Craig edges Decker for marathon championship

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It was a day for the locals as Bend residents took stars-and-stripes jerseys in five of the 14 categories at the 2011 USA Cycling Mountain Bike Marathon National Championships. This included the men’s pro race, where Adam Craig (Rabobank-Giant Off-Road Team) edged another Bend resident, Carl Decker (Giant Factory Off-Road Team), by just 12 seconds. It was a different story in the women’s pro race as Pua Mata (Team Sho-Air) rode away from the field to win by more than four minutes.

Craig and Decker rode together for the majority of the race, widening a gap from the rest of the field that ended up being more than 10 minutes at the finish line. The battle for third was taken in a sprint to the line by Sam Schultz (Subaru-Trek), who bested two-time defending champion Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (Subaru-Trek) by just four seconds.

For Craig, it is his third national title of 2011; at the cross country nationals, he won both the all-mountain title and the super D with Decker as runner-up. Craig is also the reigning singlespeed cyclo-cross national champion.

The top woman in this year’s US Pro Ultra Endurance Tour (US Pro UET), Mata handily won the women’s pro title. Kelli Emmett (Giant Factory Off-Road Team) finished second, more than five minutes ahead of two-time defending champ Heather Irmiger (Subaru-Trek).

Age group winners

Partly sunny skies and temperatures in the high 50s to low 60s (degrees Fahrenheit) meant ideal racing weather for the more than 200 competitors. This proved to be a fortunate break for the riders, who had to contend with a tough 52-mile course that offered few places to relax and required an almost constant effort.

Convincing victories highlighted the 19-29 age groups, with Carson Miller (Jelly Belly Presented By Kenda) earning the men’s title and Rose Grant (Sportsman & Ski Haus) taking victory as well as the distinction of being the fastest non-professional female competitor.

Ty Kady won the 30-34 men’s race to claim his third stars-and-stripes jersey of 2011, which include wins in mountain bike cross country and short track earned in Sun Valley, Idaho, this past July. Benjamin Thompson rode to victory in the men’s 35-39 race, while Lisa Curry (Gallatin Alpine Sports/Intrinsik Architecture Cycling Team) won the women’s 30-39 age group.

In the largest field of the event, Dario Fredrick (Whole Athlete-Specialized) bested 45 riders to become the new men’s 40-49 champion. Erika Krumpelman (Velo Bella) rode to the title in the women’s 40-49 race.

Scott Seaton won one of the closer masters races of the day, taking the men’s 50-59 victory by less than a minute. On the women’s side of that age group, Muffy Ritz (Mud Honey Cycling) took the top podium spot.

The only 2010 champion to successfully defend his title, Dwight Hibdon (Mad Dog Cycles Race Team) rode to his second straight men’s 60+ stars-and-stripes jersey.

Cary Smith earned his second singlespeed national championship of the year, adding to his cross country win in July. Alice Drobna donned the stars-and-stripes in the singlespeed women’s category.