Suzuki 24 Hours of Big Bear, 7-8 Jun, 2008


2008 Suzuki 24 Hours of Big Bear webcast
Men's Experts Reports
Big Bear Event Home Page Webcast Home Page Link to Story Board™ results Link to RealTime™ results
7th June
11:59 p.m. Battle Lines are Drawn in the regional derby In keeping with local mountain bike tradition, a fierce battle is raging in the Men's Expert class, and it has the air of a regional championship. Given that this is the part of the nation that spawned 24-hour racing, perhaps it should not come as a surprise that so many teams are so close. At the halfway point in the race, 12 midnight, The IPlayOutside/WVMBA Dream Team team had just taken the lead from the Dirty Harry's team, who had led the race outright since the second lap. The lead is currently only 92 seconds. The WVMBA team is in fact in the Men's Pro Class, but as a sole entrant, their competition - which is proving worthy - is coming from the Men's Experts. They are a local-based team, while Dirty Harry's are a family based team from Pennsylvania. Thirty minutes back, which is not a very long way in this sport where fortunes can change dramatically in a short amount of time, is the Walmsley Cycles Factory Team. Another five minutes farther back is the Pro Bikes team (Pittsburg, PA). Ten more minutes behind are the C3-POs (Delaware/Maryland), who are only five minutes ahead of Custom Contracting Cancer Awareness, also a local team. What all this means is that after 12 hours, the leading teams are all within 52 minutes. Speaking earlier in the day, when his team was placed second for two laps, Josh Chapman of the Walmsley Cycles team said, "There are some very strong local teams that we're up against, like Dirty Harry's and the Dream Team, but apart from those we don't know a lot about our competition." Well, after this race, these teams will surely know quite a lot about one another.		A IPlayOutside WVMBA Dream Team rider nailing the singletrack which chasing the Dirty Harry's team. credit: Harlan Price Josh Chapman and one of his Walmsley Cycles Factory team-mates kick back early on in the race.
Dirty Harry's team wins 24 at first attempt Coming into a race of this high standard and hoping to win might be said to be a very lofty ambition, but the Spreng family team inducted the experienced 24-hour racer Justin Pokrivka and pulled it off. Update to follow later tonight...		Three of the four Dirty Harry's Bicycles riders, along with their sponsor, Scott Root (second right), of the winning Big Bear Masters team. Left to right, Henry Spreng III, Justin Pokrivka, Henry Spreng Jr.


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	About your reporter Hi! I'm Paul Skilbeck. A journalist and press guy on the international mountain bike racing scene since 1989, I am your humble reporter for the 2008 Suzuki 24 Hour Series opener. This is how I look in my reporting clothes, but if you roll over the image you'll see that I'm not merely a pencil squeezer. Before we get started, please don't forget the support by Suzuki of 24-hour endurance racing when considering your next 4-wheeled purchase. Your support of sponsors is what keeps them supporting the sport!