24 Hours of Great Glen, 22 hours of Rain

The story at this year's 24 Hours of Great Glen mountain bike race was mud, rain and how to survive the extreme conditions. After 24 hours of grueling and highly competitive mountain bike racing made even more difficult by the weather, the 8th Annual 24 Hours of Great Glen presented by RSN is over -- and the overall winner was decided by a margin of just 11 minutes. A field of 132 teams made up of 401 riders came to Great Glen Trails Outdoor Center in Pinkham Notch. The event was held over the weekend as 5 .7 inches of rain fell between 12:45 p.m. Saturday and 6 a.m. Sunday. When the cannon fired to signal the start of the race at noon on Saturday, skies were sunny in Pinkham Notch and temperatures were in the 80's. Riders were thrilled at what seemed to be great conditions for the race. It seemed the forecasters prediction that the recent weather system would bring more rain was wrong. Then, about three quarters of the way through the first of the 8-mile laps, the rain started to fall steadily and relentlessly. With few breaks, heavy rain fell for the next 22 hours. "I checked the rain gauge at the Mt. Washington Auto Road (Sunday) morning, and was amazed to see 5.7 inches had fallen", said Howie Wemyss, General Manager of the Great Glen Trails Outdoor Center and partner Company the Mt. Washington Auto Road. "We had less than an hour of sunshine at the start of the race and just over an hour of sun to finish the race. Saying conditions were difficult is an understatement." By nightfall, much of the course had been turned to mud. After midnight, new streams and vast areas of water were forming throughout the carriage roads and trails that make up trail system at Great Glen. Most of the single track became unridable and forced racers to walk through mud that in places reached above their ankles. "It was grueling at 4 a.m.," said Intervale's Nancy Clark, part of Team Mid-life Crisis, a five person Adult Open co-ed team. "But, it was totally exhilarating. This was our first year and we are coming back!" When asked why, Clark replied "Mid-life crisis -- just to prove we can."For one rider, the conditions were particularly unique. Before this race, Mark Avery, of Fountain Hills Arizona, had never ridden a bike in the rain. "Never rode through a puddle," he explained. Never rode through a puddle? "Never. Not in 15 years of riding. I ride in the desert, man. This is more rain than I see in three years. This is the toughest riding I've ever experienced. Those wet roots are slippery, too!" All classes competed with the goal of completing the most laps in 24 hours. Classes ranged from five person mixed gender teams and 4 person male or female teams to the Duo and Solo classes, the latter of which was considered by some to be the most grueling in the sport.When the cannon fired to signal the end of the race at noon on Sunday, the overall winner was Team Operation Enduring Sufferation competing in the Men's Expert Class, with four riders from Medford, Massachusetts taking the overall crown with 25 laps. The winning riders, Tom Hooper, Jerome Hughes, Jason Hughes, and Thom Parker ranged in age from 23 to 29. They finished just 11 minutes ahead of team Gear Works of Fitchburg Massachusetts. Going into the final lap these teams were just two minute apart after 23 hours of racing. Randy Descarreaux, the rider on Team Gear Works last lap explained what happened, "I bonked, I hit the wall." The winner in the Men's Sport Class was Team Broken Spoke from Weare, with 22 laps. The Genesse Screamers of Brookline, Mass., won the Men's Beginner Class with 13 laps, MTB Maniacs from Fryeburg, won the Men's Junior Class with 20 laps, Men's Pair was won by team Dried Plums/Orbitz of Avery, Mass., with 21 laps. Team Old Men of the Landsharks from Littleton, won men's Masters with 18 laps. Red Jersey Ruckos from Intervale, won the Women's Sport Class with 18 laps. Women's Pair was won by 2 Chicks from Mystic with eight laps and Loose Landsharks from Littleton, won the Adult Open Co-Ed Class with 23 laps. Team Sofa King of Lynn, Mass., won the Cruiser Class with 14 laps. Team CTM from Sunderland, Mass., with eight laps, won the Double Single Class, a new mixed pair class that requires the bike to have only one speed. In the Solo classes, the Krankin Landshark, Greg Jankaitis of Waterford, Vermont, won the Men's Solo with 17 laps and edged out second place Francis Blesso by just 37 minutes. Erin Duggan, of Avon, Conn., with the team name of Crazy Big Fat Chick won the Women's Solo class with 13 laps. Duggan faced disqualification in the middle of the race when her mandatory headlamp went dead, but a fellow competitor lent her a spare and she went on to win her class. Hundreds of spectators lined the bottom of "the Plunge," a steep technical downhill portion of the course, and the most popular viewing area. As the rain turned the Plunge into mud, rider found it nearly impossible to ride and took to sliding down to the bottom of the slope. RSN TV-16 of North Conway, New Hampshire returned as the Presenting Sponsor of the event and is producing a full-length video of the event that all participants will receive. RSN's presence was felt throughout the race as their videography team braved the intense conditions and filmed the entire 24 hours of the event. This filming was done while the crew was competing in the race. Asked for a comment on his experience during the race, RSN's Sven Cole simply replied "Epic." Other sponsors include Cannondale, Craft Clothing, Salomon, Michelin, Sunbelt USA, and Currier RV Center of Gorham. Cannondale donated a $2400 Scalpel full suspension mountain bike that was won by one Solo rider Todd Peterson of Manville, NJ, at an 8 p.m. random raffle on Saturday night. Another sponsor was the Red Jersey Cyclery of Bartlett. The Red Jersey has been a part of the event since its inception in 1995 and once again provided free 24-hour technical support. The crew at the Red Jersey estimated they worked on over 250 bikes throughout the weekend. Raffle prizes from the shop were also donated to the event. The National Guard provided drinking water and was present throughout the event. The Gorham Parent Boosters were on hand to cook up the third annual "Fried at Five" breakfast with all proceeds used for supporting local school sports and activities. Currier RV provided a camper for the club to use for the event as well a two ATV's for course setup and medical response. The only injuries reported were a broken nose sustained in a crash and one rider sprained an ankle. Gorham Emergency Medical Services was also on hand for the event.