40°
Twenty-four hours, 72 teams, 314 riders, 1,040 laps – 13,520 miles! That’s the equivalent of driving from New York City to Los Angeles five and a half times!
Seven Springs once again demonstrated its commitment to providing memorable events with is 10th annual 24-Hour Champion Challenge, September 5 – 6, 2009. This mountain biking event combines recreational fun and a unique challenging adventure, while creating good-natured competition for teams of friends, co-workers and individual racers who compete for prizes and glory.
The goal of the Champion Challenge is to complete as many laps as possible on the course in 24 hours on a rocky, technical, rolling course that measured just under 13 miles in length. In previous years, the course was 12 miles in length. Competitors can race as a part of a team or on their own. There were five classes for the race: the five-person co-ed, the four-person division, the corporate division, the co-ed division and the solo division.
At the riders’ meeting before the race began, you could feel the electricity as the competitors excitedly strategized, bragged and placed bets on themselves and their teams. Right at 12 p.m., the race began with the quickest team members racing on foot to their bikes in a LeMans-style start. And they were off!
The weather couldn’t have been better as the sunshine and blue skies lead to an awe-inspiring sunset that could only be seen atop the Laurel Highlands. The evening was brisk, but the riders survived and even savored the chill as they biked across the mountain with the headlights shining like beacons in the night. Sunday morning’s sunrise brought the teams a second wind as they knew the race was nearly completed leading the competitors to push themselves even more.
As high noon drew near, the pressure was on and the race drew to a close with several riders pushing into their final lap at minutes before 12 p.m. In the end, Dirty Harry’s Bicycles took first place overall with 21 laps in 24 hours, 43 minutes and 33 seconds. Lupine Lights came in a close second just minutes behind them.
A complete list of winners and their times can be found online here.
Seven Springs crowned the winning teams with brightly colored jerseys, medals and plenty of great swag. As the exhausted riders dragged themselves to their vehicles and campsites, the buzz about retaliating and claiming victory next year was tangible.
Stay tuned to 7springs.com and the Priority Seven Email Club for more information about next year’s race, which will be scheduled soon.
