24 hours

The 24 Hours of Old Pueblo has to be my favorite 24-hour race, but I didn't go this year! Why? Well, I was skiing with a friend I haven't seen in a long time, so shoot me. Those that did go were blessed wtih an incredible race, as usual!

read the rest

My buddies Scott Tyree and Todd Dawson and I had a good training ride this weekend in the Kanawha State Forest near Charleston, W.Va. If you have not ridden there, you should give it a try. There are some great trails and primitive camping. Also, it is just outside of Charleston so there are conveniences nearby.

On to the ride: We rode a course which leads to a trail called "Wildcat Ridge Trail." There was almost 1000 feet of vertical climb in a little over 3 miles. At the trail head on the top of the ridge, we ran into a lady named Carrie or Terrie (I can't hear. Deaf as a stump.) who informed us that the hill we just rode was called "Heart Attack Hill." I get it. She rode the rest of the way with us. She was in awesome shape and rode things that kicked my hind-end. One of the great things about mountain biking is that I am yet to meet a stranger on the trail.

read the rest

YourMTB.com's editorial and community manager Neal Young was able to catch Laird Knight, owner of the race promotion company Granny Gear Productions and founder of the 24-hour mountain bike racing format, on the phone for an interview. They talked about Laird's background, how he came up with the idea for 24 hour mountain bike races, and some memorable moments from his years on the circuit. Take a listen!

MP3 File

read the rest

What do you get when you combine desert racing, fuzzy math and a whole lot of rain?

You get the 12th annual 24 hours of Moab.

I decided to compete in the Duo-Pro category at the 24 hours of Moab. My partner in crime was a well-known x-terra racer and software programmer. If you didn't guess it, I'm talking about the famous Dan Ourada!

We hit the trails smiling on Saturday morning. Sure, the rain was coming down like Bush's approval ratings, but that didn't bother two hard-core hitting muthas like us. We were determined to race and WIN!

The first lap was the LeMans style start. I encourage you to look at my previous blog if you want to get an idea on that maddness. The second lap was mine! I held the fastest lap time for an hour or so - 1:12 (I could have gone so much faster had my front der. not gunked up and crocked out). On the third lap Dan brought the thunder. I guess the rain followed quickly thereafter, because it began to rain. By the sixth lap, we were in third place and it was dark. I packed on my lights and headed out in the sideways rain. Canyons of mud flowed past me. The course was covered in fog. The racers were in a daze because they couldn't see the ground or the upcoming terrain.

read the rest

Can you ride your bike really fast for 24 hours? Over the weekend Chris Eatough (Subaru-Gary Fisher) punished a large field of riders by riding more laps than anyone else during the 24-hour NORBA national championships in Wisconsin. He took the field by completing one extra lap in a severe thunderstorm. Overall, Eatough finished with 17 laps under his wheels. His performance earned him the top podium spot in a new NORBA race series.

24-hour racing is quickly becoming one of the hottest events. I ran a poll earlier on YourMTB.com to see if our readers had much interest. The responses weren't that positive. In other words, there still aren't a lot of 24-hour racers out there. I can attest to being one of those racers.

read the rest