Juarez's Hat Trick at 24 Hours of Temecula
Sho-Air Shows How to Win a 24-hour Race

Tinker Juarez Three-peats victory in the Men's Solo Category Photo credit: Tom Weigand www.trweigand.com

TEMECULA, Calif. (April 24, 2005) With mind boggling pace and consistency, Tinker Juarez (Siemens Mobile/Cannondale) circled the 10 1/2 –mile 24 Hours of Temecula course 19 times to win his third straight Men’s Solo title. Juarez checked off lap after lap with robotic efficiency, even after experimenting with some new strategies, which led to a rough start.

“I was lucky to be able to ride fast in the beginning,” said Juarez. “I didn’t really feel so good but I realized that I could stay ahead if I could stay consistent. Important was not to lose the laps I’d worked so hard to get.”

While off-road racing may be running out of race formats for the 44-year-old Juarez to win, 24-hour racing still seems challenging enough to keep Juarez interested. The redesigned course for this year’s race provided all the intrigue that Juarez seeks in an off-road race.

“I lose interest if I do all the fun stuff during training,” explained Juarez. “What’s best for a 24-hour race is to learn during the day and as you get better, pick different lines. Hopefully you got it down by nighttime.” Juarez finished 19 laps, or 194.2 miles, in 24:07:46.

Jenna Woodbury of Moab, Utah easily pedaled to first place in the women’s solo category and earned her first victory after six attempts at a solo win. Woodbury cut her teeth as a soloist in her hometown at the 24 Hours of Moab yet Woodbury cited the massive field, elite competition and her own nerves for her two second-place and two third-place finishes at Moab. This time Woodbury lapped runner-up Sara Wildes seven times to complete 15 laps in 24:00:53.

Jenna Woodbury wins her first solo 24-hour race

“I try to be as consistent as possible,” Woodbury said. “There was some sketchy stuff that was flying loose coming downhill during the night--that was easy to catch a wheel on. I wasn’t terribly consistent but I didn’t feel too much pressure this time.”

An early morning rain on Sunday packed down the course’s dozen or more sandy sections and helped lessen riders’ fatigue. Frustration from having to power through the loose stuff gave way to motivation as riders could keep their pace without sliding or spinning out.

A less-than-ideal performance for team Sho-Air at last year’s 24 Hours of Moab caused the team to sharply improve their race for 24 Hours of Temecula.

“We learned a lot at Moab,” said Nick Ponsor. “The winning team there doubled up for night laps and the big thing we learned about was nutrition.”

Another improvement was how the team transitioned from one rider to the next. Executed with near-military precision, an incoming rider would coast to a halt, scan his RealTime scoring card, have his log-out time recorded, and back away while his teammate logged-in and set off on the next lap. This drill got repeated over and over again by the fledgling team from SoCal and might have been the determining factor in today’s Men’s Expert category victory.

Jorge Munoz of Team Sho-Air

Runner-up in Men’s Expert, Coates Cycos, clung to lap times equal to or near to Sho-Air’s lap times. No more than eight minutes separated Coates Cycos from Sho-Air until lap nine, when Coates Cycos’ Mario Correa’s lights failed him four miles from the start. In a display of sportsmanship at mile seven, a member of team Bikeman.com traded his helmet and light for Correa’s helmet, allowing Correa to bridge the gap to just 14 minutes behind Sho-Air. In the end Manuel Prado, Nick Ponsor, Jason First and Jorge Munoz of Sho-Air succeeded in gaining a full lap over Coates Cycos to finish 26 laps in 24:36:04.

Total mileage for this year’s 24 Hours of Temecula measured 8574.9 miles. For complete results, visit http://grannygear.com/Races/history_results.shtml

Granny Gear Production’s official season-opener, the 24 Hours of Temecula 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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