beginning to blow up and he didn’t seem affected by his lack of water.  He was gone for good near the top of the mountain, and I mentally went into retirement for the final 15 miles.

I ultimately feel that he was simply the better climber this season.  I couldn’t match him for the final showdown since Shenandoah has too many big mountains. We ended the season with five wins apiece, and we both really pushed ourselves and suffered greatly to beat each other at each of the events.  So it really turned out to be a close and interesting matchup.  He is a phenomenal athlete and I have a ton of respect for what he accomplished this year.

I really had a much bigger range of emotional highs and lows this year than any of the past three seasons when I was able to win the series.  I started the year a bit off and had trouble focusing on the task at hand since I knew that it was going to be my last season. I was also trying to focus on transitioning my life away from racing so when Christian was up three wins to one on me, early in the season, I really thought that I was out of it.

I was really hard on myself and feeling quite low about the situation.  However, I was able to turn it around while having my back against the wall.  I began to race well in July, taking the Breck 100, and was on a big emotional high for being the first person to dethrone Josh Tostado at that race.  I then went on to win a hard fought battle against Christian at the Wilderness 101, and continued riding really well with a win at Pierre’s Hole.

In the end, I’m really just thankful to have found my niche in 100 mile racing and I’m very thankful for the organization of the NUE series; the NUE provided a platform off of which to base my career and Trek was super supportive of my efforts.  I ended up winning 18 NUE races of the 32 that I entered in the last few years, and I’m really grateful to have been so fortunate to find such success in this category of racing.”

Taking the third spot on the podium was Sam Koerber (Trek 29er Crew) 7:18:06. Fourth place went to Kevin Carter (Gripped Racing) 7:23:12, fifth to Brandon Draugelis (Team CF) 7:37:38 and sixth to Greg Kuhn (RBS Trek MTB Team) 7:43:29.

In a major unfortunate turn of events, Michael Simonson (RBS Trek MTB Team) of Michigan, in a bid to displace Josh Tostado from the number three spot on the NUE Series podium, suffered a life threatening crash on the steep Chestnut Ridge Trail descent, near aid station six, about 84 miles into the race.

Simonson, who has little memory of exactly what happened, claimed he washed out at high speed, going over the bars before colliding with a tree. Sven Baumann, who was not far behind Simonson was on the scene first and immediately stopped to offer assistance. What he found was shocking as Simonson was covered in blood, mainly resulting from a large gash on his neck caused by a stick or something that lodged in the strap of his helmet, slicing into his neck. Doctors later discovered that the deep cut was just one centimeter from his severing his jugular vein. Simonson also suffered a cut to his forearm, nearly severing tendons that could have resulted in extensive surgery.

However, despite the remote location of the collision, Race Director, Chris Scott and Aid Station Captain, Christopher Hoy, were prepared with emergency procedures and an evacuation plan in place. Amateur Radio operators were also on hand to communicate with emergency personnel who airlifted Simonson to UVA Hospital in Charlottesville, about an hour from the crash site.

Fortunately, a team of specialists were able to stitch both wounds, however, the worst news for Simonson and his wife Michelle was yet to come. Michelle had volunteered to help out at aid station two which was also aid six. Upon hearing the news, and as her husband was being airlifted, she drove to Charlottesville only to learn that Michael had also suffered four fractured vertebrae in his neck.

It was a long two days and nights before doctors were able to assure her that the spinal injury would not require immediate surgery. Simonson’s fitness was noted by doctors as a benefit and his vitals remained strong. Doctors believed that the vertebrate, though cracked, would fuse and heal on their own over time although more x-rays and visits with doctors in Michigan will be required to ensure that they are healing properly.

NUE Series Director, Ryan O’Dell, “At the hospital, I visited Michael after he was moved from trauma to his own room. He was not allowed out of bed or even allowed to elevate more than twenty degrees to eat or drink. But, in a testament to his strength of will, rather than focusing on his injuries, Mike, the now leading contender for the 2012 NUE Series along with Josh Tostado (Bach Builders), was already looking forward, talking about his plans to get back on the trainer as soon as possible so he could begin recovery and preparations for the 2012 NUE race season!”

NUE defending champion, Robert Herriman (TREK 29ER CREW/WSC/ACFSTORES.COM) opted out of the NUE awards presentation to be at the side of his training partner. Later, upon hearing the good news that Mike was allowed out of bed and would soon be released to make the ten hour drive back to Michigan, Herriman commented, “Yeah, It’s pretty hard to stop the SiMONSTER!!”

Singlespeed

The Pfluginator leaves no doubt, winning nine of ten races for the three-peat!

According to Race Director, Chris Scott, “Mike Montalbano (Dark Horse Cycles) pushed a big gear early on and distanced himself from the NUE Series leader and eventual winner Gerry Pflug (Salsa NoTubes/Pro Bikes).

Wonder Boy, Dylan Johnson (Oasis Bike Works), flatted early nearly crushing his dreams of challenging the big guns in his home state event. Johnson was able to stay relaxed and make little gains all day long advancing through the field into the death climb where he finally laid it down and reeled in all but NUE Series Champ Gerry Pflug, a super impressive ride for the young rider who showed signs of greatness this season at the Cohutta 100.

At Cohutta, Johnson was in early lead group, before crashing and dropping out for a trip to the ER to treat a concussion. Then, at Mohican, he missed a turn while in top 20 overall, then, at Wilderness, he made the lead break and fell off HARD. Johnson finished second 8:24:34.

Matt Ferrari (Freeze Thaw/Hubcap Cycles) went out on the offensive after being heckled by race promoter Chris Scott about lacking the fierceness to lay into the race early and ride away for a win. Ferrari ended up on the defensive after taking a nasty spill. Jason Pruitt (29er Crew/LAS/Hudson Bay Company) traveled from Lafayette, Indiana, hoping to move up in the NUE Series and displace Ferrari from their second place tie. Ferrari was able to keep pushing hard covered in gauze from wrist to triceps with blood seeping down his leg yet finishing a very strong fourth 8:43:24, just behind Montalbano who settled into third place 8:31:17.

According to race winner, Gerry Pflug who finished sub eight at 7:58:24, “By the time I lined-up on the starting line, I knew my bike and body was ready for the 100 miles ahead, even with the little sleep I had. I also knew it was going to be a fast start. They always are, but the SM100 has about two completely flat miles of pavement before the climbing starts.

Spinning along at 22+ mph on a single speed is never that much fun. But, fortunately, the first two miles were not too fast this year and I didn’t have to work very hard to stay up front. The pace began to pick-up on the first climb, but I was able to hang with the lead group until the top of the climb. The only other single speed racer with me at this point was fast Mike Montabano.

Mike and I rode together until towards the top of Wolf Ridge. He got away from me on the hike-a-bike section before the ridge top. I knew it was a long race, though, so I was okay with getting into my own more comfortable pace. During this time, I noticed that my saddle bag had somehow come undone. It was moving around and making noise. I briefly looked back at it and tried to tighten it up while continuing to ride, but as I did, I also unknowingly entered into a rock garden on the trail. I quickly fell off my bike and on to my right side, hitting my hip and knee pretty good. There was a sharp pain at each location, but no blood, so I quickly hopped on my bike and started riding again. After the crash, my riding didn’t seem as effortless and I was feeling discomfort on the lateral side of my knee. I also noticed that my saddle bag was still screwed-up and was making all kind of noise bouncing around on the back of my seat, since I failed to fix it after my crash.

It wasn’t long after my crash that another fast SS racer, Matt Ferrari, caught me on the descent off Wolf Ridge. I had a slight gap on Matt by the time we made it to the fire road after the descent, so I stopped to tighten my saddle bag. As I tightened the bag, I noticed that the zipper on my bag was also about halfway opened at this time and that only my spare inner tube remained in the pack.

Great, I thought…now I have no tools, no CO2 cartridges, a sore hip/knee to deal with for the remainder of the race and Mike was nowhere in sight on the long straight gravel road ahead. Suddenly, I felt like my shot at winning the race was slipping away. Matt then rode by, so I quickly got on my bike to continue riding with him. We were all alone on this mostly flat and fast section of the course. On sections of race courses like this, I hate being on a single speed bike. I feel helpless just spinning away and not really going anywhere fast. At times like these, I can’t stop thinking about how nice it would be to have the ability to shift into a big chain ring.

Matt and I talked about Mike choosing a bigger gear for the race than we had and we both knew he was putting valuable minutes on us during this time, but Matt didn’t seem too eager in wanting to chase down Mike as we rode together. I knew that if we had any hope in catching Mike, it was going to be my responsibility to do all the work, so I went to the front and started pulling. Fortunately, a couple of miles before checkpoint #2 Matt and I got caught by some geared racers and I was finally given some help with my chase.

After a very quick stop at the checkpoint, I was able to escape from the rest of the group with two geared riders. Angry Andy and fast master’s racer, Doug Andrews, were the two others that got away with me. It’s always nice to ride with guys willing to work like these two. The three of us worked well together and we quickly got a nice gap on the other riders leaving the checkpoint later than us.

After a few fast flat miles, one of the major climbs on the course started. By this time, my body and mind started recovering from my little crash and I decided it was time to race again. I started catching a bunch of riders on the climb. It seemed like every time I caught someone on the climb they would tell me that Mike was just ahead. I continued climbing hard and soon caught Mike somewhere before the top of the climb, probably around mile 40 or so.

I got away from Mike a lot easier than I expected on the climb, probably because he was using a gear bigger than mine, but I knew that more than half of the race was ahead of us and that anything could happen, yet. So, I stayed on the gas and continued riding as hard as I could with my one gear. I was climbing great it seemed, but my rigid fork was definitely taking a toll on me during the long technical descents. To make matters worse, I noticed on the long descent to checkpoint #3 that my front brake was losing power. I was suddenly able to pull my front lever all the way to the grip, which only gave me any real stopping power in the rear brake. I added this problem to my list of things that had gone wrong today, but knew that there was nothing I could do about it except learn to live without the use of a front brake for the next 3-4 hours.

Luckily, the rest of the day seemed to go pretty well and I didn’t have any other issues out on the course. I would look over my shoulder on the long climbs to see if any other single speed racers were chasing me, but I saw none. I ended-up racing with small groups of geared guys for the rest of the race and using my finish time goal as my motivation to keep my speed high. I wanted to beat the eight hour mark and to also set a new single speed course record.

My time was just a little short in 2010 with a 8:02 finishing time. The course seemed a little slower this year, however, because of the soil being a little more damp and because of the really hot and humid weather conditions. But even with the slower course, I was still somehow able to beat my time from last year by finishing with a time of 7:58. I’m not sure if it was due to having better fitness or using an easier gear than I did a year earlier. I’ll take the better time either way because it was a perfect way to end an almost perfect season.

Winning the Shenandoah MTN 100 gave me 9 NUE race wins for the season out of the 10 NUE races that I did. Winning this race was also a nice way to put a cherry on top of my third straight NUE Series SS title in as many years….a 3-Peat. It’s been an exciting and pfun year of racing for me and I am already looking forward to attempting a fourth straight NUE Series SS win next year.”

Readers can read more and follow the Pfluginator on his blog at http://pfunwithpflug.blogspot.com/2011/09/3-peat.html

Masters Men

“The Hulk” Doug Andrews smashes the cranks, snatching his first NUE Series title

According to race director, Chris Scott, “Roger Masse (Trek 29er Crew) and Mike Ramponi (Independent Fabrication) were being hyped as the riders with a chance of riding away with a Master victory on the very challenging Shenandoah Mountain 100 course that they are very familiar with.

However, Masse was not able to cover the pace laid down by NUE Series leader, Doug Andrews (GeoLadders.com) nor defending NUE Masters Champion, Rob Herriman (TREK 29ER CREW/WSC/ACFSTORES.COM).”

With four wins, Andrews, nicknamed the Hulk for smashing the field by hours, instead of minutes, knew that he needed to prevent the defending champion from getting his fourth win. For the defending champion, Herriman, only a “W” would allow him to defend his title but that meant he needed the ride of his life to get past Andrews, Ramponi and Masse among the top contenders in a strong singlespeed field.

Chris Scott continued, “Ramponi, sporting his mohawk that made him look like what his son called “an exotic bird”, gave it his all hoping to ride fast ALL DAY LONG. However, Ramponi fell short of his expectations and suffered in the heat finishing far back but with a smile on his face.

Masse, never having had a good ride on this course close to his home in Maryland, felt pretty happy with his third place finish pumping his first fiercely at the finish as he rolled in at 8:49:16. Last minute entrant Bob Koerber, father of pro racers Sam and Willow, put in a solid ride taking fourth 9:28:38 with past champion Bill Nagel (Guys Bicycle Racing Club) rounding out the podium in fifth at 9:41:19.

Robert Herriman, whose motto is “The best way to predict the future is to create it!” finished second at 8:36:54, “Shenandoah is right at the top of the list on the NUE calendar when it comes to that sketchy, rocky, east coast style single-track trail which is kinda like my kryptonite. But, on the plus side, the SM100 also has tons of Herriman friendly fire road climbs, so I was still hopeful to be competitive. The race started out great and I made it over the first big climb of the day with no issues.

Starting out on the second big climb of the day (mile 12) it was the top three masters in the NUE series (Doug Andrews, Roger Masse, and myself) riding wheel to wheel on the trail. I was the first to drop off as I struggled to keep the bike on the trail in the steep rocky single-track. I would catch back up to Roger with a flat tire at about mile twenty.

On the next road I saw a little black bear run across the road about a hundred feet in front of me. That was pretty cool. From there on Roger and me swapped spots several more times as he flatted again and would catch back up in the technical trail. The race seemed to pass by very quickly for me and was mostly uneventful from there until I happened across my good buddy Mike Simonson who’d had a wicked crash.

Mike was with medical aid crew and was waiting for a 4-wheeler to get him out of the woods. He gave me a message to relay to Michelle that he was just scraped and banged up. It was a scary moment for sure and put things into a different perspective.

I finished up the race and then discovered Mike had been air-lifted out. Yikes!! Michelle and I packed things up and drove the 60 miles to join Mike in the ER. I missed being able to chat with friends after the race but obviously there are some things that are more important.”

In the end, it was Andrews that put thirty minutes on the field to finish 8:06:48. According to Andrews, “Flew from California with a bike box and small bag of gear, food and clothes. Everything was good although tricky getting the bike box under 50lbs. I stopped at Shenandoah Bicycle Shop in Harrisburg to pick up Big Air canisters that I reserved with Kyle since compressed air is not allowed on flights.  Kyle was super helpful and clued me in that there was no lodging close to the start and camping was the way to go.

I got lost on the way to the campground when my iPhone ran out of juice.  So I watched for cars with bikes and made it the last 15 miles to the campground. Went to build my bike and realized my tubeless back tire had a slow leak. I fussed with it all day, no go so I decided to let it sit overnight.

I had no tent or sleeping bag for the campground, so I threw the padding from my bike box in the back of my rental SUV in hopes of getting a good night sleep, that worked well. I woke up refreshed…and a little greasy from chain lube on one of those bike pads.  Got things together, but my tire was not holding air. 15 minutes before the start, I finally had to pop a tube in. I then realized my rotor was rubbing.  I fussed with it for a long time but could not resolve the rubbing.

Time started really slipping away, 7 minutes to start, and frantically I decided to loosen the caliber as a last resort, bad idea, it became worse.  Now I was in a panic with 5 minutes to start and still could not fix it. I started running with my bike towards the start line hoping to find a bike stand, then realized everyone was lined up already, oh crap, major panic.

I knew Robert Herriman was there, last year’s Masters Champion, and the only person I had to beat to win the series.  Also Roger Masse would be battling me hard for the days win (although not the series). All three of us are closely matched.  I lined up at the front of the line, to the right of Garth Prosser (Cannondale), but out of the way of the pack.

For me the entire series had boiled down to what happened in the next 60 seconds.  There I was at the start line and my bike was un-ride-able.  If I got caught behind the entire field it would be impossible to catch Robert and Roger.  I had ridden hundreds of miles at NUE races this season, traveled thousands of miles between NUE races, conquered numerous issues and problems along the way, and there I stood with an unrideable bike and 60 seconds to the start of the final, tie-breaker race.

I pulled out my Lenz tool (not a Lenz plug, although sounds good) from my jersey pocket, pushed down on the handlebar, pulled the brake, and firmly tightened both bolts on the caliber.  Only 30 seconds to start, picked up by my front wheel, gave it a spin.  Aahhh, no rubbing! I almost couldn’t believe it, what a relief!  Slipped my tool in my jersey, 5 seconds,  and bang we were off, …still didn’t even have my gloves on. I managed to work those on amongst the mayhem of the first few turns out of the campground.

If there’s one thing the NUE series teaches you it’s ‘never give up!’

15 minutes in, I was around 15th, and could not shift to my big ring.  Fussed with the barrel adjuster, but had to get off and retention the cable with my Lenz tool (still not a plug).  Both Robert and Roger passed me.  After I fixed my shifting issue, I caught some good pulls from a few riders and was able to catch them after about 45 minutes.

We rode together for maybe half hour then I got a bit of a gap on them.  I didn’t see them again, although they weren’t far behind.  I know Roger ultimately suffered two flats.  I leap frogged up a few groups here and there and then caught up to Gerry Pflug on the flats and rode in a group with him for many miles. Gerry eventually dropped me one of the long climbs in the last 25 miles.

My smartest tactic of the day was ‘not’ drinking some of my drop bag pre-mix bottles and instead grabbing fresh ‘water’ bottles at three stations that I had not planned on.  It was very hot and staying hydrated was critical.”

The gnarly world championship downhill course was muddy at the start of the elite men’s competition, but with relatively light to no rain falling on the lower seeded riders who were first off. Logan Binggeli (Saint George, Utah/KHS Bicycles), who went 21st of the more than 100 riders down the course, spent a significant amount of time in the hot seat before being bumped as the last 20 riders began their runs. By that time the rains had turned from a light misting to a torrential downpour.

As the top-ranked rider in international standings, Gwin was the last rider down the course. At the first of two time splits Gwin had the second fastest time by less than a second. Just after that however the 2011 world cup winner crashed into course netting and was forced off of his bike, costing him valuable time. Despite the minor crash, Gwin turned in the best American result, finishing in 12th, just 20 seconds behind newly crowned world champion Danny Hart of Great Britain.

Luke Strobel (Issaquah, Wash./MS Evil) finished in a strong 22nd place while Binggeli ended up in 33nd. All American riders who took to the challenging, wet course made it down the mountain safely, including Duncan Riffle (Santa Barbara, Calif./Giant MTB Team) in 42nd, Curtis Keene (Fremont, Calif.) in 49th and Mitch Ropelato (Ogden, Utah/SPS North America) in 71st.

Jacqueline Harmony (Sedona, Ariz./All Mountain Cyclery-Vixen Racing) was the only American to finish the elite women’s contest in 14th of 20 of the world’s best. Christian Wright (Auburn, Calif.) +1:20.625 and Neko Mulally (Reading, Pa./Trek) were 38th and 47th respectively of the 52 riders to finish the junior men’s downhill.

The lone American to contest the Trials event, Ryder Okumura (Durango, Colo./Durango Devo) finished in 34th.

“Ryder rode well but struggled in the wet conditions,” said trials coach Mike Friddell. “His fitness level and skill set was on par with the world’s top riders but he is still developing his consistency.”

The United States wraps up these world championships with Todd Wells’ (Durango, Colo./Specialized) seventh-place finish in elite men’s cross-country, Howard Grotts’ (Durango, Colo./Durango Devo) eighth in junior men’s cross-country and Melissa Buhl’s (Chandler, Ariz./KHS) fourth-place mark in women’s 4X highlighting the competition.

UCI Mountain Bike World Championships

Aug. 31–Sept. 3, 2011

Champéry, Switzerland

FULL RESULTS

Elite Men’s Downhill

1. Danny Hart (GBR) 3:41.989

2. Damien Spagnolo (FRA) +11.699

3. Samuel Blenkinsop (NZL) +12.993

12. Aaron Gwin (Temecula, Calif./Trek) +20.422

22. Luke Strobel (Issaquah, Wash./MS Evil) +28.961

33. Logan Binggeli (Saint George, Utah/KHS Bicycles) +37.483

42. Duncan Riffle (Santa Barbara, Calif./Giant MTB Team) +44.842

49. Curtis Keene (Fremont, Calif.) +50.361

71. Mitch Ropelato (Ogden, Utah/SPS North America) +1:32.133

Elite Women’s  Downhill

1. Emmeline Ragot (FRA) 4:54.012

2. Rachel Atherton (GBR) +15.291

3. Claire Buchar (CAN) +27.953

14. Jacqueline Harmony (Sedona, Ariz./All Mountain Cyclery-Vixen Racing) +1:25.422

Junior Men’s Downhill

1. Troy Brosnan (AUS) 3:51.503

2. David Turmmer (AUT) +12.188

3. Guillaume Cauvin (FRA) +19.294

38. Christian Wright (Auburn, Calif.) +1:20.625

47. Neko Mulally (Reading, Pa./Trek) +1:54.841

Elite Men’s 26” Trials

1. Kenny Belaey (BEL) 5

2. Vincent Hermance (FRA) 9

3. Gilles Coustellier (FRA) 10

34. Ryder Okumura (Durango, Colo./Durango Devo) 90