Ketchum's Michael Shane, 38, riding for Club Ride Apparel, captured the Men's Singlespeed title of the third annual Park City Point to Point (PCP2P) endurance mountain bike race Sept. 3 in Utah.
Shane finished the challenging 78-mile course, featuring 90% singletrack, with a time of eight hours, 6:52 minutes for 24th place. There were 310 starters and 252 finishers in the $10,000 Kenda National Ultra Endurance Race (NUE) event.
One of eight Wood River Valley finishers in the field, Shane tipped his hat to "The Pfluginator," Gerry Pflug, the 2011 NUE singlespeed series leader who skipped PCP2P to compete and win his class at 7.58:24 in the Shenandoah Mountain 100 mountain bike race Sept. 4 in Virginia.
"Gerry, I would like to say thanks for not coming so I finally get to win one!" said Shane to reporter Ryan O'Dell of cyclingnews.com.
Overall winners of the PCP2P were Alex Grant, 30, of the Cannondale Factory Team in 6.48:59 and 33rd-overall Amanda Carey in a strong women's field at 8.17:33.
Local Kyle Rafford, 43, of Club Ride Apparel was 75th overall and seventh in Men's 40-49 in 8.59:41.
PCP2P finisher Rafford said, "The PCPTP was a true mountain bike course with everything from buffed-out singletrack to rock and root-infested trails that raised havoc on the racers' bikes. It was an 80-mile point-to-point that took riders up and down three different mountain resorts (Deer Valley, Park City, Canyons) and had 70-plus miles of singletrack.
"The course topped out at 9,300 feet and consisted of over 14,000 feet of climbing. The temperature at race start was a cool 34 degrees but by midday had warmed up considerably, reaching the low 80s. Alex Grant, the winner and two-time defending champion, called it the hardest course he has ever raced. Not too shabby coming from a guy that just finished third at the Leadville Trail 100."
Hailey's Sara Schroeder won the Women's 35-and-under class and three-time Leadville Trail 100 queen Rebecca Rusch of Ketchum placed fourth among all women. Rusch told cyclingnews.com, "It's exciting to see the women's field getting deeper and deeper."
Other local finishers:
43—Greg Martin, 38, Club Ride Apparel, 5th Men's Singlespeed, 8.28:48. 52—Rebecca Rusch, 43, Specialized, 4th Open Women, 8.37:24. 127—Bill Josey, 46, 17th Men's 40-49, 9.54:16. 132—Sara Schroeder, Mud Honey, 12th woman overall, 1st Female 35-under, 9.59:34. 194—Bruce Rogers, 52, Design Metro, 12th Men's 50-plus, 10.59:21. 205—Joel Zellers, 45, Sun Valley Road & Dirt, 40th Men's 40-49, 11.11:18.
