Plews Takes Kona 24 Hours In The Old Pueblo

2008 OBRA mountain bike champion Evan Plews (Capitol Subaru Cycling) won Arizona's 10th Annual KONA 24 Hours in the Old Pueblo Feb. 14-15 in his first attempt at a 24-hour solo race.

Plews finished ahead of Britain's Ian Leitch and legendary MTB star Tinker Juarez, who won in 2006 and 2007. The race began at noon on Saturday and ended 24 hours later. The Oregon pro covered 18 laps during the race, which took place about 20 miles north of Tucson. Each lap covered about 16 miles and offered 1,200 feet of elevation gain.

"My plan was to maintain my 100 mile pace for the entire 24 hours," Plews reported via e-mail. "It worked well, and soon I had caught and passed the early leader, Tinker Juarez, and was riding alone in the lead as darkness approached. At 11:11 a.m. I lapped Tinker and decided that it was time to rest. We had a little recovery meal, pulled some cactus spines out of my legs (overzealous cornering!), and crossed the finish line victorious at 12:01 pm."

Celebrating a decade of mountain biking in the Sonoran Desert, the Kona Bikes 24 Hours in the Old Pueblo is one of the largest 24 Hour events in North America, hosting more than 3,000 participants, volunteers and spectators throughout the three-day Presidents Day weekend.

Plews won OBRA's 2008 Bar points for the mountain bike and was second in Overall points. Portland's Erik Tonkin (Kona) also made his 24-hour-solo debut but did not finish the race, dropping out around 7:30 a.m. after completing 10 laps.

Oregon's Twin Towers duo of Barry Wicks and Ryan Trebon paired up with Kona teammates Matthew Slaven and Chris Sneddon for the 4-Man race, where they finished second to team Adrenaline's Jeff Herrera, Sam Schultz, Andy Schultz and Chris Suter.

MEN'S SOLO RESULTS
1. Evan Plews @ 18 laps
2. Ian Leitch
3. David Tinker Juarez
4. Steven Yore
5. Todd Carpenter
6. Chuck Wheeler
7. Gattis Tyler
8. Dominic Laroche
9. Zachary Stanford
10. Sean Mcdevitt

(Photos courtesy of Evan Plews).

KONA Factory Team Packs Usual Oregon Punch

The Kona Factory Racing Team will feature familiar Oregon faces on its 2009 MTB cross country line up.

Bend's Ryan Trebon (pictured here at the USGP Portland Cup in December) will return, along with fellow Oregon "Twin Tower" Barry Wicks and Portland homeboy Erik Tonkin, who will ride his ninth season with the team.

Filling out the roster are Canadian Wendy Simms, who is also returning from 2008's team. Downhiller Joe Smith has been added for this season.

Trebon, nicknamed "Tree Farm" because of his 6'5" length, rode away from the nation's top 'crossers at the last race of the U.S. Gran Prix of Cyclocross, which finished on a slippery, rain-slogged PIR course. He also won the USA Cycling National Cyclocross Championship in Kansas City and the overall North American Cyclocross Trophy series. Trebon is schedule to compete at several stops on the Kenda U.S. Cup MTB Series, as well as starting the Downieville Classic, Kona's 24 Hours in the Old Pueblo and a several World Cup mountain bike events.

Wicks will focus on World Cup cross country races. He also plans to return to the BC Bike Race to defend his title along with teammate Kris Sneddon. He'll race at the Old Pueblo as well.

Tonkin will complete in several Kenda U.S. Cup Series races and will attempt his first solo 24-hour race at Old Pueblo.

Wendy Simms (pictured at the USGP Portland Cup in December), has won four Canadian national cyclocross titles. She plans to focus on multi-stage events and will look to defend her BC Bike Race title with husband Norman Thibault.