Courtesy Chad Grenier, 24 Hours of Adrenalin

Posted Sept. 26, 2001 -- Sunny skies and even brighter mountain bike stars provided plenty to cheer about the 2001 World Solo 24 Hours of Adrenalin Championships. The Sept. 22-23 race sent competitors on a 10.30-mile shaded loop in Idyllwild, Calif.

After a one minute of silence to respect the victims of the September 11 American tragedy, races took off running for the 0.3-mile Lemans start. The field included the likes of Tinker Juarez, Rishi Grewal, Chris Eatough, Mary Grigson and Katie Lindquist.

In the men's race, Chris Eatough (Great Britain; TREK/Volkswagen) was the first to complete the Lemans start followed by Rishi Grewal (Carbondale, Colo.; Klein) and Tinker Juarez (Downey, Calif.; Volvo/Cannondale). On the prologue lap, Juarez moved ahead, passing Grewal and Eatough. Juarez was three minutes up by the second checkpoint, but a flat tire pushed him back to third.

By the fourth lap, things started to look like they were about to change. Juarez was out front. Grewal was starting to bonk and a slow lap put him in third by almost 20 minutes. Eatough left the pit areas approximately three minutes behind Juarez, however, he was the first to come in and following two minutes behind was Juarez. Eatough's display of toughness left Juarez disheartened. He came in from his lap, got off his bike, sat in his chair and started talking with his pit crew. He didn�t get up for the next 45 minutes, while Eatough finished another lap. What was happening? Tinker just fell one lap behind, but he did not seem concerned. To everyone's surprise, he dropped out of the race.

By 6 p.m., the temperatures fell to a comfortable 79 degrees. Eatough appeared to be falling into his own groove and now had a slight lead, taking some of the pressure off. Grewal appeared to be getting his game plan back together and pressed on. But it was 8 p.m. when Grewal came in exhausted and realized that it was time to stop. Eatough continued to press on while other competitors emerged, such as local James Dover, who had now eaten away Eatough's lead to 20 minutes. Marcel Knaus of Switzerland was 30 minutes behind James just nine hours into this 24-hour race. The race was not over yet!

As morning broke, it was apparent that Eatough was having trouble, and second-place 43-year-old Dover was eating away at Eatough�s lead. Dover attacked, closing the gap to 10 minutes on the last lap. Eatough, in turn, responded like a true champion and held onto his lead, winning by 10 minutes, his smallest margin to date.

For his efforts, Eatough earned $1,800 and a set of Mavic CrossRoc UST Tubeless wheels. Dover earned $1,100, while third place went to Knaus. American Mark Hendershot took fourth and fifth place and top Canadian male was Tom Zidek of Canmore, Alberta. U.S. rider Steve Fassbinder finished eighth, riding an Independent Fabrication single-speed.

In the women's field Cristina Begy (Denver; Independent Fabrication) was the first solo woman to complete the Lemans start and prologue lap. She was followed by Australia's Mary Grigson (Subaru/Gary Fisher) and Katie Lindquist (Plymouth, Minn.; Moots). Grigson came off the first lap in the lead.

Grigson continued to lead the women's field, while the second through fifth jockeyed for position. By 9 p.m., Grigson had a one-hour, 15-minute lead. She was going to be tough to catch. Lindquist held third behind Begy for the first five hours before Canada's Monica Nelson pulled into third and pushed ahead. Lindquist never let more than 20 minutes separate them, which would prove to be key as Lindquist moved back into third place at approximately 4 a.m. Sunday, ahead of Nelson. By 8 a.m., the pace that Begy was holding while trying to catch Grigson had worn her out and a long break gave Lindquist the opportunity to attack and move into second place.

Grigson was crowned the new World Solo 24 Hours of Adrenalin champion and took home $1,800 and a set of Mavic CrossRoc UST Tubeless wheels. Begy made another push, and by the last lap Lindquist and Begy were a mere six minutes apart. Lindquist continued to give all she had, finishing second, 14 minutes ahead of Begy. Nelson, the top Canadian woman, came in fourth.

It is usually said that a 24-hour solo race is won and lost in the dark hours of midnight to morning, when competitors are mentally and physically fatigued. For this event, it was the fast pace at the start during extreme temperatures that turned out to be the major factor.

For more information on the World Solo 24 Hours of Adrenalin� Championships visit the "Current News" and "Results" section at www.24hoursofadrenalin.com.