Granny Gear's 15th annual 24 Hours of Moab, held in the Behind-the-Rocks region went off in spectacular fashion, with perfect weather and some record setting performances in many classes. USA Cycling piggybacked their 24-hour National Championships on
Granny Gear's classic,weaving in its "official" categories into the event's traditional solo, team and age groupings. The final results are a bit confusing, but the end result is that 4000 people raced their brains out at the best 24-hour cycling party ever thrown at Moab.
Riders set out on Saturday for as many laps as they could complete on the 15-mile course. After the 24 hours had expired, Josh Tostado (Alma, Colo./Bach Builders) and Eszter Horanyi (Boulder, Colo/Waltworks) recorded more laps than any other solo riders in the male and female division to earn the prestigious solo national titles.
Josh Tostado. Granny Gear photo
After finishing second to five-time defending champion Chris Eatough (Baltimore, MD.) last year, Tostado assumed the Stars-and-Stripes in 2009 logging 17 laps. After riding the first few laps nearly side-by-side with eventual silver medalist Kelly Magelky (Golden, Colo.), Tostado grabbed a small lead on lap three and never looked back. Magelky finished with 16 total laps.
Horanyi also dethroned the reigning champion in the women’s division, Pua Sawicki (Yucaipa, Calif./Ellsworth) who finished fifth in this year’s contest. Horanyi logged 13 laps of the Moab course to finish just ahead of Sarah Kaufmann (Ogden, Utah/Roaring Mouse) on her final go around.
St. George, Utah residents Dave Harris (2-Epic) and Lynda Wallenfels (LWCoaching) earned the men’s and women’s singlespeed solo national titles, completing impressive 15 and 11 laps respectively on their singlespeed bikes.
One of last year’s mixed duo champions Rebecca Tomaszewski (Tucson, Ariz.) teamed up with a new partner to win another Stars-and-Stripes in that category. She and Dax Massey (Boulder, Colo.) made up the Niner-Ergon-Bach Builders team that logged 17 laps on their way to the title. The duo held off a strong surge from the Sho-air duo of Mario Correa (Chino, Calif.) and Heidi Volpe (Topanga, Calif.), who also completed 17 laps, to take the win.
With 18 total laps, the men’s duo crown was earned by the Grand Targhee Resort Squad of Troy Barry (Victor, Idaho) and Cary Smith (Jackson, Wyoming). Also logging 18 laps, former USA Cycling Mountain Bike Marathon National Championship medalist Gretchen Reeves (Edwards, Colo.) teamed up with long-time ultra-mountain bike racer Rebecca Rusch (Ketchum,Idaho) to earn the women’s duo national title in formidable fashion for their Specialized-Tokyo Joe’s squad.
The Pro Cycling squad of Kalan Beisel, Russell Finsterwald, J.J. Clark (Colorado Springs, Colo.) and Rob Sousa (Thorton, Colo.) earned the men’s four-person title, while the Quadruple Gnar quad of Ryan Geiger (Flagstaff, Ariz.), Kallan Creager (Queen Creek, Ariz.), Casey Williams (Big Bear City, Calif.) and Daniel Conley (Payson, Ariz.) bettered the elder group 19 laps to 18 and win the male junior four-person division.
The sole women’s junior four-person team to enter the contest, The Justice League comprised of Wesley Geer, Ellen Patton, Ellie Atkins (Boulder, Colo.) and Meghan Kane (Dillon, Colo.), turned in an impressive 14 laps to take that title.
In the men’s master (35+) division the Washed Up and Faded Away squad of Stephen White (Vail, Colo.), Mike Gibbs (Eagle, Colo.), Edward Oliver (Littleton, Colo.) and Mark Roebke (Avon, Colo.) finished their 19th lap just ahead of the Flab Four and Trek Store-Boulder MTB Racing squads to earn the gold.
In its first year hosting the national championship event, the 15th-annual 24-Hours of Moab drew hundreds of athletes who competed in various national championship and non-national championship categories in both 12 and 24-hour divisions. The record number of competitors also shared in a record cash purse of more than $24,000.
2009 USA CYCLING 24 HOUR MOUNTAIN BIKE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS RESULTS
Male Solo: Josh Tostado (Alma, Colo./Bach Builders)
Female Solo: Eszter Horanyi (Boulder, Colo/Waltworks)
Male Singlespeed Solo: Dave Harris (St. George, Utah/2-Epic)
Female Singlespeed Solo: Lynda Wallenfels (St. George, Utah/LWCoaching)
Mixed Duo: Niner-Ergon-Bach Builders: Rebecca Tomaszewski & Dax Massey
Male Duo: Grand Targhee Resort (Troy Barry, Cary Smith)
Female Duo: Specialized/Tokyo Joe's (Gretchen Reeves, Rebecca Rusch)
Men’s Four-Person Team: Hammer Nutrition squad: Kalan Biesel, Russell Finsterwald, J.J. Clark, Rob Sousa
Male Junior Four-Person Team: Quaduple Gnar (Ryan Geiger, Kallan Creager, Casey Williams, Daniel Conley)
Female Junior Four-Person Team: The Justice League (Wesley Geer, Ellen Patten, Ellie Atkins, Meghan Kane)
Male 4-Person Masters (35+) Team: Washed-Up and Faded Away (Stephen White, Mike Gibbs, Edward Oliver, Mark Roebke)
*The Women’s Four-Person Team and Women’s Four-Person Masters (35+) Team national championship categories had no entries, therefore no titles were awarded in those divisions.
GRANNY GEAR NATIONAL SERIES POINTS WINNERS
Not-so-Slow & Steady Wins the Series
With a 2nd at Big Bear and a 3rd at 9-Mile, Robert Anderson from Crozet, Virginia, was able to sew-up the 2009 Series Solo Championship with a 5th at Moab, and a total of 610 points. Brandon Draugalis from Bedford, PA, won both Big Bear and 9-Mile, and was the favorite to win but was forced to drop-out after eight laps for 21st place and only 15 points. Still his total of 515 points earned him 3rd in the Series. Chicagoan, Brad Majors bagged an extra 140 points for 14th place and won 2nd in the Series Solo division.
Star Spangled Bangers - Men's Exp Champs
With a 2nd at Big Bear, a 1st at 9-Mile and a 4th at Moab, this team of Cameron Chambers and Craig Stoeltzing plus (in various races) Scott Capstack, Travis Donn, Jason Gaikowski, and Aaron Elwell represents the cream-of-the-crop of mid-western hammer-heads. They earned 680 out of a possible 750 points.
Robert Anderson on his way to a solid 2nd at
24 Hours of Big Bear. Granny Gear photo
Single-Speed and Duo Champs
Doug Smith of Gainsville Florida won the Series in the Men's Single Speed category with a win at Big Bear and a 5th and 9th place finishes at 9-Mile and Moab, respectively.
Minnesotans, Chuck Jacobs and Kraig Anderson (Team New-Mart) bagged 465 points to take the Series Championship in the Duo class.
About 24 Hours of Moab
Since its inception in 1995, the 24 Hours of Moab has earned a reputation as one of the largest and most prestigious 24-hour races in the world. Rightly so, Moab, Utah is recognized, around the world, as the Mecca of mountain biking. Attracting upwards of 400 teams and an elite field of world-class, ultra-endurance soloists, the 24 Hours of Moab delivers the richest awards table in mountain biking with a prize value approaching $30,000 and more than $20,000 in cold cash.
The 24 Hours of Moab is also unique in that it is operated in a completely remote venue, 12 miles from the nearest utilities. Each year, a mountain bike city grows up in the high-desert grazelands hosting 4,000+ racers, support crew and spectators. This amazing location provides a 15-mile race course that is breathtakingly scenic and brutally challenging. Typically, teams and soloists together, log more than 79,000 miles and more than 1,300 miles of vertical elevation gain during this epic event.
Since 2002, The 24 Hours of Moab has been designated as the AMTRI World Championships of 24-hour mountain bike racing. In 2005, it also became the series finale of The Inaugural 24 Hour National Point Series.
About Granny Gear Productions
Granny Gear Productions, a sports marketing and event production company, has earned a reputation as the mountain biking's most innovative and successful event organizer. In 2000, GGP created its unprecedented and unrivaled RealTimeTM Scoring System, that tracks every rider and every lap, posting results for every team in real-time on the web. With more than 26 years as a mountain bike race organizer, Granny Gear President and CEO, Laird Knight, created the 24-hour racing format in 1991. In 2001, Knight became West Virginia Tourism's Person-of-the-Year and in 2002, Knight was inducted into The Mountain Bike Hall of Fame.
www.grannygear.com
About USA Cycling
Recognized by the United States Olympic Committee and the Union Cycliste Internationale, USA Cycling is the official governing body for all disciplines of competitive cycling in the United States, including road, track, mountain bike, BMX, and cyclo-cross. As a membership-based organization, USA Cycling consists of 64,000+ licensees including 1,500 coaches, 4,000 student-athletes, 2,200 officials, 1,800 clubs and teams, 350 professional cyclists, 200 certified mechanics, and 34 local associations To learn more about USA Cycling, visit www.usacycling.org.