Marathon World Championship Report From Heather Holmes

Kenda/Tomac/Hayes rider Heather Holmes recently made the trip to Graz, Austria, to represent the United States at the Marathon World Championships. In only her second marathon distance mountain bike race Heather finished an incredible 25th. Read more about her adventure below.



Written by Heather Holmes

Wow! What an amazing and wonderful trip! I finally made it home from my trip to Austria for the Marathon World Championships - it was a long trip home requiring five flights and a night in the airport. I typically don’t race marathon mountain bike races, but after the US Nationals race in July I received a nomination form USA Cycling and decided to attend the World Championships in Graz, Austria. Since I was already racing the Kenda Cup ProXCT race in Windham, New York, it was easy to get a flight from Albany to Graz, Austria Monday after the last race. Plus, I looked at the course information online before committing and it was similar in length and elevation gain to the Nationals course, but with less singletrack and lower altitude.

So, the Monday after the Windham race I was in a van heading to the Albany airport with my Kenda-Tomac-Hayes teammates. Some of them thought I was nuts traveling to race without support in a foreign country, but I was excited for the trip. I wasn’t sure what to expect when I got to Austria, Harlan Price (the male representing the US) emailed me a few weeks prior about staying in international student housing and I arranged for an airport pick up from the manager of the housing, Andreas. I was surprised when I landed in Graz to see both Andreas and Harlan waiting for me, with a sign so I would recognize them. This was my first time meeting Harlan and I knew instantly that he was going to be fun to hang out with! Both of them made me feel so comfortable and Andreas wanted to do everything he could to make all of the racers staying at his place feel welcome. I spent the rest of my first day sleeping, walking around to find gluten free treats and building my bike.

The view down to the valley floor from half way up the last climb of the race.

The next day, Wednesday, Harlan invited me to join him to ride part of the course. Since it was one big loop, 53 miles for the women, the preriding had to be done in sections. Also, since neither one of us rented a car we rode our bikes from our accommodations to the course. Riding to the course ended up being a good thing because less than 10 minutes from the start line there was a steep road climb, with 28% grade at the steepest section. Harlan and I rode the first part of the course, since he had already done the last part of the loop he was used to the course markings and familiar with the area so he showed me around. The cool thing about having one big loop to race was that preriding was like getting a free tour of the countryside! We rode through a few small towns, the grounds of a monastery founded in 1129, a school playground, cow pastures, farmer’s back yards and up a mountain with restaurants and a gondola at the top.

On Thursday, I planned on riding the second half of the course and as I started my ride I noticed my rear wheel seemed loose. Actually, I kind of noticed something funky going on with my wheel for a few days and I finally put together that the bearings in my hub seemed to be going bad. I was a bit stressed out, but luckily I traveled to Austria with two sets of wheels so I knew I would be able to get something worked out. I chilled out about the mechanical problem and finished riding the second half of the course. This section had the most climbing and the longest descent on the course. The climb finished at the top of the mountain with the gondola, it was neat to see so many people hiking and riding all over the mountain and kids playing on toys at the top. I was out of water when I got to the top so I tried to get water and a sprite at the bar; I ended up with one sprite, water and two glasses of wine and water mixed. It was kind of a funny situation, and luckily a customer came in that spoke English and helped us sort out the miscommunication, then he told me I needed to work on my German. I finished my preride with almost an hour of descending and rewarded myself with an espresso at the café near the start/finish area.

After I got back to our room Harlan was nice enough to take apart my hub and scope out the situation for me, turns out the bearings were bad and I would have to race my other wheel. I was worried about my second wheel because it was the setup I flatted at Windham the weekend before. Once again Harlan came to the rescue and helped me get my second wheel to hold air. This ended up being a good thing because I was going to race Kenda Small Block 8 tires, but it rained the day before the race and I had Karma tires setup on my backup wheels. Good thing too because even though there wasn’t much singletrack on the course the trail that was there was fairly hard, similar to the riding I had done on the east coast for the past two weeks. I knew the rain would make the trails very slippery and the tread on the Karma would be perfect!

Harlan in his TeamUSA kit in front of the Clock Tower, the cyclist in the photo asked to have his photo taken with Harlan.

I took a rest day on Friday so we scoped out the town and rode up to the clock tower near the center of Graz. Even though the hill seemed small, the views from the top were amazing! Later in the day Harlan went to a café to wait for his friend Rick to come into town. I decided that I would catch a bus to the opening ceremonies for the event, and try to meet up with them later. As I was heading down the street to catch the bus I noticed a guy wandering down the street with a cast on. Luckily, Harlan told me Rick had a broken arm so I walked up to him and asked if he was looking for Harlan. Sure enough he was, so we found Harlan jumped in the car and drove to the opening ceremonies in Stattegg. It was so cute, there were about 40 kids carrying in flags for each country and saying welcome in the language of the country.

Finally, it was the day before the race, Saturday. I wanted to get my ride in early so I could spend the rest of the day relaxing. There was one section of the course that I hadn’t ridden yet so I was going to try to get that in, but I decided it would be too long of a ride. Instead, I rode up to the course and went up the crazy steep start hill one last time. Then I headed back to my room, set up my nutrition supplies for the race and spent the rest of the day relaxing.

Steps leading up to the Clock Tower, luckily there is a road on the back side that is less steep!

The weather Sunday morning was beautiful, no rain and not too hot, perfect for bike racing. I made plans earlier in the week to meet up with my support crew the morning of the race. Once again, I had no idea what to expect. Through the awesome network of cyclists in Salt Lake City, a couple living in Austria planned to meet up with me to take care of my water bottles and technical support during the race. I strolled out of my room at 8 AM and was greeted by the friendliest couple imaginable. I was so impressed, they had printed out all of the maps to feeds zones, highlighted the important times they needed to be there and told me it would be no problem to carry around my extra wheels, tools and water bottles. I chatted with them for a bit, then I went back to my room feeling so excited because awesome people were doing my support. I was extremely grateful because I knew it was going to be a lot of work for them to be my support crew. Since the course was one big loop and the five feed zones were scattered all over the place, it was going to be stressful and time consuming to drive to each feed station. Not only that, but I found out that they lived two hours away so they had to wake up at 5 AM to come to my rescue, incredible!

Now it was time to get on the bike and start thinking about racing! Harlan and I rode to the start of the race as part of our warm up and once we got there we were glad we had, the traffic was jam-packed. We even arrived before Andreas and Rick, both had left in their vehicles the same time we departed on bikes. I rode around in the neighborhood near the start for my warm-up, I wanted to make sure my legs wouldn’t be dead when we hit the road climb early in the race. I could hear the announcer calling up the men, as they started 15 minutes before the women. I knew our race would be starting soon, I was more comfortable than I expected during the call up and at the start. Once the gun went off the women stayed together as we rolled up the gradual road climb to the base of the steep climb. I knew once we hit the steep climb the race would break up, sure enough no one really attacked, but the field started to break apart. Once we got to the top we headed into the woods on a trail, I tried to pass some people here so I could get a good position for the technical riding. I continued to pass people throughout the single track and before I knew it we were working our way through the flats to the first feed zone. I rolled through, got two bottles from my wonderful support crew and continued on my way.

Although it was hard, the rest of the race was a lot of fun. There were awesome spectators everywhere, kids on the playground wanting to get high fives, people cheering us on as we rode through a beer garden and at every aid station my wonderful support crew. I couldn’t help but smile during a lot of the race, the views were beautiful and when there weren’t people around the cows had cowbells on so it was like they were cheering for us! I continued to work my way up in the field, and after about three hours I decided my goal was to finish in five hours. I passed a couple of girls at the top of the gondola climb and tried to pick off more people on the descent. I was closing in on two or three, but I took a hard fall about half way down on a gravel road. Apparently, 4 ½ hours of racing affects my judgment on how fast to take a corner! I still managed to catch one girl, but she stayed on my wheel and came around me at the finish. I was seven minutes over my goal of five hours, but I was extremely happy with myself for riding hard during the last two hours of the race. At the finish my support crew was well prepared and handed me a large bottle of water and a lot of chocolate. Overall I had a great experience and for my second marathon race ever I didn’t do too shabby!

My race wouldn’t have been possible or nearly as much fun without my support crew - Renate and Rudy, Harlan for fixing my mechanical issues, the clothing sale from TheChurchOfTheBigRing.com, donations from wonderful people and the words of encouragement sent my way, thank you everyone! Also, I would like to thank all of my wonderful sponsors for the great equipment this year - Kenda Tires, Tomac Mountain Bikes, Hayes Brakes, Manitou, Voler Clothing, KMC chains, Hammer Nutrition, Specialized shoes and helmets, WickWerks chainrings, Kinesys sunscreen, Crankbrothers pedals, Hydrapak, Finish Line lubricants, Ergon grips and Genuine Innovations CO2 inflators. Big thanks also to Bootworks Cycle Center in Park City, Utah for helping me get my bikes up and running this year!

 We had to ride through this pasture with the cows, luckily on the day of the race people were around to keep the cows away from us.

The view down to Graz from the Clock Tower, we were staying in the building behind the tree on the lower left of the photo.

MurIsland – A steel structure built in the middle of the Mur River, it’s like a bridge with a coffee shop and bar inside!

Marathon World Championship Report From Pua Sawicki

Read all about Pua's adventures at the Marathon World Championships in Graz, Austria, where she posted the best ever finish by an American!



Written by Pua Sawicki, born and raised in Mililani, Hawaii

Our hotel was about a 20 minute spin from the race start and I decided to make that spin part of my warm-up. When it was time to leave, Ron took off with the car and all of our tools and equipment and I took off on my bike, and I really had no idea what I would soon be witnessing. As I was getting closer to the venue, I noticed that the traffic began to pick-up and it was not just the traffic of cars with bikes, but much of the traffic was made up of cars filled with cycling enthusiasts.

The start/finish area had taken over the whole road and the only access of getting in or out of that road was a little bypass detour around the venue. I am not sure exactly how to explain it, but it was a controlled, super chaotic situation. Imagine an already narrow road with no shoulder that just fit two cars and people were parking on both sides of this road where half of their car was on the sidewalk or grass and the other half was in the road. So, there were cars coming from both directions trying to get around each other, while other cars were trying to park, while people were trying to walk over to the venue with their flags and noise makers, and while bicycles were trying to warm-up and make their way through, weaving between all the cars. If that does not sound super chaotic, trust me, it was. And believe it or not, I never heard people honking or screaming at each other, it was just another day at a race. It was incredible.



When I finally made my way through all of that, I reached the venue and I was trying to take it all in. The venue was massive. The start/finish line took up the whole road, it was lined with banners and flags that represented each country, around that was the team pit areas, there was a whole bar and food set-up with rows of picnic tables lined up, there were RVs, cars, people and people on bikes everywhere. The other thing that was super special, was seeing everyone riding around in their own countries colors and wearing the stars and stripes on my shoulders with USA written across my chest.

Before I knew it, I was standing at the line and the brutal 53 mile ride that I have been dreaming about for some time was right in front of me. I felt calm, confident and ready and the 2-minute countdown was the longest 2-minutes ever. The street ahead of us was lined with people and they were all screaming and chanting and the gun finally went off.

The course began with a couple miles of road with an ever so slight grade and this was used as a casual warm-up. There was a lead car, followed by a lead moto as we made our way to the first climb that was about a mile long with a grade of 28%. The pack was silent and you could hear the humming of the tires against the pavement, the shifting of gears and you could almost hear the intensity of each racer. Each rider was moving around for position as we made our way to the base of the nasty climb.



As we made our approach, I made my way to the front and was ready for the race to really begin. I hit the hill pretty hard and there was some answer, but I realized everyone was going to just stick on my wheel. The climb continued and I would have someone come up next to me or pull a little in front, but we would hit a slight flat for a few seconds and I would continue to push and found myself right back in front and after about 9 minutes of climbing we reached the cresting of the hill where there were massive crowds with people screaming and chanting. Everything was kind of a blur, but I remember hearing the announcer and because they had no idea who the girl in the lead with the USA jersey on was, I heard him announcing the girls names who were behind me (Sabine, Petra, Ester).

We crested the top and the front of the pack was switching around a bit as they decided to jump out in front of me before we started to descend. We turned into the first single track climb that was a little rooty and before I knew it, I looked up and everyone was stepping off their bikes. It had stormed the 2 nights before the race and everything was a little slick and muddy. I thought it was rideable, but there was no way to get around and I jumped off and began to run to the top just as everyone else.

We continued knocking out each mile and as we approached one of the longer single track descends, I knew I had to get in their first. I felt super confident on the technical descends and I felt that I could put some time on the single track that we were approaching before we hit a flat road section. When we approached it, there were 2 girls in front of me, but I managed to snake my way around them and that is when I let the brakes go and just held on. I quickly realized we were coming up on the rear of the Master Men who started 15 minutes ahead of us and all I could do was scream to get them out of the way. There were different reactions and for the most part they would sort of move to the side, but when I came up to one of the last turns that took us out of the single track and onto the road, I saw a guy in front of me. I was trying to call him off and instead of moving, he continued to try and make it out of the turn and because it had come up so fast, I ended up sliding into the turn right behind his rear wheel and before I knew it, I was on the ground.



I quickly got up and jumped back in the saddle and that is when I realized that my handlebars were sideways. I pulled over and thought that I might possibly be able to budge it back, but I had no such luck and my only choice was to continue on and stop at the next feed/tech zone to straighten it. I got back on my bike and realized that I still did not get caught or passed by anyone and I started pedaling and picking up my momentum again. We were now on a flat open section and I knew that they would soon see me and if I was not seen, the Swiss support crew that I just rode pass and that were everywhere on the course would tell them exactly where I was. And sure enough, I took a glance back and there they were. With their little train behind me, it did not take long before they were once again sitting on my wheel.

We made our way through the streets of Gratkorn where people were once again chanting, screaming and blowing horns and whistles. The next section took us on the bike path that lead to a narrow little trail through the town that shot us out near a school where we went through 2 buildings, made a right and a quick left up this hill that looked like a big wall. As we attacked the hill there were Master Men everywhere and we were flying past them, yelling and trying to call them off. Then the wall turned into a narrow single track that would go straight up the side of this hill and when I looked up, it was another train of men in front of us. There was barely any room for 1 bike on this trail, but I knew that I had to try anything I could to make my way through because every second would count in this race. I began yelling and forcing my line past and I could hear the girls behind right on my wheel doing the same.

Our little train of 4 or 5 continued and although I realized that they were making me work, this was the World Championships and I only had one thing on my mind. As we were getting close to feed/tech zone 1, I noticed that I managed to put a little gap in our train and it was Sabine on my wheel and 2 of the Swiss girls on her wheel. I realized that I was soon going to lose my spot because I had no choice and needed to stop and get my bars straightened, but I was feeling pretty confident at that point and knew I had to just keep calm and I would be able to catch back up.

The feed was on the grounds of this huge monestary and they took us around the outside of the walls and when I looked up, all I could see were crowds and crowds of people. I was looking down the feed zone between all of the people searching for Ron. The people were everywhere lining the course and they were screaming and clapping while the neutral feed was yelling and holding bottles right in front of me and I finally saw Ron holding up my bottle. I yelled out at him that I needed a wrench and he ran over to grab the tools. I pulled over and saw the girls go by and we calmly did what we had to do to get me back out on the course.

It felt like forever, but I was back on the course with my bars straight and weaving through the tape that led us out of the grounds and back onto the road. I was sitting in about 5th or 6th when I looked up and I caught a glimpse of the lead pack in front of me and the chase was on. The chase continued as we turned onto the dirt and we quickly got to a longer, super fast descend that was pretty rooty. I knew if I could really push that edge, I would be able to make up time and I did. I came out of that first section and when we made a turn onto a little road that routed us into and through a patio of a little restaurant, I looked up and there they were. We got into the second section of that descend that was super steep and a little slick and when we came out of that, I pulled right behind the group and rode straight to the front and I knew I was back in the race.

As we were riding into more of the climbing, I started feeling the inside of my right knee where I went down and hit. The muscles were beginning to tighten and I wasn't feeling the same power and strength as I was in the beginning of the race. I continued to pedal through it and when we finally reached the feed/tech zone 3 and hit the last long climb of that section before the last big climb of the day, I could feel that I might be in trouble.

With every push of the pedal stroke it felt like the muscle was on the verge of tearing and although I was not giving up I slowly was dropping back and by the time we hit feed zone 4, I was about a minute back of the lead and sitting in 6th place. As soon as I headed out on the last big climb, I knew I was going to have to do everything to just hold on to my spot, my legs were not feeling like themselves and before I knew it, Pia was riding by and I was now in 7th. It was going to be a long way to the top, but I knew if I could hold it till then, I could definitely hold it down to the finish.

This climb took us to the top of Shockl Mountain which was a ski resort and the last part of the climb right before the crest of the hill was super steep and lined with a crowd of people who were chanting and trying to give you as much motivation as they possibly could, and it did. Another spectator that came as a complete surprise was a cow that was standing right on the side of the road next to the people, just standing there and checking things out.



I made my way through the top of the resort and all the people and the cow and headed back down. As I eventually got closer, I could hear the excitement down in the venue and the crowds of people got bigger and bigger. I finally got to the final stretch to the finish line and there were the crowds pounding on the boards and I crossed the line in 7th place at my first Marathon World Championships.

The race unfolded in every way that I would never have expected and I had to be content with how it finished. I walked away from that race with a confidence that I never had and an experience that I will never forget and cannot wait to experience again next year. I will never forget what it felt like to be wearing the stars and stripes with the USA across my chest and hearing the chant of "USA!" or "go USA!"

Team USA clowning around Heather Holmes, Pua Sawicki, and Harlan Price (l to r)

I realize this is already practically a novel, but I have to say a few thank yous to the people who made all of this possible and successful for us.

First, to all of our partners that have supported and made all of this possible and providing me with an amazing ride. Ellsworth, Ergon, DT Swiss, ControlTech, Magura, InFinit Nutrition, Hutchinson, Shimano, Lake Shoes, Lazer Helmets, WTB Saddles, Squadra, Adidas Eyewear, Fuel Factor, I.E. Bikes, Wobble Naught, Crankbrothers, NiteRider, Innovations, Nomad, PureFit, byeKyle and Swiftwick Socks. You guys rock and we appreciate you more than you know!

Second, we wanted to say thank you to Max Muscle. This is a very new relationship that has been awesome for all of my vitamins and supplements and have been making a huge difference. Thank you to them for making this trip possible.

Next, a huge thank you to Ergon. Topeak-Ergon had a huge showing at this race and they provided us with a first class support team that we have never had and it was amazing. We had a pit to base out of, a mechanic outside of Ron to rely on, a super massage therapist and many experienced individuals to learn from. Thank you to them for helping us out in every way possible and making sure we had everything we needed. And congratulations to Alban for his 2nd place, Wolfram for his 5th place, Sally for her 10th place and Robert for his 23rd place.

Lastly, I wanted to say thank you to Ron. He never gets the recognition that he deserves for all that he does. He is an individual with many, many hats and is always there for me. I could never have done this or could never do this without him. Thank you Ron, you are awesome!

Oh and of course, thank you to everyone for all the support. We appreciate it way more than you could know!

aloha,

pua

Help Send Top Under-23 Rider Robbie Squire To Worlds by Entering To Win Fantastic Prizes

All season 19 year-old Robbie Squire has been sharing his stories with you, now it's time for us to share. On the strength of his amazing finishes throughout the year, Robbie has been selected to compete on the US National Team at the upcoming World Championsihps in Canberra, Australia. Although Robbie is one of the top cross country racers in the country, USA Cycling will not be funding his trip down under.

After hearing that, Riley Siddoway, director of the Tour De Park City, has established an online raffle to help raise money for Squire's trip to Canberra. This is where all of us come in. By following this link, you can enter to win fantastic prizes including a Reynolds Solitude Wheelset, Garmin 605 GPS computer, Rudy Project helmet and glasses combo, or one of 3 nutrition packages including Hammer heed and gel, Sportslegs, and Pro Bars. Each raffle entry costs just five dollars or buy ten entries for just 40 bucks. There is no limit on the number of entries you can buy.

Robbie needs our help!

All proceeds from the online raffle go directly to help fund Robbie Squire's trip to the World Championships in Canberra, Australia. At the start of the 2009 season, Robbie was told it was unlikely he would qualify for the World Championships this season. After all, he was just 19 and this would be his first season racing in the Under-23 category. In order to qualify, USA Cycling told him, he would really have to prove himself on the race course. Well, Robbie has done just that. Squire finished second at the National Championships by just seconds and has consistently produced top finishes on the US and World Cup circuit this season, capping it off by finishing 13th at the US Cup finals in Windham, New York.

Now that Robbie has done his part, it's time for all of us to do ours. So follow this link, enter the prize raffle and help send one of America's best young riders to the World Championships!

Winners of the prize raffle will be randomly drawn from the list of entrants on Tuesday, September 8th. We would like to give special thanks to Riley Siddoway and the Tour De Park City for creating the online raffle and donating the prizes. The Tour De Park City is an annual road bike race held in Park City, Utah. Race lengths of 50, 100, and 170 miles are offered as riders are treated to the best road riding Utah has to offer. Click here to learn more.

The Robbie Report is a weekly feature on MTBracenews.com. Robbie Squire is the 2008 Junior National Champion and the newest member of the US National Team. Just two years ago Squire was racing as a Sport. In '08, his first year and only year as a Junior Expert, Robbie won the Junior National Championship. In '09 his first year in the senior ranks, the Utah resident will be racing with the U.S. National Under-23 Team. Each week Robbie will share his experiences with us. Join in as the 19 year-old Junior National Champion and first year Pro travels across the United States and Europe racing his bike and living out a once in a lifetime opportunity.

I’ve been in back in Salt Lake for about 10 days and it’s just about time to start packing for my next trip to Canberra, Australia for mountain bike world championships. As if this wasn’t enough school started this week, which, has just helped to complicate everything. Things have been really busy managing school, training, travel arrangements, and equipment for the next week.

On a lighter note I raced in the Snowbird Hill climb this past weekend, which is always a fun race. I raced in the cat 1-2 category and also did the Ultraman competition that requires that once you finish the road section you jump on a mountain bike and ride to the top of the resort. I got beat up on in the road section and ended finishing second in a sprint to the finish. I won the mountain bike portion even though I bonked(ran out of energy) harder than I ever have before and was inching my way up the second half of the mountain climb. Apparently this year was only the second year of the Ultraman section being added to the road climb, which makes me the only winner of the race in history-cool.


The Tour of Utah guys also contested the road climb as the final climb of the tours queen stage. I stuck around with my dad to watch the riders as the rounded the last corner and headed to the finish. I was receiving updates from where the leaders on the road were and which of my favorites were in the lead. Turns out that a 21 year old felt-hollowesko rider won the stage against Salt Lake hero Burke Swindlehurst. The last kilometer of road was really exciting watching these guys along with many of the countries greatest road cyclist push as hard as they could to get to the top. If the crowds at the finish were any indication of the race’s popularity I would bet that the race will be back next year-hopefully with me in it.

In order to get to Australia in sufficient time to prepare for my race I leave Friday evening and get there Sunday morning after spending approximately 18 hours in the air. Qualifying for World championships was a big goal of mine for this year, however I didn’t realize how much work it would take to get everything organized to get there. The expensive plane tickets along with other fees were going to make it really difficult to go to this race. Fortunately for me a lot of local business have come through to support me at world championships. Bingham Cyclery and Riley at the Tour De Park City have been a huge help in finding me funding to make worlds possible. In addition to the great financial support I’ve received, several companies have set me up with some really sweet new components. Reynold’s Composites sent me some mountain bike wheels that in combination with the new Scrub rotors I received lightened my bike by over 1.2 pounds. This new equipment is awesome and even if I’m not the fastest guy at worlds I’ll definitely have the best looking bike. I wasn’t on bad equipment to begin with, everything on my bike was top of the line but just not the best available product. I’m pretty confident that my wheel set up is one of if not the best on the market.


I’m blown away by the willingness of local companies to help me out especially when the current economic situation is not too good.

Aside from awesome new equipment I’ve been trying to prepare physically for my race on September 4th. Despite what most people, including myself, think riding your bike as hard as you can for as long as you can won’t put you in the best shape to race. It has been hard for me to cope with this idea of a training plan because I’m used to just going out and riding however I want. That method of training produced results before but now I’m following slightly more detailed training plan, which I think, will help immensely. It’s tough because I spend a lot more time feeling out of shape than I would like but in the last few races it has really seemed to help. Only a few more days of stressing out before I leave, hopefully everything will calm down by then.

Robbie

News: Last Week To Register For The Park City Point to Point Ultra-Endurance Mountain Bike Race

Register now and discover why top endurance racers like Pua Sawicki (Ellsworth) keep coming back to race in Park City, Utah. Sawicki, fresh off her top-10 finish at the Marathon World Championships, will be making the Park City Point to Point the next stop on her race calendat. 75-miles of the best singletrack in the West is on tap at the inaugural Park City Point to Point presented by Trek. 

Registration is available for solo participants or split the total distance with a teammate by signing up in one of the two-person team categories. Enjoy the ultimate in trail riding on one of the nation's most extensive mountain bike trail networks.

All riders get a free Ground tech-T, Skull Candy headphones, Spudz lens cleaner, Hammer energy products, Squirt lube, post-race meal and an entry into one of the biggest post-race raffles known to man. In the raffle every rider has a chance to win Ergon grips and backpacks, Crankborthers pedals, clothing from Kuhl, Scrub Components Rotors, Skull Candy Headphones, Ellsworth hydration packs, Northwave shoes and gear, and assorted gear from Ground.

Registration for the PCPP closes at midnight on August 31st. Day of race registration is not available, so if you're not signed up by the 31st you'll have to wait until next year to experience the most exciting and challenging ultra-endurance race in the West. If you enjoy riding epic singletrack the Park City Point to Point is the race for you.

To register visit www.thepcpp.com

Rider Chat with Jenna Rinehart

For years Jenna (Zander) Rinehart has been one of the top-20 female cross country racers in the nation. She is in the midst of her greatest season. After finishing in the top-10 at this year's Sea Otter Classic cross country and short track, Jenna has returned to her home of Mankato, Minnesota, to win just about every race she's entered. She has multiple wins in the Wisconsin Off-Road Series and recently took home first place in the Ore to Shore point to point race putting her in line to be the first woman to win the Triple Crown of point to point races.


In a very candid interview, Jenna shares her thoughts about mountain bike racing and why, despite being one of the best female racers in the US, she chose to forgo the US Cup in 2009. And if that little voice in the back of your mind ever told you you were soft for riding your indoor trainer when the temperature dips below 50 degrees, wait until you read this!

MTBracenews: Where the heck is Mankato, MN?

Jenna Rinehart: Mankato is a town of 50,000 people 70 miles southwest of Minneapolis/St. Paul nestled in the Minnesota river valley. For the last few years it has been a stop for the Nature Valley Grand Prix road stage race.

MTBracenews: How did you get started mountain bike racing?

JR: In high school I downhill ski raced and ran cross country and track. I started getting injuries with running and was looking for another way to stay in shape. Our local ski hill had mountain bike trails in the summer so I decided to give it a try. I was immediately hooked and started to get more serious about racing bikes in college.

MTBracenews: What mountain biking accomplishment are you most proud of?

JR: One accomplishment that stands out and I will never forget is winning the U-23 National Championship in 2006. That victory not only gave me that title but also provided me with the awesome opportunity to race for the US National Team. As a member of the US National team I was able to race the World Championships that year in New Zealand at which I placed 12th. I also was able to race the Pan American Championships in Brazil where I placed 2nd.


MTBracenews: What are your future goals/plans with mountain bike racing?

JR: My main goal is to have Fun and enjoy riding my bike. I would love to race more world cups and have a chance to represent the US as an elite racer at Worlds sometime. Right now with the sponsorship situation being what it is and the lack of funding available I am racing more regional events in which there actually is prize money.

MTBracenews: In the past you have traveled the National circuit, however recently you have changed your focus to more regional races. Why?

JR: I finished off the 2008 season feeling very frustrated and needing a change with National level racing. I spent 4 years going to every National race. Every year I would have better results but it didn’t seem to matter as sponsorship got worse and worse. It just didn’t make sense and became so unaffordable to travel to these far off places (the closest race was a 14 hours drive). The amount of money spent traveling to these remote places just didn’t give enough of a return to make it as fun anymore.

The organization of the National level races has turned into a joke. Our local series being the MNSCS and WORS have 10 times better organization in setting up there series and actually carrying out an event. It became more and more clear to me that if you weren’t on one of the BIG teams that none of your concerns mattered. I attended many Managers meetings to see that all was being dictated by a select few. I find it odd that the Organizers of the national level races always catered to the big teams and never considered the recreational racers needs or concerns. They would rather put an event in the middle of nowhere at 12,000 feet then consider hosting an event near a population base where most people actually live. Enough ranting!

I would love to return to the national level events when they become worthwhile to attend. Until then I will race the truly great events!

Rinehart on her way to another win on the WORS circuit

MTBracenews: How does mountain bike racing in the Midwest compare to other regions you have raced?

JR: Despite not having true Mountains I would say that the Midwest has some of the best mountain bike racing available in the US. As I mentioned above the organization of our series here in Minnesota and WORS next door in Wisconsin is outstanding. The results are posted online before you get back home (within hours of finishing the race) The format for each event is identical. (Races always start at the same time) ( Entry fees are the same all year long) etc. The courses range from flat speed oriented events to steep climbs and descents. We have some of the most fun tight single track that I have ever ridden.

The WORS series is the largest attended Mountain Bike Series in the US. They cater to the people who truly keep this sport alive. They are the family’s who bring their tents and kids and make a weekend out of the race. It is so amazing what a following the series has and how it continues to grow. I would love to see the national level races take a step back and witness how Don Edberg runs the WORS series. I think they would be shocked at how successful they too could be.

MTBracenews: Now that you won the Ore to Shore race in Michigan, are you planning to contend for the Triple Crown?

JR: Maybe. I’ll take one weekend at a time. Next up is Chequmegon on the “Triple Crown Series” I won it a couple years ago, but there is always stiff competition and a lot can go wrong when you mass start with 1500 people. I don’t want to make any commitments until after Chequemegon is over.

MTBracenews: What is an interesting fact about you that most people don’t know?

JR: Despite living in the cold of Minnesota I hardly ever touch my trainer. We ride outside down to -5 degrees F with ski goggles, toe warmers, and many layers of clothes. We will even ride on the frozen lakes and rivers. Riding on snow can be fun and exciting as the conditions are always changing.

MTBracenews: You recently changed sponsors to Specialized. Tell us about your new ride?

JR: Yes, I am riding the Specialized Era. It is the women’s version of the Epic. I absolutely love the Brain with the inertia valve in it for the rear suspension. It is so comfortable to ride and has definitely improved my technical and downhill riding ability. I am able to go faster without losing control.

MTBracenews: Full suspension or hardtail? Why?

JR: Full Suspension! With the Era I really have the best of both worlds. The brain keeps the back end locked out until the rear wheel hits a large enough trail event ( Being a log, rock, hole etc.) in which it that opens up and allows the rear suspension to be fully active. As soon as the trail smoothes out again the rear end is locked out. This allows me to not have to decide whether to lock out the rear end or not. It is all done automatically and instantly. So this bike climbs and sprints like a hardtail and descends and rides technical terrain like a trail bike. Until I rode the Era I was a hardtail fan all the way, however, this bike has converted me.

MTBracenews: What is your favorite mountain bike race of all time?

JR: My favorite race that I look forward to every year is the Laddies Loppet stage race at Maplelag XC ski resort in Callaway, MN. This race is part of the MN state series and usually held every Labor day weekend. It was also host to a UCI race in 2007. Jay Richards and his family put on such a well organized event with 3 stages (TT, short track, and XC) and great prize money. Most racers stay at small cabins at the resort. We eat family style meals and swim in the lake after the race. It’s so much fun, and a great way to get to know other racers.

MTBracenews: Name a race you haven’t done but want to?

JR: I would love to be able to do a European world cup race some day. Just seeing the pictures and videos and hearing the stories of the crazy fans seems like so much fun. To race against so many strong women would be awesome!

Breaking News: Sawicki Finishes 7th at Marathon World Championships

Marathon World Championships: Graz, Austria



Ellsworth Rider Pua Sawicki rode to the best marathon world championship finish of any rider from the United States in the history of the marathon racing format.

Facing stiff competition from riders like 2008 Marathon World Champion Gunn-Rita Dahle-Flesjaa (Norway), Olympic XC Champion Sabine Spitz (Gremany), and '07 Marathon World Champion Petra Henzi (Switzerland), Sawicki did the US proud by holding the early lead in the race before succumbing to the effects of a crash involving a male rider.

Sawicki has been plagued by a right knee injury she suffered at the US national championships.

Stay tuned for more updates and reports from the marathon world championships

Women Results:

1, Sabine Spitz (Ger)

2, Esther Suss (Swi)

3, Petra Henzi (Swi)

4, Erika Dicht (Swi)

5, Elisabeth Brandau (Ger)

6, Pia Sundstedt (Fin)

7, Pua Sawicki (USA)

8, Milena Landtwing (Swi)

9, Michela Benzoni (Ita)

10, Sally Bigham (GBr)

25, Heather Holmes (USA)

Men Results:

1, Roel Paulissen (Bel)

2, Alban Lakata (Aut)

3, Christoph Sauser (Swi)

4, Christoph Soukup (Aut)

5, Wolfram Kurschat (Ger)

6, Alexey Medvedev (Rus)

7, Dario David Cioni (Ita)

8, Kevin Evans (RSA)

9, Lukas Buchli (Swi)

10, Hector Leonardo Paez Leon (Col)

87, Harlan Price (USA)

Mount Ogden 50K: Snowbasin, Utah

On August 22nd Snowbasin Resort played host to the inaugural Mount Ogden 50k. Snowbasin is not featured on the Intermountain Cup schedule and the 50k offered racers a chance to sample the trail network, which is helping to make the Ogden area an outdoor recreation hotspot. Racers responded with 200 turning out for the race.

Temperatures were high, even at the higher elevations, but that didn't take away from the exciting singletrack riding during the race. An abundance of tight trail kept riders focused and having fun throughout the marathon distance race.

Chris Holley on his way to a win at Mt. Ogden

In the men's event, it was endurance strongman Chris Holley (Subaru/Gary Fisher) taking top honors. Despite being just one week removed from his top-20 finish at the Leadville 100, Holley had plenty left in the gas tank defeating a field of top Utah riders. Nate Miller (Dale's Pale Ale), enjoying his typical late season burst, did his best to stick with the leader keeping Holley in sight throughout most of the race. He finally finished just 27 seconds back. Miller can now add Mount Ogden to his second place finish at the Galena Grinder last month.

Even with the longer distance, riders stayed close together with the top-4 finishers being separated by a mere 79 seconds. Jonny Hintze (Bikers Edge) finished in the third spot with recent Madison, Wisconsin, transplant Thomas Bender taking 4th just 19 seconds back.

Sarah Kaufmann crosses the finish line

In the women's event, it was Sarah Kaufmann (Titus/Roaring Mouse) crossing the line first. Kaufmann, who relocated to the Ogden area this summer, was the only female finisher to break the 3 hour mark, finishing with a time of 2.59.13. Kauffman seems to excel at longer distance races having just taken 3rd at the Intermontance Challenge in Kamloops, Canada.

Behind Kauffman came KC Holley (Subaru/Gary Fisher) who reported to be feeling the effects of her amazing third place finish in Leadville. Third place went to Joey Lithgoe (Kuhl/Scott).

Riders at the start of the Pro women's event

Race Notes:

Racers of the Mount Ogden 50k were handsomely rewarded for their efforts on the race course with a spectacular prize list which included Light & Motion lights, Edge Composite Wheelsets, Kinetic Trainers, and much more.

Written by: Shannon Boffeli
Photos by: Lyna Saffell

Results

Pro Men
1, Chris Holley (Gary Fisher) 2.36.40
2, Nate Miller (Dales Pale Ale) 2.37.07
3, Jonny Hintze (Bikers Edge) 2.37.40
4, Thomas Bender 2.37.59
5, Quin Bingham (Bikers Edge) 2.43.43
6, Tom Diegel
7, Brent Pontius
8, Nick Fisher
9, Brandon Firth (Rocky Mountain)
10, Todd Smith
11, Taylor Foss
12, Ryan Krusemark
13, Chad Davis
14, Josh Mortensen
15, Scott Morrison
16, Brett Satterwaite
17, Kyle Stock
18, Bob Saffell (Revolution/Peak Fasteners)
19, Fred Porter (Kuhl/Scott)

Pro Women

1, Sarah Kaufmann (Titus/Roaring Mouse) 2.59.13
2, KC Holley (Gary Fisher) 3.02.18
3, Joey Lithgoe (Kuhl/Scott) 3.02.44
4, Erika Powers (Revolution/Peak Fasteners) 3.15.29
5, Kelsey Bingham 3.22.39
6, Mary Fuss
7, Debbie Mortensen
8, Lisa White
9, Meg Plank

Lalonde and Rinehart are fastest at a Badger-dominated Midwest Border Battle: Report, Photos, and Results from River Falls, Wisconsin

Report by Claire Cannon and Jay Richards

The Trek Border Battle, eighth race in the Wisconsin Off Road Series, was held on August 16 at White Tail Ridge just outside River Falls, WI. The Border Battle also appeared on the Minnesota State Championship Series calendar and pitted Minnesota and Wisconsin riders against one another. Racers in the Wisconsin series won the traveling trophy at the 2008 Battle, and Minnesota brought a stacked field for the rematch. With early forecasts that called for rain, racers were expecting a "mudder". However, after heavy early-morning showers, the skies cleared and the course was soon mostly dry with only a few spongy spots.

Race leaders Travis Woodruff (#2; Adventure 212 / Specialized) and 
Mark Lalonde (Planet Bike / GT / T6) charge into a section of 
singletrack after an open passing section. Lalonde eventually got 
ahead of Woodruff for the win. Photo by Brittany Nigh

"I was expecting it to be real gnarly but actually the course was great and only wet up at the top", said Wisconsin Elite rider Jesse Lalonde, after the race. “Some of the singletrack was like riding in peanut butter. It really sapped my energy.”

Nearly 700 racers turned out for the event, although there "might have been a hundred or so more if the forecast had been different", said WORS series director Don Edberg.

Off the start, MacIej Nowak (Team Polska) took the holeshot and led the field up the long, steep climb into the singletrack. The men’s Belgioioso Elite Series field was flying up that climb, as riders knew it would be critical to be in a good position before the singletrack. Lap times on the first lap were under 20 minutes. By the second ascent of the big hill, a group of six racers, including teammates Travis (TJ) Woodruff and Mike Phillips (Adventure 212 / Specialized), Jesse Lalonde (Gary Fisher 29 / T6 / BKB) and brother Mark Lalonde (Planet Bike / GT / T6), Minnesota racer Brendan Moore (Velo Rochester), and Nathan Guerra (Mr. Tree Racing) were just off the front.

This lead group of six would stay together for most of the race until Nathan Guerra, current Elite Series leader and winner of WORS #7, had to pause and tend to a flat. Then, on the climb at the beginning of the last lap, Woodruff put in a "ferocious" attack, according to Moore. Woodruff’s attack split the group, with only Mark Lalonde able to respond.

“The first five minutes of the race were really intense and that more or less established the lead group of riders right from the start,” said Woodruff. “I set the pace for laps two and three, as we all felt things out and prepared for the second half of the race where the pace was sure to quicken. At the start of the fourth lap, Mike Phillips accelerated hard and really upped the intensity, especially in the singletrack. By the end of lap four, the pace had mellowed and five of us were still together, although some likely hurting more than others at this point. I went really fast up the climb on the final lap and only Marko was able to match the pace.”

The younger Lalonde stayed with Woodruff until near the end of the last lap, when he took the lead and the win.

“The first climb after the start sorted the field quickly”, agreed Mark Lalonde. “After half a lap, the lead group was set. Everyone took a turn at the front with no gaps to be had. TJ seemed to be doing the majority of the work. He threw in a killer ascent of the start climb on the last lap, and I stuck on his wheel. As we rounded the first field I saw a gap and told him to punch it. We were flowing pretty well through the singletrack, weaving through lap traffic. In the second field section I took over the pacing duties. I quickly decided to redline it for as long as I could and see what happened. We kept the flow going and it was not until about a mile from the finish that I realized I had a gap. I put it in cruise and played it safe through the tight corners.”

“Mark and I exchanged the lead a couple times during the last lap and kept the gap over the chasers all the way to the finish,” said Woodruff. “Mark led going into the final singletrack, so there was little opportunity for me to come around. We put in a very fast final lap and it was great that we were able to finish 1-2. It was a fast race and never a dull moment, since several of us seemed closely matched on the course. Having people lining the start finish area and on the climb to cheer was pretty cool.”

Battling for third and fourth were Phillips and Moore. Jesse Lalonde rounded out the top five after "popping" on the last lap. The lapped traffic that the men’s Elite field encountered after their fourth lap certainly added another dynamic to their race.

Women's leaders Jenna Rinehart (#574; Specialized) and Abigail Strigel 
(#501; Mafia Racing / Pabst / Felt) battle for position on the steep, 
lead-out climb. Photo by Extreme Photography.

The Belgioioso women’s Elite racers started a minute behind the men’s field. Minnesota Series leader Jenna Rinehart (Specialized) and Wisconsin Overall Leader Abigail Strigel (Mafia Racing / Pabst / Felt) led a furious sprint into the first section of singletrack, though the entire women’s field promptly found themselves at a standstill behind the Elite men, who had bottlenecked at the first significant technical section.

“The women's race started off fast with Abby getting the holeshot,” said Rinehart after her race. “I was able to get around her on the climb and build a small gap in the field before the first singletrack. Unfortunately we got stuck behind the back of the men's field, which was bottled up in the singletrack. The gaps that had formed at the beginning came back together as we waited for the men's field to spread out a little. I focused on staying calm and passing as many riders as I could.”

Unlike the front of the men’s field, where racers contended with lapped traffic beginning in their fourth lap, Rinehart and Strigel worked their way through the men’s field from the start. Once again, Rinehart ended her race riding towards the top of the men’s race, and finished with a gap of nearly seven minutes over Strigel, in second. Wisconsin racers Holly Liske (Hayes Disc Brakes) and Lisa Krayer (Wildside Velo Club) followed in third and fourth, respectively. Minnesota racer Anne Grabowski (Penn Cycle / Nature Valley) rounded out the top five women.

The match up between the Wisconsin and Minnesota series added an extra element of fun for racers in both series.

“This race was one of the best this year,” said WORS Series leader Abby Strigel. “White Tail Ridge is a great course and the competition was awesome! As always, it was fun racing with the Minnesota girls.”

“The men’s race was exciting. It is not every race that you have five guys in the lead group for eighty percent of the race,” said Travis (TJ) Woodruff. “The speed of the course tended to keep riders grouped together rather than splitting up the field.”

“My overall impression of the course was nothing but good,” commented race winner Mark Lalonde. Lalonde now moves up in the Overall standings for the WORS series.

WORS Series Director Don Edberg accepts the Border Battle Trophy on 
behalf of racers in the Wisconsin Off Road Series, who defeated the 
Minnesota State Championship Series riders for the second year 
running. Photo by Christine Czarnecki

After all the points were tallied, Wisconsin riders once again took home the Border Battle trophy in 2009. Racers from both states are already looking forward to a rematch in 2010. Meanwhile, the WORS Series standings remain hotly contested in the men’s field, and Abby Strigel continues to defend her title as Overall leader in the women’s series. Complete results can be found at http://wors.org. The next race on the WORS calendar will be held on August 30 at the Reforestation Ramble, outside Green Bay, WI.

The Robbie Report is a weekly feature on MTBracenews.com. Robbie Squire is the 2008 Junior National Champion and the newest member of the US National Team. Just two years ago Squire was racing as a Sport. In '08, his first year and only year as a Junior Expert, Robbie won the Junior National Championship. In '09 his first year in the senior ranks, the Utah resident will be racing with the U.S. National Under-23 Team. Each week Robbie will share his experiences with us. Join in as the 19 year-old Junior National Champion and first year Pro travels across the United States and Europe racing his bike and living out a once in a lifetime opportunity.

Last weekend’s race in Windham, New York was the best race this season. Windham is going to be the site of the World Cup finals next year and thus the course is reminiscent of the other world cup courses. It consisted of a lot of climbing with some fast descents through the woods, nothing too technical though. The reason it was the best race of the season was a combination of a great course, and how I felt. For much of the season I felt that I was riding fast but not at my potential and it was frustrating to know that I could ride faster but just wasn’t having good rides. Saturday’s race was the first time this year that I really felt I rode fast and had an awesome race.

The race organizers started us in a different place than last year a little further from the first singletrack section to try to avoid the congestion that marred last years race. The change was successful to some extent. The race was a little more strung out by the time we hit the singletrack but it wasn’t bad enough that I had to put a foot down or get off my bike. From there the course climbed pretty steadily and had plenty of room for passing. The descent included many of last year’s sections but was more fluid and a lot more fun to ride.

It was so hot this weekend. Utah is hot in the summer but one thing we don’t have is humidity. It was 90 degrees with 90 percent humidity at the start of our race which made keeping cool and hydrating especially important. A few of the top guys were looking real suave rolling around in their ice vests which made me really jealous but by the start I was comfortable and really excited about the ice cold water bottle that I was just given from the team soigneur.



I also had a good call up this race, second row right behind the Gary Fisher guys but for some reason I’m not too good at starts and dropped a few places going into the first singletrack. After that, groups formed really quick and I found myself with four really fast guys. I spent the first lap with the group before I tried to leave them behind on the second lap. I was successful in getting away from the other riders for a lap but started to get caught by some of them heading into the third lap. My legs were strong and pushing it that hard at the beginning of the race probably wasn’t the best idea but I was able to keep up a good pace after being passed by those guys. From then on I rode really steadily passing one or two guys and keeping the same distance from the guys who had started out in the same group as me. It’s funny that no matter how many people are in a race I seem to find myself riding alone the whole time.

Heading into the last lap I thought that my rear tire was going flat and I started to get really nervous about it. I rode very cautiously and nursed it over all of the bumps and sharp edges on the course. In doing so, I gave up some time to one of the Gary Fisher riders, Sam Schultz. Going into the last kilometer he had caught me and we were riding right next to each other on the last 50-meter hill before the finish. I pulled a rookie move and pulled him (broke the wind in front of him) right up until the finish line where he put the power down and passed me. Truthfully, I wasn’t bummed about it because I had had a great ride and was happy how I rode despite where I finished-I finished 13th. That was my best finish this year in a PROXCT national race.



In addition to having a great race, it really served to boost my confidence heading into the World Championships in Canberra, Austrailia. I was chosen for the team last week and now I’m trying to prepare the best I can for my race on September 4th. Making the Worlds team this year was one of my goals and getting the nomination was really big for me. At the beginning of the season I was told that because I’m a first year U23 I’m going to have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that I was competent to go to worlds. Not only is going to Worlds huge but “proving” that I should go is just as satisfying. The race is two and a half weeks away and I’m going to do everything I can to have a good ride there.

Rob

Kerkove and Looney conquer Pierre's Hole: Teton Valley, Idaho

Situated in Teton Valley Idaho on the Wyoming border, Pierre’s Hole 50/100 is a new race with a new format. The offering one course, two races formats. The 50 miler for those testing themselves in distance racing without the 100 mile commitment, and a 100 mile distance for the usual suspects. The 100 mile course, with 17,200 feet of climbing, is designed to test the climbing legs and mountain bike skills requiring a complete package in a rider.

Sonya Looney on the beautiful Pierre's Hole course

The race went off only minutes off the targeted 6:30 AM start. We started early hoping to give everyone the opportunity to finish by making the Teton Canyon cutoff time of 6:30 PM. Under brightening skies and start temperatures hovering around 40 degrees F, all pondered what the day would bring in the form of precipitation and temperature rise. The forecast was not only for pain, but for snow, wind, hail, and colder than normal temperatures.

From the gun 100 mile veterans Jeff Kerkove and Cary Smith hit the start loop climb with a furious pace dragging with them experienced riders Nathan Miller of Park City and Mike Wolf of Helena, MT as well as the strongman team of Aaron Nydam and Ben Aufderhide from Jackson, WY.

Smith, racing the 50 mile distance on his single speed, came out of the famed Rick’s Basin single track loop, into the base area, and headed towards lightening ridge with a slim 20 second lead over Kerkove. The next group consisted of the rest of the fast men a minute back. Kerkove and Smith would chase one another up lightening ridge and descend the 1400 VF drop of single track, Mill Creek, to Teton Canyon without much change in the time gap. Teton Canyon aid station #2, stocked with Hammer Products, would be blown by as both riders hit the Ski Hill road climb up to Bustle Creek 900 VF above. Following another 900 VF drop and a 1400 VF climb the two riders would remain close with all others chasing. Topeak/Ergon rider Sonya Looney would sit in the middle of this 100 mile group and establish a large gap to the other woman on the first lap. Meanwhile the second race within the race was taking form with Troy Olson and Dave Bergart of Teton Valley staying close to Smith with a blistering first lap of 2hrs
10minutes.

The 50-mile women would have local heavy -hitters Amy Fulwyler, Robin McGee, Kate Lynch, and Jill Damman putting in sub three hour laps. Fulwyler , recently coming on strong as a climber and descender, came through on her first lap in front of all but five 50-mile men. As the race moved into the second lap, the temperatures graced us with a small rise at the start/finish, but a 10 degree increase at the lower parts of the course. The ladies all great friends, teammates from time to time, and vicious competitors over the years continued to climb aggressively, descend with confidence and speed, and smile all the while. Riding on sheer will, McGee made up several minutes on Fulwyler the second lap, and Lynch rode her second rode climb about 2 minutes faster than the first lap. When asked what she thought about the race afterwards, Dammon stated that she had an absolute blast the entire time.  Lynch, standing by, chuckled and commented that she wasn’t sure she could say that she could fully agree, but it was an amazing course, well organized, with tremendous support, and she was glad that it
was over.

The Martz family from Kewaskum, WI put the entire family on the line with Mom, Dad, fourteen year old Sam , and younger brother Jeff all racing for bragging rights. Although the course would take it’s toll on the whole family they all repeated that they would be back next year to challenge themselves again. Smith would continue to race strong and notch himself the victory in the 50-mile distance with a time of 4 hours and 10 minutes. Smith would be followed to the line by Troy Olson (+20minutes), Mike Piker, Travis Ward, and Dave Bergart. The woman would see a real battle at this distance with Amy Fulwyler taking the win at 5 hours and 12 minutes, followed by Robin McGee, Jill Daman and Kate Lynch. The top 50-mile team of Tim Bradshaw and Tom Hedges would post a combined effort of 6 hours and 22 minutes to win this division.

Pierre's Hole vintage jersey and belt buckle

With the 50-mile race closing the 100-mile group would only be entering their second half of the race. At the mid point teammates Kerkove and Looney would take solid leads going into the second 50. Miller from Park City would find himself at a 13 minute deficit to Kerkove. While Looney would have a commanding 1 hour 15 minute lead over first time 100 miler Carmen Messina.  In the 100 mile team race Aaron Nydam and Ben Aufderhide would find themselves challenging the clock to break nine hours with the goal of the coveted silver belt buckle. They would miss their mark by merely 2 minutes and 15 seconds vouching to come back next year and challenge for the loot. While the race was working it-self out Mother Nature had other plans by unleashing winds and rain. The rain frequently changed over to hail and moments of snow squalls followed again by sun.

Ultimately, the hard men of the 100 mile would ride through the adversity and Kerkove would come across the line first at 9 hours and 17 minutes followed by Miller at 9:36. Wolf of Missoula would arrive an hour off of Millers pace. The women would see Looney run the full course in 10 hours and 40 minutes with Messina finishing in her person goal, through hail and snow, of under 13 hours with grace and composure.

Racers of both disciplines would find a warm post race meal at the base area and local organically brewed beer to wash it down. With smiles of accomplishment and stories of the pain cave energizing the air, the first Battle of Pierre’s Hole became a huge success. See you all that missed the race next year in the beginning of August. Look for our website this fall.

Leadville 100-Full results

Leadville 100-Full results (Unofficial)

Short Track Results from Windham Mountain, New York

Pro Men

1, Geoff Kabush (Rocky Mountain/Maxxis)
2, Sam Schultz (Subaru/Gary Fisher)
3, Sid Taberlay (Specialized/Sho-Air)
4, Adam Craig (Giant)
5, Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (Subaru/Gary Fisher)
6, Todd Wells (Specialized)
7, Seamus McGrath (Jamis)
8, Carl Decker (Giant)
9, Max Plaxton (Specialized/Sho-Air)
10, Andy Schultz (Kenda/Tomac/Hayes)
11, Ishay Rotem
12, Thomas Turner (Outspokin)
13, Kris Sneddon (Kona)
14, Tad Ellliot (U-23)
15, Robert Marion (Kenda/KMC)
16, Rob Squire (U-23)
17, Michael Broderick (Kenda/Seven)
18, Martin Kell
19, Colin Cares (Kenda/Tomac/Hayes)
20, Barry Wicks (Kona)
21, Travis Livermon
22, Ethan Gilmour
23, Ryan Woodall
24, Justin Lindine
25, Greg Carpenter
26, Aaron Elwell
27, Rickey Visinski
28, Blake Harlan
29, Sam Jurekovic
30, Tom Sampson
31, Timothy Carson
32, Noah Tautfest
33, Justin Raynes
34, Seamus Powell
35, Alex Ryan
36, Simon Happy

Pro Women

1, Lea Davison (Rocky Mountain/Maxxis)
2, Katerina Nash (Luna)
3, Georgia Gould (Luna)
4, Catherine Pendrel (Luna)
5, Heather Irmiger (Subaru/Gary Fisher)
6, Willow Koerber (Subaru/Gary Fisher)
7, Mary McConneloug (Kenda/Seven)
8, Amy Dombroski
9, Judy Freeman (Tough Girls)
10, Krista Park (Incycle)
11, Chloe Forsman (Luna)
12, Zephanie Blasi (Kenda/Tomac/Hayes)
13, Jamie Dinkins (Motor Mile Racing)
14, Kathy Sherwin (Kenda/Tomac/Hayes)
15, Teal Stetson-Lee
16, Lindsey Bishop
17, Anina Aaron
18, Maureen Bruno Roy
19, Heather Holmes (Kenda/Tomac/Hayes)

Fool's Gold 100: National Ultra Endurance Series- Early Results

Men

1, Christian Tanguy (Team Fraser)
2, Cesar Grajales (Rock Racing)
3, Chris Eatough (Trek Racing Co-Op)
4, Jafer Beizer (Terrapin Racing)
5, Andy Gorski
6, Rob Lichtenwalner
7, Jason Murrell
8, Aaron Oakes
9, Andy Applegate (Cannondale/CCN)
10, Ryan Heerschap
11, Randy Kerr


Women

1, Betsy Shogren (Cannondale)
2, Brenda Simril
3, Namrita O'Dea (Topeak/Ergon)
4, Cynthia Fowler
5, Laureen Coffelt
6,Colleen Paine
7, Leah Ranney

Singlespeed

1, Gerald Pflug
2, Gunnar Shogren
3, Roger Masse
4, Jason Morgan
5, David Hall
6, Rich Dillen
7, Mark Elsasser
8, Shane Schreihart
9, Dave Holmes
10, Russel Henderson
11, Lee Neal
12, Tim Winters
13, Robi Johnston
14, Franklin Paine
15, Russell Sandidge

Leadville 100 Report and Results

The unprecedented build-up to this year’s Leadville 100 virtually guaranteed that 2009 would be a special event. 7-time Tour De France Champion Lance Armstrong was coming to not only avenge his previous second place finish, he wanted to demolish the course record and brought a legion of talent to help get the job done. Of course, he would still have to beat 6-time Leadville champ Dave Wiens (Topeak/Ergon), who at 44-years old looked to be all but unstoppable at the high-altitude race. Many challengers have come to Leadville intent on winning and Wiensy has dispatched them all.

Racers took to the start line at 6:30 AM Saturday morning. Stormy weather had dropped the temperature into the thirties at race time and when the light rain started to fall many of the top riders found themselves under prepared. “I was so cold once the rain started I couldn’t eat or drink for the first 40 miles, my hands couldn’t squeeze the bottle”, said Monavie-Cannondale.com rider Alex Grant, “I couldn’t even take a bottle at the first feed station because my hands didn’t work, they were so cold.”

As the rain came down Armstrong sent his lieutenants to the front. First up was former mountain bike Olympian Travis Brown, who pulled for the opening 5 miles. Next came Matt Shriver, who put in a tremendous effort. Shriver led the lead group for close to 40 miles with Armstrong tucked right on his wheel. Behind the lead duo came Alex Grant and his teammate Tinker Juarez, Wiens, Len Zanni (Honey Stinger), and Max Taam.

As Shriver pushed the pace, riders slowly began to drop off. Around mile thirty Juarez’s day was done when the seat collar on his bike snapped.

As the lead riders approached the base of the Columbine climb, the final ascent before riders would turn around and head for home, Armstrong took matters into his own hands. There was no explosion of speed, no “Look” before he went just an even acceleration. An acceleration that would prove too much for anyone to handle.

With each mile of the climb Armstrong’s lead grew. First, one minute, then two, and by the time they made the turn and hit the base of Columbine again it was already up to 14 minutes.

Wiens did his best to limit his losses. Riding a smart race and not allowing the pressure of racing arguably the world’s greatest cyclist crack him. There was simply nothing he could do to stop the determined Texan from taking the win and stomping on the course record by 15 minutes.

Armstrong crossed the line with an astonishing time of 6.28.50. Wiens stayed strong finishing second. Although he was almost 30 minutes behind the race winner, Wiens was happy with his race and felt he put out a consistent and strong effort.

An impressive ride by Alex Grant brought him onto the finishing section of road in third place. The Utah rider has never raced at Leadville and seemed to be relishing the stiff competition. The cold weather and altitude had taken it’s toll on Grant who was bonking in the final miles of the course and with less than two miles to the finish Shriver bridged the gap and burst past the Monavie rider. “If it was anyone other than Shriver I would have been really upset.” Grant said after the race, “Matt did so much work in the first half of the race I didn’t feel to bad that he finished in front of me.”

In the women’s race it was 2-time 24 Hour World Champion Rebecca Rusch (Specialized/Red Bull) taking the lead early. Unlike the men, Rusch opened up a gap early and held on throughout the 100-mile event.

Her chief rival, Amanda Carey (Kenda/Tomac/Hayes) suffered a flat tire in the opening miles of the race and she never fully recovered from the mechanical. Carey held the time gap steady at 14 minutes over the first 50 miles and even took some time back on the Columbine climb but that was the closest she would get to the leader.

The endurance specialist Rusch clearly had something left in the tank as she hammered her way back to the finish, eventually crossing the line at 8.14.53. Carey held onto the runner-up spot 26 minutes behind Rusch.

Written by: Shannon Boffeli with contributions by Alex Grant and Nate Carey

Men

1, Lance Armstrong 6.28.50
2, Dave Wiens (Topeak/Ergon) 6.57.02
3, Matt Shriver 7.09.48
4, Alex Grant (Monavie-Cannondale.com) 7.10.54
5, Len Zanni (Honey Stinger) 7.11.21
6, Max Taam 7.16.56
7, Travis Brown 7.22.05
8, Manuel Prado (Sho-Air/Specialized)
9, Mike Hogan
10, Jason Tollous
11, Eric Salstrand
12, Stig Somme
13, Kent McNeill
14, Ward Baker
15, Ethan Passant
16, Bryson Perry
17, Kimo Seymour
18, Yuki Saito
19, Chris Holley (Gary Fisher/Subaru)
20, Chuckie Gibson (Felt)
21, Jake Rubelt
22, Matthew Davis
23, Bryan Alders
24, Jim Lehman
25, Gerry Cody
26, David Renvoise
27, Jarral Ryter
28, Ted MacBlane
29, Jim Silverman
30, Scott McCalmon

Women

1, Rebecca Rusch (Specialized/Red Bull) 8.14.53
2, Amanda Carey (Kenda/Tomac/Hayes) 8.40.03

3, KC Holley (Subaru/Gary Fisher) 8.59.20


Singlespeed Male

1, Charlie Hayes (Subaru/Gary Fisher) 8.11.26
2, David Bott 8.43.39
3, Kenny Jones (Subaru/Gary Fisher) 8.49.02