Six times the challenge in new US endurance series

By Steve Medcroft

Five 100-mile mountain-bike race promoters announced the formation of a U.S. ultra-endurance national series this week. Comprised of the Mohican 100 (Ohio), the Lumberjack 100 (Michigan), the Breckenridge 100 (CO), the Wilderness 101 (PA), the Endurance 100 (Utah) and the Shenandoah Mountain 100 (Virginia), the National MTB Ultra Endurance Series runs from June 3rd to September 3rd of 2006 and will be awarding National Series Championships in Open Men, Open Women, Singlespeed and Masters 50-plus categories. As presenting media partner to the series, Cyclingnews will be providing reports and results from each race.

Formed, promoters say, to fill the void in national-level competition for ultra-endurance athletes, contenders for the series will face some of the most challenging and popular 100-mile courses in the country. "Ultra endurance needs to be represented on the national stage,” says Ryan O’Dell, promoter of the Mohican 100, the first race in the series. “And although most of the participants in these events aren't trying to win but simply to finish, there is a whole class of athletes - like Garth Prosser, Jeremiah Bishop, Chris Eatough, Tinker Juarez and Mark Hendershot among others - who have a unique talent to push themselves over greater distances. They deserve a national series as a way to recognize their talent."