Colorado Springs, Colo. (Feb. 10, 2009)—USA Cycling announced today that it will hold the 2009 24-Hour Mountain Bike National Championship at the 24-Hours of Moab in Moab, Utah on Oct. 10-11, 2009. The 2010 USA Cycling 24-Hour Mountain Bike National Championship will then be held in conjunction with the 24-Hours of Big Bear in Hazelton, W.Va., June 12-13, 2010.

Originally slated to be held in Arizona, the USA Cycling 24-Hour Mountain Bike National Championships were re-set due to schedule and location conflicts. Previously held in conjunction with the 24-Hours of 9 Mile in Wisconsin, the event will now be run through Granny Gear Productions for the next two years, coinciding with the 24-Hours of Moab event in 2009 and 24-Hours of Big Bear, in Hazelton, West Virginia, in 2010.

“Moab will be the perfect battle ground for a National Championship race. The course is a classic mix of high-speed double-track, technical sections and power-sucking sand-traps. Likewise, I’m very excited about Big Bear being the National Championships for 24-hour racing in 2010. Our West Virginia venue represents the roots of 24-hour racing and for the first time the USA Cycling 24-hour National Championships will be held at an East-coast venue. Just as the Moab course represents the quintessential western course, Big Bear represents the ultimate east-coast course with mile after mile of wooded single-track, moss-covered rock gardens, birch and hickory forests and beautiful mountain laurel just be coming into bloom,” said Laird Knight, President of Granny Gear Productions. “We’ve just recently purchased the 24 Hours of 9-Mile from Kevin Eccles and will be bidding for the Nationals to return to 9-mile in 2011.”

The national championship competition in Moab will be open to American riders only. The 24-Hours of Moab event however will offer more than 20 divisions open to various age groups, skill, levels and team sizes.

Prior to the addition of an American-only national championship race, the 24-Hours of Moab has a fourteen year history as one of the most popular mountain bike races in North America. The annual event draws more than 4,000 racers, support members and spectators to a stunningly beautiful biking venue. The event also offers a $20,000 total cash purse and more than $30,000 in prizes.

*Photos courtesy Xavi Fane. Additional images can be found at xavi@rmi.net.

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 and sanctioning body, USA Cycling consists of 64,000+ members, including 57,000 competitive cyclists, 1,500 coaches, 4,000 student-athletes, 2,200 officials, 350 professional cyclists, and 200 certified mechanics. USA Cycling also sanctions 2,500 competitive and non-competitive organized cycling events throughout the United States annually, as well as 1,800 clubs and teams. Associations of USA Cycling include the United States Cycling Federation (road, track & cyclo-cross), the National Off-Road Bicycle Association (mountain bike), the BMX Association, the National Collegiate Cycling Association and the United States Professional Racing Organization.  USA Cycling is also responsible for the identification, development, support and promotion of American cyclists through various athletic initiatives and programs including the USA Cycling National Development Team, the USA Cycling Women’s National Team, the USA Cycling Junior Development Team, Talent Identification and Regional Development Camps, domestic and international race calendars, direct athlete funding and support programs, and educational camps and seminars. USA Cycling also fields and supports U.S. National Teams for various international events, including the Olympic Games, World Championships, Pan American Games, Continental Championship and World Cups across all levels and disciplines of competitive cycling.  USA cycling further supports grass roots and locally-based initiatives through its 32 Local Associations and comprehensive network of licensed and certified coaches and officials. Additionally, USA Cycling conducts National Championship events for amateur and professional cyclists, awarding more than 600 national titles annually to men and women in junior, U23, masters, elite, professional and paralympic categories throughout the various disciplines of competitive cycling. To learn more about USA Cycling, visit www.usacycling.org. For media-related or general inquiries, please contact USA Cycling Director of Communications, Andy Lee at 719-866-4867 or alee@usacycling.org.

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.

www.grannygear.com/Races/Moab

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

In the last race of the 2008 Suzuki 24 Hour Series racers battle blustery winds and fierce competition from the very first lap.

Behind the Rocks (Moab, Utah)-The end of the 2008 season of the momentous Suzuki 24 Hour Series began in conditions that will make the already white-knuckle 24 Hours of Moab even more intense.

The Solo Men’s battle predicted between 24 hour endurance mountain bike racing world champion Chris Eatough (Trek-VW), past Moab winner and endurance racking guru Tinker Juarez (Monavie/Cannondale), and the threatening Josh Tostado (Bach Builders) is playing its self out as predicted, but no one anticipated the speedy take off of Roan Excelby (Squirt Lube).

This morning a windstorm buzzing through the venue at Behind the Rocks mixed with bustle of racers and crews as they prepared to take on an environment that was anything but friendly or ideal.

As the racers lined up for the Le Mans start of the 14th annual 24 Hours of Moab, winds were blowing steady at 30 miles and hour, and gusting well over 40 mph.

The southwest winds are expected to continue, with gusts up to 55 mph, before they shift to the west in anticipation of a cold front.

The weather service is predicting the cold front will bring widespread thunderstorms and snow showers.

While temperatures won’t likely drop low enough at the course elevation to bring snow, small hail is anticipated around the thunderstorms.

“It’s not too bad. It’s a little hard on my voice, it’s been so dry and dusty,” race announcer Bruce Hildenbrand said. “But it’s great to see the athletes haven’t lost their enthusiasm. They say sports don’t build character, they reveal character. We’re going to see a lot of character revealed today.”

Despite the harsh conditions, the race began on time, and the lead rider, Ben Senntag, from the Monavie/Cannondale team, turned in an impressive lap time of 1:05. Two minutes later, Josh Tostado (Bach Builders) was the first solo rider in.

Tostado seemed to anticipate the beginning of the race in his comments regarding Eatough at the previous evening’s press conference. “You can never count him out. Even if I had a half-hour lead on him I’d be looking over my shoulder every ten seconds. I like having a guy like Chris at the race that I’m doing, because if you can’t beat the best, you can’t be the best.”

Roan Excelby (Squirt Lube) a 24 hour newbie of Pietermaritzburg, South Africa rode in on  Toastado’s wheel, along with last year’s winner Chris Eatough (Trek-VW) with a tie time of 1:09.

Jari Kirkland (Boulder Performance Network) came in first place of the Solo Women’s class at 1:30, only two minutes ahead of Cat Morrison (Crank Brothers) and Kris Cannon (Honey Stinger) who were tied for second place.

Granny Gear Productions promoter Laird Knight said the venue is holding together, and the race will go on-although people may face a few unexpected cots.
“Equipment has taken a lot of stress. We’re putting out fires left and right. It’s messing with electrical circuits, it’s messing with crowd control fence. The good news is when I bought my tents, I got the best in the world, and they are taking it. I can’t say the same for all the pop-ups out there. The dumpsters are filling up.”

For event information and webcast: http://grannygear.com/Races/Moab/index.shtml

Read the Photo Report and Write Up by Mtbr’s very own Photo-John:
Riding The 24 Hours of Moab Race Course

source: Laura Brennan