Mata and Kady Earn Titles at Mountain Bike Marathon National Championships

9/18/11– It was a day for the locals as Bend residents took Stars-and-Stripes jerseys in five of the 14 categories at the 2011 USA Cycling Mountain Bike Marathon National Championships. This included the men’s pro race, where Adam Craig (Bend, OR/ Rabobank-Giant Off-Road Team) edged another Bend resident, Carl Decker (Bend, OR/Giant Factory Off-Road Team), by just 12 seconds. It was a different story in the women’s pro race as Pua Mata (Anaheim, CA/Team Sho-Air) rode away from the field to win by more than four minutes.

Craig and Decker rode together for the majority of the race, widening a gap from the rest of the field that ended up being more than 10 minutes at the finish line. The battle for third was taken in a sprint to the line by Sam Schultz (Missoula, MT/Subaru-Trek), who bested two-time defending champion Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (Boulder, CO/Subaru-Trek) by just four seconds. For Craig it is his third national title of 2011; at the Mountain Bike Cross-country Nationals he won both the all-mountain title and the super D with Decker as runner-up. Craig is also the reigning singlespeed cyclo-cross national champion.

The top woman in this year’s Pro Ultra-Endurance Tour, Mata handily won the women’s pro title. Kelli Emmett (Colorado Springs, CO/ Giant Factory Off-Road Team) finished second, more than five minutes ahead of two-time defending champ Heather Irmiger (Boulder, CO/Subaru-Trek).

Age Group Winners
Partly sunny skies and temperatures in the high 50s to low 60s meant ideal racing weather for the more than 200 competitors. This proved to be a fortunate break for the riders, who had to contend with a tough 52-mile course that offered few places to relax and required an almost constant effort.

Convincing victories highlighted the 19-29 age groups, with Carson Miller (Bend, OR/Jelly Belly Presented By Kenda) earning the men’s title and Rose Grant (Kalispell, MT/Sportsman & Ski Haus) taking victory as well as the distinction of being the fastest non-professional female competitor.

Ty Kady (Brea, CA) won the 30-34 men’s race to claim his third Stars-and-Stripes jersey of 2011, which include wins in mountain bike cross-country and short track cross-country earned in Sun Valley, Idaho, this past July. Benjamin Thompson (Bend, OR) rode to victory in the men’s 35-39 race, while Lisa Curry (Bozeman, MT/ Gallatin Alpine Sports/Intrinsik Architecture Cycling Team) won the women’s 30-39 age group.

In the largest field of the event, Dario Fredrick (San Anselmo, CA/Whole Athlete-Specialized) bested 45 riders to become the new men’s 40-49 champion. Erika Krumpelman (Hayden, ID/Velo Bella) rode to the title in the women’s 40-49 race.

Scott Seaton (Bend, OR) 3:48:23 won one of the closer masters races of the day, taking the men’s 50-59 victory by less than a minute. On the women’s side of that age group, Muffy Ritz (Ketchum, ID/Mud Honey Cycling) took the top podium spot.

The only 2010 champion to successfully defend his title, Dwight Hibdon (Park City, UT/Mad Dog Cycles Race Team) rode to his second straight men’s 60+ Stars-and-Stripes jersey.

Cary Smith (Jackson, WY) earned his second singlespeed national championship of the year, adding to his mountain bike cross-country win in July. Alice Drobna (Bend, OR) donned the Stars-and-Stripes in the singlespeed women’s category.

Full Results >