Everybody was chasing Sun Valley's Lars-Erik Johnson during the Knobby Tire Series Epic Soldier Mountain fat tire bike race sponsored by Balance Bar June 24 north of Fairfield.
Johnson (2.16:29) won the Pro/Semi-Pro Men's class by two-and-a-half minutes on the 23.7-mile course. Pro Women's winner was Mary Ann Ozier of Boise (2.40:00).
The cross-country mountain bike race was a qualifier for NORBA National Championships.
Locals Matt Morell, Dave Bell and Kathy Morell won their classes at Soldier, and Sam Adicoff finished second in Beginner Men 40-49.
Coming up on the 2006 Knobby Tires Series schedule is the 22nd annual Intermountain Orthopaedics White Knob Challenge Saturday, Aug. 5 starting at high noon in Mackay. The longest-running mountain bike race in the Northwest features a nine-mile ascent with 2,300 feet of elevation gain, followed by a rip-roaring descent.
Then, there's the Tamarack Twister NORBA State Championships cross-country race Saturday, Aug. 19 at Tamarack Resort south of McCall. Top pros and expert men will run 30 miles and the leading expert women/sport men 22.5 miles.
Here are results from Soldier Mountain for experts/pros (23.7 miles) and sports (20):
Pro/Semi-Pro Men: 1—Lars-Erik Johnson 2.16:29. 2—Todd Smith 2.19:06. 3—Jon Gould 2.24:44. 4—Darren Lightfield 2.32:26. 5—Mike McDonald 2.55:58.
Pro Women: 1—Mary Ann Ozier 2.40:00. 2—Stacey Scanlan 2.42:24. 3—Lorien Lightfield 2.48:04. 4—Chris Costa 2.53:24. 5—Sarah Barber 3.00:17.
Expert Men 19-29: 1—Brian Rees 2.39:24. 2—Adam Snyder 2.44:15. 3—Jon Costa 2.46:13. 4—Jason Shueh 3.01:11.
Expert Men 30-39: 1—Matt Morell 2.42:05. 2—Bill Reed 2.49:46.
Expert Men 50-59: 1—Dave Bell 2.54:44.
Expert Women 30-39: 1—Monique Simone 3.05:21.
Expert Single Speed A: 1—Mike Herlinger 2.45:39. 2—Steve Baker 2.54:44. 3—James Moores 3.14:55.
Junior Sport Boys 15-16: 1—Keaton Keene 1.58:45. 2—Dylan Jones 1.59:32. 3—Riley Black 2.11:06. 4—Ben Moore 2.14:46. 5—Conner Haunald 2.15:20. 6—Austin Edwards 2.16:25. 7—Henry Ross 2.17:10. 8—Brady Adams 2.23:44. 9—Willie Adicoff 2.30:24.
Sport Women 30-39: 1—Pam Brown 2.34:32.
Sport Women 40-49: 1—Kathy Morell 2.06:42. 2—Kendra Smith 2.42:05.
Sport Women 50-59: 1—Elizabeth Cody 2.35:52.
Sport Men 19-29: 1—Steve Quelette 1.56:57. 2—Jesse Craven 2.11:15. 3—Mike Tveter 2.12:36.
Sport Men 30-39: 1—Nick Morley 1.58:59. 2—Todd Wong 1.59:45. 3—Erik Knudsen 2.00:01. 4—Tyson Ekstrom 2.00:50. 5—Mike Harvey 2.02:12. 6—James Liddle 2.04:58. 7—Hal Miller 2.12:58. 8—Aaron Tabor 2.21:07.
Sport Men 40-49: 1—Chuck Keene 1.55:42. 2—Mike Thornton 2.01:22. 3—Mike Bading 2.02:18. 4—Tim Inch 2.05:38. 5—Richard Fahey 2.10:21. 6—Danny Kelly 2.11:42. 7—Cahill Jones 2.12:38. 8—Chris Haunald 2.12:55. 9—Steve Rogers 2.18:56. 10—Joe Mantante 2.25:56.
Sport Men 50-59: 1—Mark Klinger 1.54:19. 2—Jay Camp 1.57:45. 3—Jack Heagy 2.10:12. 4—John Sparks 2.11:59. 5—Larry Rupe 2.13:47. 6—Clyde Cody 2.15:14. 7—Mark Kiekbusch 2.56:57.
Sport Single Speed B: 1—Jeremy Bergquist 1.54:40. 2—Alan Krishnek 2.03:28.
Sport Clydesdale A: 1—Charles Mills 1.45:30. 2—Chris Freeman 2.02:22. 3—Bill Buckland 2.05:00. 4—Bob Hoffman 2.18:22.
