Galena Grinder mountain bike race competitors got well acquainted with two of the best fat tire U.S. racers Saturday.
They just didn't see them. Women's 45-mile marathon winner Monique Pua Mata and men's marathon winner Manuel Prado were way, way ahead of the rest of the field on the Galena Lodge trails.
Pua Mata, 31, a dynamo originally from Hawaii, and Prado, 30, a former farm worker from Costa Rica, entered the Galena Grinder atop the season standings of the 2011 USA Cycling Professional Mountain Bike Ultra Endurance Tour (Pro UET). And they left Ketchum the same way.
Both riding for Team Sho-Air out of southern California, Prado and Pua Mata finished 1-2 just two minutes and 26 seconds apart in Saturday's Galena Grinder marathon. They covered the two-lap, 22.5-mile course way ahead of the field.
Pua Mata (3.46:15) finished 41:09 ahead of the next fastest woman, Jana Repulski (4.27:24). And Prado (3.43:49) was nearly four minutes faster than Jonny Hintze (3.47:44) during the one-day mountain bike race that is also named the Whit Henry Memorial.
"They were super nice people, both of them, and we were happy to have them here," said Galena Grinder organizer Marc Driver.
Pua Mata and Prado have made steady yet unconventional rises in the sport, both coming to the U.S. mainland in the last nine years and making names for themselves through determination and drive.
Moving to southern California in 2002, Pua Mata now holds six national marathon and 24-Hour national mountain bike titles. She was the top American at the UCI Mountain Bike Marathon World Championships June 26 in Montebelluna, Italy—finishing the 98.3-kilometer (61-mile) course in 4.32:24 about 12 minutes behind Annika Langvad of Denmark.
She is such a natural endurance athlete, one determined to someday finish the Ironman Triathlon World Championship in her native Hawaii, that Pua Mata last Nov. 7 registered on a whim at the last minute for the Silverman Full 140.6-mile Triathlon at Lake Henderson, Nev. She won the women's class in 11.32:35 for 11th place overall.
Prado went from riding BMX bikes in his native Costa Rica to showing up in San Francisco with a little cash in his pocket, determined to be the best in his sport. He became the No. 1 amateur rider in the U.S. in 2007 and has been a Pro-Elite racer since, at one point finishing third behind Lance Armstrong in the prestigious Leadville 100 in Colorado.
"Life is hard, and if you want something you need to get out there and get it," Prado has said. He is 5-7 and 123 pounds with 3.8% body fat, and after Saturday's Grinder he has become the leading Pro UET man.
This is the first year the Galena Grinder has been a featured stop on the five-event Pro UET Tour.
The first race was at Hot Springs, Ark. March 12. The second event was the Firecracker 54-miler at Breckenridge, Colo. won by Pua Mata July 4. After the Grinder it's the Hampshire 100 Aug. 21 at Greenfield, N.H. and the Fontana Six-Hour finale Aug. 27 at Fontana, Ca.
Besides the rides of Pua Mata and Prado, the Galena Grinder had a number of great achievements, among them:
Professional mountain biker Dave Harrison of Ketchum and Fairfield, riding for ESSeyepro.com, won the 22.5-mile men's cross-country race in 1.53:38. He collected $500 and the Idaho state championship title for a fifth consecutive year. In all, Harrison said he has won the Galena Grinder 14 times starting in 1989;
Single speed professional Dejay Birtch claimed eighth place overall in the 45-miler.
Although the July 23-24 weekend offered plenty of choices in the region for high-level mountain bike competition, Galena Grinder race coordinator Driver was gratified that 160 racers turned out for the local Whit Henry race—61 in the marathon and another 100 in cross country.
Driver said, "I'm very happy with that turnout. It's amazing we have people return to this race every year. They like the course and they like Galena Lodge. I was really excited the race went off so well."
The other two big regional races last weekend were the High Cascades 100-mile mountain bike race at Bend, Ore., which was a National Ultra MTB Endurance Series (NUE) event, and the first-time Missoula (Mont.) cross-country race, which was a stop on the USA Cycling Pro Mountain Bike Cross Country Tour.
Offered at the Grinder was a $2,500 cash payout for the marathon class, all money given by local business and private individuals. Money also went to the cross-country class based on the number of entries.
Driver said this was the 10th anniversary renewal of the current incarnation of the Galena Grinder, a mountain bike race that's been held here for two decades.
Saturday's race was held once again in memory of Whit Henry, a 2001 Wood River High School graduate who died July 2, 2003 in an accident on U.S. 20 between Timmerman Hill and Fairfield. He became a passionate cyclist before his untimely death at 20. Results follow:
MARATHON (45 miles)
Men's Open: 1—Manuel Prado 3.43:49. 2—Jonny Hintze 3.47:44. 3—Brett Nichols 3.49:58. 4—Sam Young 4.06:03. 5—John Reuter 4.18:07. 6—Joe Gallegos 4.23:30. 7—Chris Cook 4.37:34. DNF—Ryon Butterfield.
Women's Open: 1—Monique Pua Mata 3.46:15. 2—Jana Repulski 4.27:24. 3—Rebecca Rusch 4.28:29. 4—Lynn Stott 5.05:18. 5—Muffy Ritz 5.08:10. 6—Amy Chiuchiolo 5.22:53. DNF—India Wysong.
Men 19-29: 1—Andrew Juliano 4.09:25. 2—Jedediah Young 4.48:35. 3—Craig Carlson 4.51:53. 4—Chris Mallory 4.52:00. 5—Charles St. Jeor 5.03:43. 6—David Hoffman 5.17:32. 7—Scott Phelan 5.39:50.
Women 19-29: 1—Sara Schroeder 4.53:50.
Men 30-39: 1—Michael Stemp 4.30:51. 2—Mike Hurley 4.50:28. DNF—Carl Irwin.
Men 40-49: 1—Matt Luhn 4.03:02. 2—Todd Meier 4.13:07. 3—John Tormey 4.35:13. 4—Kyle Rafford 4.44:36. 5—Jody White 4.49:35. 6—Bill Josey 5.00:22. 7—Brad Mitchell 5.08:24. 8—Brian Nogle 5.22:14. 9—Jeff Ford 5.34:27. 10—Tony Buoncristiani 5.35:13. 11—Drew Jordan 5.39:01. DNF—Bill McCann, Jeff Minch, Gary Stott and Doug Kolan.
Women 40-49: 1—Lucy Jordan 5.31:27. DNF—Renee Kline.
Men 50+: 1—Dave Bell 4.39:26. 2—Troy Nichol 4.43:58. 3—Jim Santa 4.47:56. 4—Timothy Elliott 5.33:27. 5—Roger Mankus 5.37:17. DNF—Don Wiseman.
Men Single Speed: 1—Dejay Birtch 4.04:35. 2—Josh Krattiger 4.16:39. 3—Brian Fuller 4.25:20. 4—Cameron Lloyd 4.34:23. 5—Mike Sherman 4.38:58. 6—Matt Furber 4.43:41. 7—Alex Phipps 4.49:34. 8—Scott Grill 4.58:25. 9—William Spiller 5.10:07. 10—Chris Howell 5.11:55.
Women Single Speed: 1—Melissa Liebling 5.19:00.
XC PRO/EXPERT (22.5 MILES)
Pro/Open Cat. 1 Men: 1—Dave Harrison 1.53:38. 2—Brian Rees 2.04:45. 3—Darren Lightfield 2.20:47.
Women Cat. 1 15-18: 1—Maranda Stopol 2.40:56.
Women Cat. 1 19-29: 1—Simone Kastner 2.31:57. 2—Sierra Vandermeer 2.56:28.
Men Cat. 1 30-39: 1—Armando Mireles 1.59:05. 2—Chris Litzinger 2.01:01. 3—Andrew Shaber 2.12:08.
Women Cat. 1 30-39: 1—Mary Brown 2.21:32. 2—Peggy Boggs 2.23:04.
Men Cat. 1 40-49: 1—Andy Luhn 2.35:05.
Women Cat. 1 40-49: 1—Karoline Droege 2.28:52.
Men Cat. 1 50-plus: 1—Matt Morell 2.11:38. 2—Adam Winstral 2.19:29. 3—Mike Kennedy 2.27:24.
Men Single Speed: 1—Don Shepler 2.14:20. 2—Hans Ibold 2.16:46. 3—Ross McAllister 2.19:55.
XC SPORT (17.5 MILES)
Men Open: 1—Luke Pletcher 1.50:45.
Women Cat. 2 13-14: 1—Cheyanne Stopol 1.58:58.
Men Cat. 2 17-18: 1—Erich Kolan 1.38:58. 2—Brandon Wade 2.03:16. 3—Cole Morgan 2.13:24. 4—Jack Steele 2.16:31. 5—Torin Tucker 2.46:13. 6—Andrew Pfeiffer 2.46:15.
Men Cat. 2 19-29: 1—Austin Bourret 1.48:26. 2—Ben Anderson 1.54:24. 3—Jimmy Hague 2.03:50. 4—Sam Elmes 2.12:27. 5—Andrew Wood 2.21:27.
Women Cat. 2 19-29: 1—Ashley McQueen 1.59:28. 2—Abbie Harris 2.36:56. 3—Nicole Campbell 2.40:34.
Men Cat. 2 30-39: 1—Carter Ramsay 1.51:54. 2—Trey Knox 1.53:02. 3—Troy Clark 1.55:37. 4—Trevor Wood 2.01:35. 5—Nick Maynard 2.08:19. 6—Stuart Hoag 2.27:09. 7—Bryan McNamara 2.38:36. 8—Eric Bultez 2.47:11.
Women Cat. 2 30-39: 1—Krista Andersen 2.09:02.
Men Cat. 2 40-49: 1—Brian Price 1.48:12. 2—Lance Levy 1.56:33. 3—Hal Miller 1.59:27. 4—Justin McGee 2.01:10. 5—Will King 2.01:41. 6—Herberth Corrales 2.05:46. 7—Abel Valenova 2.05:52. 8—Peter Wier 2.08:23. 9—Robert Phelps 2.40:58. 10—Eric Lebsack 3.09:46. DNF—David Froshiesar.
Women Cat. 2 40-49: 1—Kisa Francis 2.13:26. 2—Wendy Rector 2.14:50. 3—Renee Shelton 2.24:11. 4—Tory Canfield 2.25:42. 5—Kris Josey 2.34:06.
Men Cat. 2 50-plus: 1—Dan Daigh 1.54:27. 2—Bryan Newberry 2.01:38. 3—Michael Olenick 2.02:47. 4—Dennis Botkin 2.04:18. 5—Daniel Nicholas 2.08:10. 6—Del Pletcher 2.14:43. 7—Douglas Huntley 2.20:39. 8—Craig Phelan 2.46:17. 9—Rob Nichols 2.56:43. 10—Gerald Ricksecker 2.59:42.
XC BEGINNER (10 MILES)
Junior Men 10-and-under: 1—Dylan Fluckiger 1.33:16.
Junior Men 11-12: 1—Cole Urban 1.48:28. 2—John Elliott 1.57:03. 3—Trevor Winstral 2.11:10.
Junior Women 11-12: 1—Marley King 2.05:21.
Junior Men 13-14: 1—Justin Clark 1.14:20. 2—Alec Miller 1.21:22. 3—Jaydon Phelps 1.59:57.
Junior Women 13-14: 1—Kelsey Urban 1.47:16.
Men Cat. 3 19-29: 1—Joseph Stevenson 1.21:26. 2—Clinton Strate 1.27:50.
Women Cat. 3 19-29: 1—Lexie Praggastis 1.23:15. 2—Jessie McDonald 2.03:07.
Men Cat. 3 30-39: 1—Derek Vallejos 1.13:53.
Women Cat. 3 30-39: 1—Vicky Henry 1.52:44.
Men Cat. 3 40-49: 1—Rick Gillespie 1.25:29.
Women Cat. 3 40-49: 1—Gabrielle Rafford 1.34:20. 2—Heather Price 1.40:47. 3—Trini Pullen 1.51:17.
Women Cat. 3 50-plus: 1—Victoria Wiseman 1.30:31.
Trailblazers (ages 5-12): 1—Adam Fluckiger 55:20. 2—Torry Clark 55:40. 3—Marcis Shelton 56:44. 4—Noah Shelton 56:56.
Galena Grinder men’s 45-mile marathon king Manny Prado (3.43:49) was nearly four minutes faster than Jonny Hintze (3.47:44) during Whit Henry Memorial 45-mile marathon Saturday at Galena Lodge. Photo by David N. Seelig
