Single-speed Popularity Draws Racers to 24 Hours of Big Bear
Bontrager Wheelworks Breaks Five-year Runner-up Streak

HAZELTON, W.V. (June 19, 2005) Rumor of a single-speed backlash drifted over 24 Hours of Big Bear early Sunday morning. Opposite of geared bikes, which often require labor-intensive repair and maintenance, single-speeds--with their one, simple gear--are easier and cheaper to maintain. Perhaps out of boredom for the mainstream monotony of geared bikes, an increasing number of riders are hanging up their multi-speeds and reaching for the simplicity of a single-speed. To prove that single-speeds are gaining in popularity, ten teams entered the Single, Rigid category at 24 Hours of Big Bear with two single-speed women’s teams entered in the Women’s Expert category.

Team Delta 9ers struggled mightily against Team Paxson & Hawthorne with the Delta 9ers losing the lead on three separate laps during the race. Lap times between the two teams differed by only minutes with each team lowering time gaps to less than two minutes on several occasions.

“The six minute gap was closed in by two final riders,” said Delta 9er team captain, Michael Boyes. “I regained the lead on the second-to-the-last lap by putting three minutes into Allen Moore (Paxson & Hawthorne). Eric Cutlip (Delta 9ers) went out and put two more minutes into their team.”

The two teams pushed paces rivaling racers in the Duo/Pro, Five-person Open and Men’s Masters categories with both teams each completing 17 laps on the 13-mile course and finishing in the top five overall. In the end the Delta 9ers beat Paxson & Hawthorne by five minutes, 29 seconds with a time of 24:31:50.

Keith Bontrager’s team, Bontrager Wheelworks, ended a five-year string of second place finishes by at last outdoing longtime rivals, the Double J Disciples. Since the early days of West Virginia’s flagship 24-hour race, Bontrager Wheelworks has morphed from a pickup team of a bunch of guys who ride bikes into a team “that’s just gotten faster,” according to Bontrager. Although many racers on Bontrager Masters return each year, the team is seldom the same from one year to the next. Ironically, the Double J Disciples, who have raced together now in 11 24-hour races, cited the Bontrager Masters’ consistency in this year’s race as the tool which clinched their victory. Bontrager cited the riding conditions as the difference from this year’s victory to second-place finishes from years’ past.

“I think the new course evened things out,” said Bontrager. “The guys from New England were really good on the roots at Snowshoe but the course here smoothed out riding differences between the teams.”

Bontrager Wheelworks’ earned their victory for completing 17 laps in 24:52:02.

The Men’s Solo category saw the lead get shuffled like a card deck in Vegas. At first like a shell game, the lead became a guessing game between 2004 24 Hours of Snowshoe Men’s Solo Champion, Ernesto Marenchin, NORBA National 24-hour Champion, Cameron Chambers, and formidable 24-hour racer, Mark Hendershot. During the night, Chambers and Hendershot dropped a few places to usher in a new top three field that still had Marenchin in the lead. Steve Schwarz and Toby Porter emerged from the middle of the pack in search of either overtaking Marenchin or at least placing in the top five. Porter claimed third place, Schwarz second while Marenchin succeeded in repeating last year’s victory by riding 15 laps—or 195 miles (95 percent single-track)--in 24:47:23.

Women’s Solo winner Heather Mosely (Specialized), who finished 24 Hours of Temecula in April with a broken wrist, signed up to race at Big Bear only days before the race. Mosely, whose late arrival left no chance to pre-ride the course, needed to improvise a race strategy that allowed her to start fast and set a race pace that could be maintained for 24 hours.

“I figure I had to be the first to hit the single-track,” explained Mosely, “after that I could get to know the course just by riding it, as long as I was in front.”

Mosely, a pro racer from upstate New York and frequent Granny Gear competitor, might have expected a racecourse akin to Snowshoe but even after racing for 24 hours, Mosely raved about the Big Bear course.

“The course here compared to Snowshoe—Wow!” expressed Mosely. “The course here gets people out, there’s nothing like reaching the top of a climb and there’s a kid going, ‘Yeah, Go Pink!’ It makes such a difference!”

Like most racers at this year’s race, Mosely’s “best of” section of trail was a swooping stretch of single-track through an orderly grove of pines. Easy to spot dressed top-to-toe in pink, Mosely circled the 13-mile course nine times to win with a time of 24:00:46.

Total mileage for this year’s 24 Hours of Big Bear measured 18,129.5 miles. Racers logged a cumulative 755 miles each hour or, six miles short of the speed of sound (761 mph at sea level). For more information and complete results in all categories, visit http://grannygear.com/Races/history_results.shtml 

Granny Gear Production’s flagship race, the 24 Hours of Big Bear, offers a weekend of world-class competition, fat-tire camaraderie, and an opportunity to race on some of the most stunning terrain in the U.S. Supporting sponsors include NiteRider Technical Lighting Systems, BIKE Magazine, VeloWear.com, and The American Lung Association. Contributing sponsors include Shimano USA and East-West Printing. Check back at www.grannygear.com for 2006 dates.

Granny Gear Productions, a sports marketing and event production company, has earned a reputation as the industry's most innovative and successful event organizer. With more than 23 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.

For photographic material call Wendy at 617-308-2500 or e-mail prgal@grannygear.com.

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