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24 Hours of Temecula - NE

Temecula, CA, USA, April 22-23, 2006

Results 

A First for Nat Ross: Blind No More

Redemption for Terri Wahlberg; Team Mammoth Gets "Girled"

Nat Ross (Subaru/Gary Fisher) executed an astonishing race at the 24 Hours of Temecula and here's why: up until this weekend Ross has been legally blind during every night lap through each of the 29 solo 24-hour races he's done. Earlier this year Ross underwent Lasik surgery to correct vision in his left eye. The right eye is scheduled for surgery in October. Today's race became a brand new event for Ross, who could actually see the racecourse clearly at night for the first time.

"It's given me so much more confidence and ability to ride at night with speed," explained Ross. "I actually have definition and peripheral vision on top of everything else so I was really looking forward to this season. Being able to go into the night - that eight or nine laps with extra confidence, it sure pays off."

By 10 pm Saturday night and with 22 hours left to go, Ross had crossed off ten laps - or half his stated goal of 20 laps. While Ross could have called it a day by 8 am Sunday, since second place in Men's Solo trailed by six laps, his other ambition was to topple Tinker Juarez' (Cannondale) course record for the most laps in the Men's Solo category. 19 laps would parallel Juarez' personal best yet by 10:35 Sunday morning, Ross had another lap in him. Despite an early morning downpour that brought on some chills, Ross neatly finished 20 laps in 24:06:11.

Expect Ross to do more damage to his competition this season both because of his improved vision and because - for the first time - he's been able to dedicate more time to training. Keep watch over Ross during 2006, big things are up ahead!

Redemption ride for Terri Wahlberg

Terri Wahlberg (Ellsworth) managed to right last year's wrongs that ended her bid for the podium during the 2005 24 Hours of Temecula. Mentally discouraged, Wahlberg called it quits after three laps and slipped away sometime in the early evening. This year the attractively glib redhead from Santa Maria, Calif. returned seeking redemption and got it by heaping on two more laps over second place. That the race was still in play by 2 am on Sunday didn't keep Wahlberg from conning a rookie crewmember into authorizing a sleep break.

"I decided to take advantage of the one pit crew that knew nothing about the racing and so I came in and asked to sleep for a half hour and they said, 'Of course, sure, no problem!'" said Wahlberg. "I said that I'd just sleep out here in the chair knowing full well my husband was in the camper. Then I had to go in the camper and he was there so I had to tell him. Of course that was it, it was on, I had to leave."

So far this season Wahlberg has collected a second and now a first place as a solo 24-hour racer. Today's win scored a double victory since she also won back the confidence lost during last year's race. Wahlberg circled the 10.2-mile course 13 times in 24:03:43.

Before the start of the race yesterday, Alex Fabro (Velo Bella/Kona) confessed to begging the four-man expert Team Mammoth to let her race with them. They added her to the roster and switched to the five-person co-ed category. This proved to be an excellent decision by Team Mammoth once Fabro turned in a new record for the fastest lap time for a female at the 24 Hours of Temecula.

"The first lap went perfectly, as a team we rode the course yesterday and a couple of the guys had done this race last year so they gave the rest of us tips on where we could really push it and where we needed to be cautious," said Fabro. "The ridgeline descent was where you had to know where you had to keep up your momentum, be safe on the descent but be able to push it up the next little pop-up, so that was the key: conservation of momentum."

Fabro lowered the existing record, set last year by Abigail Hippely (Maverick), by 1:55 with a new record time of 56:34. Without letting up, Fabro continued to push hard on the pedals even after her rear derailleur refused to work during lap number four. While cyclocross season is a long way off, Fabro put in some pre season training by running much of the course with her bike slung over her shoulder. Even with the cyclocross effort, Fabro clocked a lap of 1:10:49.

In the end, Team Mammoth outdistanced every other team by one lap. They came, they cycled and they claimed the overall title for 25 laps, or 255 miles with 37,450 feet of climbing divvied up between Fabro, Tom Mazaitis, Richard Price, Jason Senior and Percy Stevens.

Total mileage for the 24 Hours of Temecula measured 8,023 miles with 222.71 vertical miles of climbing.

The Inaugural 2006 Granny Gear 24-hour National Points Series travels next to the 24 Hours of Conyers on May 20-21 in Conyers, Ga. near Atlanta. Next stop is the second annual 24 Hours of Big Bear, the go-to 24-hour race at the heart of it all in northern West Virginia. Then comes the first ever 24 Hours of Killington on July 22-23. Next up is the first annual 24 Hours of Landahl on September 16-17. The 12th Annual 24 Hours of Moab finishes off what looks to be Granny Gear's most thrilling season ever on October 14-15.

Results

Overall                                     laps  time
 
1 Mammoth                                   25  24.28.39
2 Fully Rigid All Night Long                24  24.12.48
3 Gluten Free Riders                        24  24.40.54
4 Uphill Endos                              24  24.52.31
5 Miss Behavin' and the 4 Players           23  24.04.49
6 Griffonaters                              23  24.57.12
7 The Manic Monkey Riders                   22  24.22.14
8 Bikeman.com - Supersized!                 22  24.26.47
9 StinkingWeasels.com                       21  23.53.26
10 FELT Adventure Racing Co-Eds             21  24.04.34
11 Incycle                                  21  24.23.06
12 The Awesomes                             21  24.47.38
13 Nat Ross                                 20  24.06.11
14 Most Awesome Wacky Race Team             20  24.09.45
15 Demo Brothers E.R.T                      20  24.23.01
16 Jax Force One                            20  24.25.32
17 Tiare                                    20  24.31.05
18 Napoleon & Pedro                         19  22.24.29
19 Better Late Than Never                   19  23.37.07
20 Minimum Velocity                         19  24.01.40
21 The Flying Merkins                       19  24.19.05
22 Santa Fe Bear Pair/Bike & Sport          19  24.36.37
23 Callaway Golf                            18  24.18.39
24 Nitrous Rocket Snails                    17  23.21.44
25 SCAR-BAR                                 17  23.41.57
26 Big Nasty                                17  24.26.52
27 Huffy                                    16  21.22.57
28 Generic Bicycle Team                     16  21.38.44
29 The Justice League                       16  23.02.37
30 St. Augustine High School Saintsmen      16  24.18.57
31 GBI Tactics                              16  24.40.09
32 Cracker Packers                          15  25.14.34
33 Wounded but Willing                      14  23.17.36
34 Motor Psycho                             14  24.23.25
35 NiteRider/Trek San Diego                 13  22.15.11
36 Dale Blankenship                         13  23.33.19
37 Terri M. Wahlberg                        13  24.03.43
38 Hollywood Pro Bicycles                   13  24.28.08
39 THE FAT TIRED BOYZ                       13  24.43.32
40 Jacques Boutet                           12  24.31.00
41 Erik Graab                               11  23.02.03
42 Christi R. Hall                          11  24.09.40
43 Hollywood Pro Bicycles' Slackers         10  24.29.20
44 Maverick                                  9   9.29.51
45 13th Step                                 9   9.56.34

By category

M Solo

1 Nat Ross                                  20  24.06.11
2 Dale Blankenship                          13  23.33.19
3 Jacques Boutet                            12  24.31.00
4 Erik Graab                                11  23.02.03

W Solo

1 Terri M. Wahlberg                         13  24.03.43
2 Christi R. Hall                           11  24.09.40

1X1

1 Fully Rigid All Night Long                24  24.12.48

5 Coed

1 Mammoth                                   25  24.28.39
2 Miss Behavin' and the 4 Players           23  24.04.49
3 Griffonaters                              23  24.57.12
4 FELT Adventure Racing Co-Eds              21  24.04.34
5 The Awesomes                              21  24.47.38
6 Callaway Golf                             18  24.18.39
7 Nitrous Rocket Snails                     17  23.21.44
8 Motor Psycho                              14  24.23.25
9 NiteRider/Trek San Diego                  13  22.15.11
10 Hollywood Pro Bicycles                   13  24.28.08
11 13th Step                                 9  9.56.34

Duo Pro

1 Demo Brothers E.R.T                       20  24.23.01
2 Santa Fe Bear Pair/Bike & Sport           19  24.36.37
3 Generic Bicycle Team                      16  21.38.44
4 Maverick                                   9  9.29.51

J Fun

1 Most Awesome Wacky Race Team              20  24.09.45
2 Jax Force One                             20  24.25.32
3 The Flying Merkins                        19  24.19.05
4 Huffy                                     16  21.22.57
5 The Justice League                        16  23.02.37
6 Hollywood Pro Bicycles' Slackers          10  24.29.20

M Jr

1 St. Augustine High School Saintsmen       16  24.18.57

M Spt

1 Gluten Free Riders                        24  24.40.54
2 Uphill Endos                              24  24.52.31
3 The Manic Monkey Riders                   22  24.22.14
4 Bikeman.com - Supersized!                 22  24.26.47
5 StinkingWeasels.com                       21  23.53.26
6 Incycle                                   21  24.23.06
7 Tiare                                     20  24.31.05
8 Napoleon & Pedro                          19  22.24.29
9 Better Late Than Never                    19  23.37.07
10 Minimum Velocity                         19  24.01.40
11 SCAR-BAR                                 17  23.41.57
12 Big Nasty                                17  24.26.52
13 GBI Tactics                              16  24.40.09
14 Cracker Packers                          15  25.14.34

M Vet

1 Wounded but Willing                       14  23.17.36
2 THE FAT TIRED BOYZ                        13  24.43.32