Julian Death March: Julian, California -- Full Report, Results, and Photos

Written by: Jens Raz

California Cyclocross Champion and two-time Death March Champion Brent Prenzlow defeated Danish Champion Simon Jensen to take his third win at this demanding race.

Brent Prenzlow brining it home for his third Death March win (photo by Mrs. Brent Prenzlow)

This race is called the Julian Death March for a reason. In Race-Director Rich Wolf's own words: "If you weren't dying at some time during the race I haven't done my job." True to form this was one of, if not the toughest race on the West Coast.

A shivering cold greeted the most competitive and eager group ever assembled at the Death March. The 4th annual running promised more climbing and additional miles than ever before.

The promise of stiff competiton drew out defending champion and local speed man/Dentist, Guy Sutton (Cal Coast Cyclery), fresh from a top-10 finish at Vision Quest. His competition was fierce as 2-time Death March winner and multiple California State Cyclocross champion, Brent Prenzlow (Celo Pacific), was waiting in the wings. Brent had company during the waiting game as the current Danish Cross Country Mountain Bike National Champion, Simon Jensen (HC Stevens Bikes), slid up in position among the defending champions. Cannondale Factory Racer Dezmin Wilder and Sho-Air’s Mario Corea rounded out the top competition. They too wanted a piece of that Julian Apple Pie!

The lead group opens it up on an early climb with Jensen, Prenzlow, Sutton, and Corea left to right (photo by: Rich Wolf)

Compared to the previous years, the 2010 edition was 5 miles longer. A tough "horsethief" like climb/hike a bike was added to the first of two laps, 55 miles into the 64. The last loop adds about 3200 feet of climbing and 22 miles of "beautiful" riding through cow pastures and Wildlife Preserves with turkeys, bulls, snakes and other distractions.

Past editions of the Death March were marked by early breakaways and the eventual winner soloing to a commanding victory. Prenzlow, in his first two wins did so on a cross bike. In contrast, Guy Sutton took the win last year on his Ibis Mojo.

This year interestingly enough, the lead group stayed together producing a very close race for the first 60+ miles between Brent Prenzlow, Guy Sutton and Simon Jensen. Prenzlow was riding smart and doing minimal work while staying in the draft until dropping off on Rodriguez Canyon due to a mechanical. He had lost a water-bottle cage bolt and bottle, as it was wedged into his crank. Loosing close to 5 minutes by the 3rd aid station.

Utah racer Greg Gibson flying the flamboyant orange of Union College with his older brother Charlie just behind (photo by Rich Wolf)

Left to their own wits with Brent distracted, Guy and Simon were on their own to battle it out. Coming out of the desert, Oriflame was the first of 2 brutal climbs to test their strength. Sutton, the 41-year-old dentist, almost dislodged the European coming out of the 1600' climb. Unfortunately for Guy, the thought of early glory was short lived as the Dane was able to create a gap going up the next grueling ascent of Banner Grade. Brent recovered from his potentially devastating mechanical and surged past the 2nd placed rider before leveling out into the town of Julian.

Prenzlow and Jensen duked it out on the final loop. Finally, Prenzlow, riding a 29"mountain bike this year, rode clear on the final evil granny gear climb with just 9 miles to go. Riding solo past the resting steers and turkeys to victory. Rounding out the Podium were the Jensen and Sutton.

Guy Sutton challenged for consecutive wins at the 64-mile grueler (photo by Rich Wolf)

Dezmin Wilder came in fourth with Provo, Utah, resident Greggy Gibson (Racer’s Cycle Service) taking the final podium spot in 5th.

Cannondale's Dezmin Wilder (photo by Rich Wolf)

Not to be outdone, Calvin Mulder finished the race in just over 9 hours on a fixed-gear and rigid mountain bike to show how truly tough some people are!

The Men's Podium -- Sutton, Prenzlow, and Jensen left to right (photo by Jens Raz)

The Death March offers up over 16,000 vertical feet of climbing in 86 miles.

Pro Men

1, Brent Prenzlow
2, Simon Jensen
3, Guy Sutton
4, Dezmin Wilder
5, Greg Gibson
6, Chris Crosby
7, Tom Andrews
8, Luke Wiens
9, Michael Hanson
10, Bruce Wilson
11, Alex Ter-Vrught

Vision Quest, Orange County California

Jeremiah Bishop wins the Vision Quest with a new course record. Last year's winner Manuel Prado is stopped by mechanicals. Bishop logged a scorching time of 4.45.12, almost a full 30 minutes faster than 2009's winning mark.

Well….. where to start. It is a difficult undertaking to try and describe what the Warrior Society’s “Vision Quest” means to its participants. Supported by Switchback Cyclery this is not considered a race by the promoters. It is heralded as an event to push a rider beyond weakness and overcome their adversities.

Tinker Juarez takes off from aid station #2 (photo by: Ivan Artates)

Not all listened though! Record times, despite 60 minutes, in pitch dark were set..

Perfect conditions greeted the participants on the 2010 edition of the 56 mile/11,000’ “Vision Quest” and the shorter 44 mile/8000’ little brother “Counting Coup”. Thanks to amazing trail conditions, Southern California weather and the house wives of Orange County cheering, this could have appeared to be a walk in the park. Unfortunately, the competition and terrain were not as considerate, neither was the Poison Oak.

With Jeremiah Bishob, Tinker Juarez, Manuel Prado and Cameron Brenneman present, fast times at the Santa Ana Mountains were on tap. Sid Taberlay might have been a cantankerous addition to this dramatic, true mountain bike battle. None the less, this impressive group of riders took the lead on a fast start early Saturday morning.

Going through the first Aid Station it seemed to turn into a battle between Manuel Prado and Jeremiah Bishob. Barely seeing daylight before the first descent down a treacherous, loose and narrow shoot forced the riders to face their fears…..mainly of crashing down the 1800’ plunge.

Manny Prado, seen here with no chain and a flat, was forced to retire from the race due to mechanicals (photo by: Ivan Artates)

When Manny abandoned with mechanical difficulties at the base of Holy Jim, what was rumored to be two flat tires and a broken chain were ultimately his demise.

Another 3000’ plus climb leads to what is arguably one of the most fun descents in the area. Upper Holy Jim is pure joy of tight technical riding opening up to lower HJ with speeds getting up to the 30s . The brutality soon followed after the last climb of VQ’s transition to the Horsethief’s 1.5 mile Hike a Bike slice of pain. Walked by most, feared by all! The reward for this pain is the thrilling last run down Trabuco Canyon towards the finish.

No awards beyond a feather and bragging rights are given.

1st - JB 4:45 course record. (First time racing VQ. Rode 99% of the Horsethief’s hike-a-bike section)
2nd - Tinker Juarez 5:06 (First time riding VQ with a Scalpel full suspension. No headlight, and was just happy to see “something”)
3rd - Cameron Brenneman 5:15. (Has won VQ in past riding single and geared. New course record for singlespeed)
4th - Doug Andrews age 48, (the man behind GeoLadders.com)
5th - Nate Whitman 5:29. Multiple VQ veteran.
6th - Guy Sutton 5:30 (Fastest Dentist in Socal)

Third place overall, Cameron Brenneman set a new course record for singlespeeds (photo by: Ivan Artates)

Even though these blazing times and battles are an amazing story in their own right, Vision Quest tends to challenge all of us in different ways:

Tales like the one of Calvin Mulder, who in the past has run the course, decided to push his limits yet again. After completing the course on a rigid SS in 16th place overall, Calvin ran the course backwards. Next up for him, riding the Julian Death March on a fixed gear.

Mark Sheets riding on a 24” BMX bike, Troy Sladeck who at 15 years is the youngest VQ competitor.
Have you ever considered what your Vision Quest could be?


Men

1, Jeremiah Bishop (Cannondale Factory Racing) 4.45.12
2, Tinker Juarez (Cannondale Factory Racing) 5.06.34
3, Cameron Brenneman - singlespeed - 5.15.48
4, Doug Andrews 5.18.57
5, Nate Whitman 5.29.37
6, Guy Sutton 5.30.42
7, Tim Zandbergen
8, Eric Schuda
9, Jason Rusnak
10, Ryan Clark
11, Charly Kemp
12, Andy McSorley
13, Craig Ames
14, James Walsh
15, Adam Galland
16, Calvin Mulder
17, Michael Caffrey
18, Marc Kase
19, Jeff Resnick
20, Rob McGee
21, Jens Raz (iRide Adventures/MTBRaceNews.com)


Women

1, Christine Gray 8.09.50

Counting Coup Results

Men

1, Danny Munoz 3.53.47 (course record)
2, John Flagg 4.35.46
3, Rich Merrick 4.44.15
4, Jerry Chen - singlespeed - 4.46.19
5, Sjon McGookin 4.47.35

Women

1, Heidi Volpe 4.57.50

24 Hours of Old Pueblo: Tucson, Arizona

Report by: Krista Park dedicated to Stan Koziatek

The members of the Stan's sponsored teams

Pro rider Krista Park just completed the 24 Hours of Old Pueblo. She teamed up with several of the folks from the Niner team and East Coaster Harlan Price. It seems Park is in great shape and ready for another great season of mountain bike racing. Krista's report and photos are below.

Stan (of Stan's No Tubes fame) brought three teams to Tucson, all of which placed 1st; The Hippie Ninja's of Stan's World 155-199 team (22laps), a 200+ team (21laps) and a female singlespeed solo Karen Rishel (13 laps) .

The 155-199 team was Fuzzy Mylne, Dejay Birtch, Krista Park, Harlen Price, and Jake Kirkpatrick "The Hippie Ninja's of Stan's World". The competition was Team Topeak - Ergon (21 laps) with Dave Wiens, Yuki Saito, Sonya Looney, Jeff Kerkove and Rebecca Tomaszewski.

I believe I got both fastest day and night laps for the women, but don't see those posted. The best part of the weekend was being on such a fun/fast team and having Stan and Mike so involved with our racing. They knew lap times, who was up next, when the next racer was due in, etc. It was awesome standing in the exchange tent getting ready to go on a night lap and have Stan himself give me the strategy, adjust my light and make sure I had everything I needed, then when I finished my lap Mike would meet me. Mike knew everyone's lap time right away as he walked around with his iphone and kept an eye on the live results. Todd (my husband) loved it too and went to bed for the night.

Mike working the online updates

Scott Morris and 24 Hour Singlespeed National Champion Lynda Wallenfels won the Duo Coed race

Old Pueblo always offers up plenty of foot cactus

live results: http://epicrides.com/twofour/24.htm

Results:

Solo Men

1, Ant White 17 laps
2, Sean Allan 16 laps
3, Dave Byers (Athlete360.com) 15 laps
4, Chester Artman 14 laps
5, Sean McDevitt 13 laps

Solo Women

1, Windy Marks 13 laps
2, Delena Hanson 12 laps
3, Elizbeth Boese 11 laps
4, Wendy Skean 11 laps
5, Catherine Bywaters 10 laps

Duo Female

1, Alacia Sooter/Lyn Crew 14 laps
2, Bojo Post/Emily Eads 12 laps
3, Cynthia Bryan/Caroline Lanier 11 laps

Duo Coed

1, Scott Morris/Lynda Wallenfels 20 laps
2, Aaron Gulley/Jeny Meinerz 19 laps
3, Nick Thelen/Tracy Thelen 18 laps

Duo Men

1, Brian Bennett/Ernesto Marenchin 20 laps
2, Scott Spangler/Chad Watson 19 laps
3, Kevin Risebrough/Zack Heim 18 laps

5 Person Coed Combined Age 150-199

1, Hippie Ninja's of Stan's World
2, Team Topeak-Ergon
3, Heidi's Pig Farm
4, Zero Gravity
5, 4 Studs and Their Sugar Daddy

12 Hours of Temecula - Full Report and Photos from Vail Lake, California

Tinker Juarez Gets First Win for Cannondale Factory Racing

Written by: Jens Raz

Tinker Juarez, still racing in his MonaVie kit, puts the wood to the competition at 12 Hours of Temecula

Fear of rain and treacherous conditions for Jason Ranoa’s long-running 12-hour mountain bike marathon in Temecula evaporated, as quickly as water from Vail Lake trails. Temperatures started out in the 30s, and steadily climbed to the mid 50s for most of the day. Perfect weather for racing!

After a week of torrential downpours just north of San Diego parts of the racecourse were diverted to avoid a few river crossings. Net result from the week was close to 5 inches of water in Temecula. That number might not mean much to the rest of the country, but it constitutes about half our yearly rainfall in one week.

The resulting racecourse was fun, fast, with plenty of hard punchy climbing thrown in. The staple “Damn Climb” was taken out and replaced with the Bridges. A shorter but steeper switch back climb that led to a high-speed descent on the ridgeline climbing back up to Marlin Ridge. Yet another express descent followed with an undulating course that shot riders into the famous “Tunnel of Love.” Flying out of the Tunnel, feeling more like a video game than a bike race, the course drops out onto a BMX track and sets the rider up for the last short but steep plunge into base camp, just to do it all over again.

The solo race started hard and fast with Tinker Juarez (Cannondale Factory Racing) taking the holeshot and not relinquishing it until the race was over. 9 hours 51 minutes into the 12 hour race Tinker forged out enough padding to relax and let Alan La Framboise and Brian Van Vleet (KHS) hash it out for 2nd and 3rd respectively. 2009 series winner Alan La Framboise encountered some bad luck with a broken rear derailleur hangar that put a stop to his winning intentions. The fast lap of the day 42.02 went to Tinker.

Alan La Framboise kept the pedal to the metal until a mechanical forced him to slow down

The Expert class appeared to be the most closely contested group with both winner Daniel Nelson and 2nd place Phil Kelly doing 13 laps. 3rd place Tom Andrews and 4th Henry Valenzuela rounding it out with 12 laps each.

The second round of the SoCal Endurance Race Series will continue on June 12th at a yet to be disclosed location with the finale to be held on November 13th. Racers enjoyed great support and enormous amounts of swag from Specialized, Spinergy Wheels, Night Rider Lights, Baja Design Lights, Cyco Path Cyclery, Hammer Nutrition, Nimbus Water Systems and many more!

The finishing stretch of the 12 Hours of Temecula

Pro Men

1, Tinker Juarez (CFR) 12 laps
2, Allan La Framboise 10 laps
3, Bryan Van Vleet 10 laps
4, Jared Fisher 9 laps

Plews and Rasmussen Solve the El Paso Puzzler - El Paso, Texas

The 3rd Annual El Paso Puzzler 50 mile endurance mountain bike race was held under sunny skies and temps in the mid-60's with 140 anxious riders testing themselves in what was being billed as the toughest race in Texas. With last year's winner performing a bit of course marshaling due to pregnancy, this year's race was a whole different ball game.

The lead group charges out for 50 puzzling miles (photo by: Jennifer Wilson)

Evan Plews (www.evanplews.com - Salem, OR) the 2009 24 Hours in the Old Pueblo solo winner, and ridiculously fit retiree, Travis Brown (Trek -Durango, CO), destroyed the technical course and floated up the climbs. Course designer David Wilson, the SS winner of last summer's Breck Epic stage race, led through the start/finish area for the first 11.5 mile section with Plews, Brown, and El Pasoan Santiago Chavez (Sports Systems) close behind.

After exiting a bit of twisty singletrack onto a super rocky road climb known as Trenchtown Rd., the three riders dropped Wilson and began to grow a large gap. Singlespeeders Cameron Brenneman (Sante Fe, NM) and Beto Villegas (Sierra Vista, AZ) blitzed the 1600' Mundy's Gap climb along with 40-49 winner Kenny Wehn (Colavita – Durango, CO) and 19-29 winner Sem Gallegos (Crazy Cat Cyclery – Austin, TX) close behind the lead threesome of Plews, Brown, and Chavez.

On the west side of the Franklin range, Brown plowed through the infamous granite rock slide to regain the lead. At about mile 30, Plews regained contact and later took control up the final major climb of the day, a 350' foot grind up a newly finished set of 12 switchbacks.

Evan Plews on his way to the Puzzler win (photo by: Chris Oaxaca)

Plews, coming off double pneumonia just before the holidays, went on to take the win in 4:38 with Brown about four minutes back. Moving into 3rd position was Brenneman who pushed a 32x19 on his 29er. Villegas and Gallegos rounded out the top five.

In the women's race, local Susanne Rasmussen took the win in 6:24 with singlespeeder Paula Bohte (Sierra Vista, AZ) coming through in second. Alex Castro (Bicycle Co.- El Paso, TX) was the top finisher in the shorter 35-mile men's event and Diana Almeida (El Paso, TX) took the women's 35 miler.

Susanne Rasmussen was the top female finisher in the 50 mile event (photo by: Rebecca Reza)

115 riders finished the event with no major injuries though many riders looked like they got into a cat fight due to close encounters with the large variety of spiky plants lining the Chihuahuan desert trails. This year’s attrition rate was much lower with only 18 DNF’s in the 50 despite more singletrack than the previous years.

Race director Brent Sanders wasn't sure if comments about the difficulty of the race were compliments or complaints. “I had several people come to me afterwards saying that the race was too difficult,” stated Sanders. “Travis and Evan said it was definitely the most technical 50 miler they've ever completed and both said that with huge grins on their faces. When other riders say that to me without a grin, I take it as a complaint. We consider all suggestions, but this event is intended to be a tough race. All I can say is that we warned people best as we could.”

The El Paso Puzzler, the third race in the Texas Mountain Bike Racing Association's Marathon Series, is hosted by the Borderland Mountain Bike Association whose core members donated countless hours of trail building to a new three mile section of singletrack allowing the race to be held entirely in the Franklin Mountains State Park, the largest urban state park in the country.

50 mile competitors only repeated six miles of trail. The event was originally conjured up by Wilson and Sanders as a way to up the level of riding in El Paso. “David and I had been riding this huge loop around the Franklins for a couple of years, but we could never find anyone that would join us,” said Jennifer Wilson, the 2009 winner. “Brent and Susanne (Rasmussen) rode it with us and we realized that we shared the same vision to put on this event.”

“We've seen a complete paradigm shift in mountain biking in El Paso since the first Puzzler with group rides now consisting of this epic loop around the mountains whereas before, most people never wanted to make the effort at the huge climb up Mundy's,” said David Wilson, the BMBA president.

This year's Puzzler was sponsored by Hunt Communities and the El Paso Sports Commission along with industry sponsors, local bike shops and many others. All proceeds from the event go towards trail projects in the Franklin Mountains State Park.

For complete results click here

12 Hour Championships -Vail Lake Resort, Temecula, CA

What a fantastic way to end the 2009 race season! The crowd at the 2009 SoCal Endurance 12 Hour Championships was awesome. With over 235 teams competing for the overall awards, the venue was overflowing with racers. The Championship race was set to be an epic event.


The day started around 6am with rider registration wrapping through the parking lot and venders getting set to support the largest crowd to date! It was awesome to see the rows of tents and vehicles lining up across Vail Lake Resort. At 8:30 the racer meeting was in full effect. Everyone milling around, anxious to get things started! Once the siren sounded the parade lap was underway, we made our way through the campground and back towards the start line. The race was up and rolling!


The next order of the day was the crowning of the King and Queen of the mountain. These are the first male and female riders to make it to the top of the dreaded Damn Climb. There was a solid pack of riders making the lead ascent. Normally the King of the mountain is taken by a super fast team rider who has time to recuperate on the next lap. But in true hard core fashion solo rider Mike Hileman gapped the field and took the title and cash. Not far behind was the always super fast lady rider Allison Mann. Allison and Natasha Hernday did battle all the way up the climb with Allison taking home the cash and title of Queen of the Mountain!

The weather was perfect all day, with sunny skies and a cool breeze blowing around 65 degrees. Racers were settling in and turning some great lap times. The fastest male lap of the day was Super D champion and super fast guy Eric Bierman with a 43 minute lap. There was a tie for the fastest ladies of the day. The time was so close we decided to award Allison Mann and Karen Lundgren with the fastest womens lap. Their lap times were 51 minutes! Everyone seemed to be on fire out their. I was on course all day cheering folks on and it was amazing to see the effort and dedication these riders were putting on. I was proud to be a part of a great race.



As the day wound down and night time creeped in it was time for the night riding. About 5pm everyone hooked up lights and the game faces were on. There was only 4 more hours to pull out and upset victories. When night fell the stars came out and the atmosphere heated up. There was a lot of excitement in the pits. I think it was a combination of heated racing and wanting to be done. Up on course, it was a truly awesome site to see the constant row of lights dancing across the ridgelines. One after the other the racers made their way to the home stretch.

Tired and ready to end the day the 9 o’clock hour rolled around and the 2009 12 Hours Of SoCal Endurance Championships were in the books. It was now time to award the winners of the day's event and crown the Overall Champions of 2009. A great day was had by all and the memories of the year will last a lifetime. Dez Wilder took the Solo Men's division completing 13 laps followed by Ant White and Allan LaFranboise taking second and third. Manueal Vilaseca was the fastest female racer completing 9 laps to take the win just in front of Stephanie Gudreau who also completed 9 laps. Monique Fletcher took third.


Great job to all who came out this year and supported our events! We appreciate your dedication and support. It is due to you the racers and support teams that these events have become a SoCal mainstay. You all ROCK!!!

For more info and complete results go to www.socalendurance.com

The BMX Mulisha including Mario Corea and Heidi Volpe competed in the singlespeed team division on, you guessed it, BMX bikes

24 Hour of Moab: US 24-Hour National Championships

Tostado takes his first National Championship title after a close battle with runner up Kelly Magelky. Eszter Horanyi pulls off a huge upset victory defeating defending champion Pua Sawicki to take the stars and stripes jersey.

New 24-Hour National Champion Eszter Horanyi

written by: Shannon Boffeli
Ask anyone who has raced the 24 Hours of Moab and they will tell you it is the toughest 24-hour race in the country. For the first time in it's 15 year history Moab would be not just the toughest race but the 24-hour national championships as well. The best 24-hour racers would have a chance to prove themselves on the hardest course in North America all with the hopes of becoming National Champion.

The always important solo categories featured a myriad of top riders. In the men's race it was Chris Eatough (Trak Racing Co-Op) making his final start before retiring going up against last year's Moab winner Josh Tostado (Bach Builders), Cannondale riders Jesse Jakomait and Brandon Draugelis, and endurance veterans Evan Plews (evanplews.com) and Ernesto Marenchin (Speedgoat).

Even before the action started riders were falling out of contention. Eatough failed to take the start at noon on Saturday leaving Tostado as the clear favorite for the national title. The defending champ got off to his normally explosive start, plowing through the first lap in a scorching 1.02.47. Someone forgot to tell Colorado rider Kelly Magelky (Trek Racing Co-Op)that Tostado was supposed to win the national title as Magelky hit the finisher's tent with a opening lap of 1.02.43, 4 seconds in front of Tostado.

The leaders were followed by Plews and Draugelis with 21-year old Ben Koenig (Rib Mountain Cycles) and Ernesto Marenchin not far behind.

Magelky kept at it, finishing with faster lap times than Tostado 5 of the next 6 laps. By night fall the Trek rider had built a nice cushion in front of Tostado but that would quickly change. As the lights came out, Tostado started taking big chunks out of the leader, 7 minutes on lap 7, 15 on lap 8, 21 on lap 9. At which point Tostado held a comfortable lead, well in front of the chasers.

At about the same time many of the top riders began to succumb to the punishing Moab course. First it was Brandon Draugelis on lap 7, followed by Plews on lap 8. The youngster Koenig continued to plug along. He turned in consistent lap times all throughout the night moving up spots as other riders dropped out.

In the morning, Magelky still held on to second, recovering from his difficulties over night he once again posted several laps faster than the leader but Tostado's lead was just too much.

Tostado took home his first 24-Hour National Championship, completing 17 laps. Magelky came in for an impressive second with 16 laps as Ben Koenig proved 24-hour racing isn't just for old guys with a third place finish followed by Marenchin and Robert Anderson (Plum Gove Cyclery).

The women's solo event featured the most competitive field in US 24-hour national championship history.

Taking the start were defending National Champion Pua Sawicki (Ellsworth), '08 24 Hours of Moab winner Jari Kirkland (Scott Bikes), and accomplished endurance racers Eszter Horanyi (Walt Works) and Sarah Kaufmann (Titus/Roaring Mouse).

Sawicki put the hammer down right from the start, posting an opening lap time of 1.10.59. Sawicki likes to establish an early lead and it appeared her plan was working brilliantly as Kirkland, Horanyi, and Kaufmann came in together a full 7 minutes back after lap one.

The chase group wouldn't last long as Kirkland crashed hard on lap two and needed to be wheeled off the technical and rocky desert course. Kaufmann and Horanyi managed to stay within minutes of each other throughout the early laps but both were losing minutes to the leader with each circuit.

Once again, as darkness covered the Moab desert, the race began to turn. Sawicki, who was almost 40 minutes clear of the chasers, started to loose momentum. The duo of Kaufmann and Horanyi started reeling her in and by lap 11 both riders passed the defending national champion.

Suddenly the two chasers were battling for their chance at a national championship jersey. Well into the night Horanyi and Kaufmann remained just minutes apart until just before dawn difficulties with her lights forced Kaufmann to post a lap of 2 hours long.

Once taking a solid lead Horanyi refused to look back. Already the winner of grueling races like the Breckenridge 100 and Laramie Enduro Eszter Horanyi was focused on taking the most grueling of all races and a national title to boot.

Horanyi crossed the line for the final time completing 13 laps followed by Kaufmann, the only other women to complete 13 laps. Spring Clegg (Specialized D4W) finished third with Kerry White (Team Type 1)in 4th, both riders completed 12 laps. Sawicki finished 5th with a total of 11 laps completed.

The 15th annual 24-Hours of Moab proved to be a challenging battle ground for deciding the 24-Hour National Championships with strong fields and a punishing course which provided fans with one of the most exciting national championship races in the books.

In the singlespeed solo category, the endurance singlespeed duo of Lynda Wallenfels and Dave Harris proved they are the strongest and perhaps craziest endurance mountain bikers in the U.S. after winning the national titles in the solo singlespeed women's and men's categories. Wallenfels completed 11 laps and had such a large lead she stopped racing at 9:30 Sunday morning. Harris turned out 15 circuits on the desert course.

Wallenfels and Harris modeling their new hardware as singlespeed 24-Hour National Champions

Results:

Solo Women Championship

1, Eszter Horanyi (Walt Works Dream Team) 13 laps
2, Sarah Kaufmann (Roaring Mouse/Titus/Elete) 13 laps
3, Spring Clegg 12 laps
4, Kerry White 12 laps
5, Pua Sawicki (Ellsworth) 11 laps
6, Laureen Coffelt 11 laps
7, Elizabeth Boese 7 laps
8, Timari Pruis 7 laps
9, Monilee Atkinson 6 laps
10, Teri Wahlberg 2 laps
11, Jari Kirkland 1 lap

Solo Men Championship

1, Josh Tostado (Bach Builders) 17 laps
2, Kelly Magelky (Trek Co-Op) 16 laps
3, Ben Koenig (Rib Mountain Cycles) 15 laps
4, Ernesto Marenchin (Speedgoat) 15 laps
5, Robert Anderson 14 laps
6, Andrew Carney 14 laps
7, Jesse Jakomait 13 laps
8, Ezekiel Hersh 13 laps
9, Wade Newsom 13 laps
10, Steve Schwarz 12 laps
11, James Young 12 laps
12, Sampson Bruesewitz 12 laps
13, Matt Woodruff 11 laps
14, Aaron Vanderwaal 11 laps
15, Joseph Fortin 11 laps
16, Matt Juth 10 laps
17, Scott Strode 10 laps
18, Evan Plews 8 laps
19, Eddie O'Dea 8 laps
20, Charly Tri 7 laps
21, Brandon Draugelis 7 laps
22, Jody White 7 laps
23, Chris Strout 5 laps
24, Ray Rasker 5 laps
25, Taylor Lindeen 2 laps
26, Jim Simons 2 laps

Mixed Duo Championship

1, Dax Massey/Rebecca Tomaszewski (Niner/Ergon) 17 laps
2, Mario Corea/Heidi Volpe (Sho-Air) 17 laps
3, Yuki Saito/Sonya Looney (Topeak-Ergon) 12 laps
4, Alan Rishel/Karen Rishel (Light & Motion/First Endurance) 7 laps

Men's Duo Championship

1, Troy Barry/Cary Smith (Grand Targhee Resort) 18 laps
2, Derek Hermon/Ben Bostrom (God's Unit) 16 laps
3, Ely Woody/Romolo Forcino (Rome n Woody) 12 laps
4, Tod Turley/Peter Sullivan (Dead Cow Locals) 11 laps
5, Richard Price/Mike Driver (livetrainrace.com) 9 laps

Women's Duo Championship

1, Gretchen Reeves/Rebecca Rusch (Specialized/Tokyo Joe's) 18 laps

Women's Solo Singlespeed Championship

1, Lynda Wallenfalls

2, Chelsea McGowan

3, Jo Schwartz

Men's Solo Singlespeed Championship

1, Dave Harris

2, Greg Martin

3, Barry Davis

4, Shawn Gregory

5, Randy Sooter

6, Tom Diegel

7, Geoffrey Lane

8, Art Vandaleigh

9, Dough Smith

10, Ben V. Bradford III

SOCAL FAT TIRE EPIC 50: Presented by Intense Cycles

SoCAL Fat Tire Epic 50: West Coast Marathon Championships


The first annual “ SoCal Fat Tire Epic 50, “ 2009 West Coast Marathon Championships is now in the books. With temps in the 70’s and not a cloud in the sky it was a perfect day for racing. Riders flocked from all over to battle for the coveted SoCal Endurance winner’s jerseys. The course was truly an epic blend of Southern California desert singletrack and swooping rollercoaster ridgelines. With 2 twenty-five mile laps and over 3100 ft of climbing per lap this was set to be an epic challenge for all categories!

Tinker Juarez toes the start line

The men’s pro field was deep in talent as endurance legend David “Tinker” Juarez (Monavie-Cannondale.com) lined up with the likes of Manuel “Manny” Prado (Sho-Air/Specialized), Super Bike champ turned endurance mountain bike phenom Ben Bostrum (Sho-Air/Specialized), and adventure racer extraordinaire Paul Romero to name a few.

It was great to see such a good group of pro racers! When the bell sounded and the race was on and Tinker took the lead. Closely followed by Manny, Ben, John Nobil, Chuck Jenkins, Dez Wilder, and Bryan Van Vleet. The train pulled together for most of the first lap. As the first lap came to an end Tinker pulled a 2 and a half-minute gap on Manny and Ben. Even as the teammates worked together Manny and Ben could not reel Tinker in. By the end of the race Tinker held a 5 minute lead over Manny and a 9 minute lead over Ben with Chuck Jenkins and John Nobil coming in 4th and 5th. Tinker finished in 3:21:45 with the fastest lap of the day being a 1:39.

Charles Jenkins chases the leaders

The women’s pro field saw Team Sole’s Karen Lundgren take the top place honors with Bernice Pierson coming in for second.

Once the race was over, the party at Vail Lake was on! With live music and the saloon open, everyone was having a great time. Racers, families, and industry folks enjoyed the evening’s festivities and partied into the night.

When Sunday morning rolled around it was time for the SoCal Bike expo and demo day. We had some of the top bike makers out on site to demo and show the SoCal mountain bikers the latest and greatest. The shuttles were packed and everyone enjoyed some of the best that Vail Lake has to offer.

The SoCal Endurance team looks forward to making this race and expo weekend a Southern California main event.

Up next on November 14th is the “12 Hours Of Temecula #2,“ SoCal Endurance final.

For more info please check out www.socalendurance.com

TInker shows off his cash and championship jersey

Shenandoah 100: National Ultra Endurance Series- Brief Results

Bishop returns from spine fractures with a win at Shenandoah as Tanguy continues his great late season form. Sue Haywood continues to enjoy "retirement" with another ultra endurance win.

Jeff Schalk, Sue Haywood, and Danielle Musto wait for the start in the early morning hours

Men's Podium Koerber, Schalk, Bishop, Tanguy, and Jakomait (left to right)

Sue Haywood rides her Turner to the win at the Shenandoah 100

Women's podium Musto, Lowery, Haywood, Shogren, and Simril (left to right)

Open Men

1, Jeremiah Bishop (Monavie-Cannondale.com)
2, Christian Tanguy (Team Fraser) -20 seconds
3, Jeff Schalk (Trek Racing Co-Op)
4, Jesse Jakomait (Cannondale)
5, Sam Koerber (Gary Fisher 29er Crew)

Open Women

1, Sue Haywood
2, Betsy Shogren (Cannondale)
3, Carey Lowery (Outdoor Store)
4, Danielle Musto (Kenda/Tomac/Hayes)
5, Brenda Simril (Motor Mile Racing)

Park City Point to Point:Report, Results, and Photos

Alex Grant takes top honors and sets fastest course time while Pua Sawicki puts in an amazing performance winning her category and placing 5th in the Pro Men's field.

Monavie riders Bart Gillespie and Alex Grant get an early lead

Written by: Shannon Boffeli

On a day that went from blue skies to rain and rainbows and back again riders also experienced the full range of emotions throughout the 75 miles of the inaugural Park City Point to Point presented by Trek.

Located in the resort town to Park City, Utah. The Point to Point has over 400 miles of mountain bike trails to utilize for the racecourse and it appears they chose some of the very best. The route features over 14,000 vertical feet of climbing on 90 plus percent singletrack. Racers were treated to everything Park City has to offer starting off with fast rocky trails to steep aspen lined climbs, deep wooded pine forest, challenging technical descents, and blazing fast downhills.

A stalwart bunch of 160 riders toed the start line at 7 AM Saturday morning. With the sun just rising over the Uinta mountains to the east riders charged off the line. Monavie-Cannondale.com riders Bart Gillespie and Alex Grant quickly established themselves at the front entering the singletrack 1-2. Behind the Monavie team came a solid group of endurance racers including Yuki Saito and teammate Jeff Kerkove (Topeak/Ergon), Kevin Day (Kuhl/Scott), Brandon Firth (Rocky Mountain), Chris Holley (Subaru/Gary Fisher).

As the riders started the first significant climb of the day, 45- minutes to the top of Bald Mountain, the skies opened up and dropped rain on the field. The rain did nothing to dampen the Monavie racers fire. Gillespie and Grant continued to open their gap to the rest of the pack. Once past the halfway point at Silver Lake and into the more technical portions of the race Gillespie and Grant displayed their skills as some of the best trail riders in the country.

Behind the front two, the group of chasers stayed tight, all riding within minutes of each other. Holley descended off Bald Mountain in third with Saito just seconds behind. By now the rain had stopped but a tight section with several wooden features remained wet and extremely slick. The bridges claimed several victims from the front group including Brandon Firth, who went down hard on the slippery wood.

Chris Peters collecting his pay in the early morning rain

Once the leaders passed John’s trail at mile 43 they began the second significant climb of the day, up to Shadow Lake. It was here that Grant began to show is climbing form and gap his Monavie teammate. Grant, who finished 4th at this year’s Leadville 100 riding much of the course with eventual race winner Lance Armstrong, began to ride away on the steep, grinding grades up to the lake.

Once the leader hit the aid station at Park City Mountain Resort he held a lead of 4 minutes over his teammate who in-turn held 10 minutes over third placed Chris Holley.

Once into the final long climb of the day up the Spiro trail Grant could not be stopped. Tearing through the final 25 miles of trail in just two hours setting a course record that will be tough to beat with a blistering time of 7.04.01. Gillespie crossed the line just 8 minutes back. Chris Holley held on for 3rd with Kevin Day crossing the line in 4th, happy with the effort from his first-ever marathon distance event.

Race winner Alex Grant smiling his way to a great race time

The final podium would come down to Firth and Saito who had been close all day. Saito held the advantage into the final 25-mile section of singletrack but Firth was close behind and is known for his abilities as a long distance rider. Firth closed the gap on the Ergon racer and finally made the pass with just a few miles remaining on course. Yuki Saito crossed line in 6th and went directly to the first aid station for some IV fluids.

The women’s race featured a small but stacked field of racers lead by ultra-endurance phenom and multi-time US National Champion Pua Sawicki (Ellsworth). Just back from her best-ever American finish at the Marathon World Championships in Graz, Austria, Sawicki was excited about the opportunity of race in Park City again.

Starting with Sawicki would be endurance specialist Amanda Carey (Kenda/Tomac/Hayes) who finished second at this year’s Leadville 100. The field also included local racer KC Holley (Subaru/Gary Fisher) who has won just about every endurance event she has entered this season, Sonya Looney (Topeak/Ergon) who just won the Pierre’s Hole 100, and Sarah Kaufmann (Titus/Roaring Mouse) winner of the Mount Ogden 50k two weeks ago.

Right from the start it was clear Sawicki had her mind set, not just on winning, but destroying the field. After the opening 10-miles section in Round Valley Sawicki had a solid lead sitting just outside the top-10 in the men’s field. By aid station #1 she had moved into 5th in the men’s field. It was already clear, despite a catastrophic failure, Sawicki was having a phenomenal day.

Heather Holmes and Amanda Carey in Round Valley

Behind the leader Amanda Carey rode a strong race. Spending much of her time with Kenda/Tomac/Hayes teammate Heather Holmes who just returned from representing the USA at the Marathon World Championships. This time Holmes was racing in the Duo Women’s team event.

As Carey established herself in second she was surprised with her good form considering she has stopped training for endurance events and already turned her training toward the cyclocross season.

Holley and Looney summited the Bald Mountain within sight of each other while Kaufmann was already falling on hard times. She would eventually be forced from the race after suffering three flat tires in the first half of the race.

Women's winner Pua Sawicki

At the front Sawicki hammered on showing why she is undeniably the best female endurance racer in the United States. She handled huge climbs, slick bridges, miles and miles of tight singletrack, and bomber rocky downhills without a problem. As she started the final climb of the day the race leader still sported a huge smile. Sawicki finally crossed the finish line with an astounding time of 7.34.16, a time that would have placed her 5th in the men’s category.

Amanda Carey stayed strong to finish second with a blown fork, which she described as riding a “mullet bike, business up front and party in the rear.”

After the mid-way point KC Holley seemed to find her legs and immediately started to put time on Looney. She crossed the line just under 9 hours with Looney just 13 minutes behind after having a hard crash on the Crescent Mine Grade descent.

All racers were treated to a tremendous prize list with the Open categories receiving $3,200 in prize money with equal pay out for the men and women.

Race Notes

Participants in the race were treated to one of the best post race raffles in mountain bike history with thousands of dollars in gifts from Ergon, Skull Candy, Ground, Trek, Hammer Nutrition, Kuhl, Northwave, Squirt Lube, Rossignol, The Canyons, Scrub Components, and Carborocket.

Open Men

1, Alex Grant (Monavie-Cannondale.com) 7.04.01
2, Bart Gillespie (Monavie-Cannondale.com) 7.12.34
3, Chris Holley (Gary Fisher/Subaru) 7.24.21
4, Kevin Day (Kuhl/Scott) 7.28.44
5, Brandon Firth (Rocky Mountain) 7.45.14
6, Yuki Saito (Topeak/Ergon) 7.46.47
7, Brandon Cross (Monavie-Cannondale.com) 7.59.21
8, Chris Peters 8.00.00
9, Ryan Ashbridge (Revolution/Peak Fasteners) 8.06.19
10, Tom Bender 8.12.15
11, Peter McMullin (Revolution/Peak Fasteners) 8.19.25
12, Jeff Kerkove (Topeak Ergon) 8.36.51
13, Tim Lewin 8.47.02
14, Eric Jeppsen 8.57.26
15, Mitchel Peterson (Monavie-Cannondale.com) 9.05.27
16, Steve Elmer 9.27.26
17, Darrell Finlayson 9.41.27

Open Women

1, Pua Sawicki (Ellsworth)
2, Amanda Carey (Kenda/Tomac/Hayes) 8.14.06
3, KC Holley (Gary Fisher/Subaru) 8.51.29
4, Sonya Looney (Topeak/Ergon) 9.05.29

Local legend, Cris Fox, hands out wads of cash on the PCP2P course. While dressed as Raggedy Ann

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