August 6, 2007 - Boise, ID; New Zealand pro-elite mountain biker, Stuart Houltham, Bike New Zealand, broke the course record of the 45 mile marathon course at Galena Lodge in Sun Valley on July 28th. “My legs just felt great, and I knew if I could keep the gap I had after the first half, the race would be mine” stated Houltham after the race. He shattered the previous course record with a time of 3:36:35. The top three men were Houltham, Evan Plews of Team MotionBased, and Travis Brown of Durango, CO.
Local Boise pro, Lynn Stott, Tamarack Resort, won the pro-elite women’s race with a spectacular time of 4:37:15. The top three women were Lynn Stott, Tamarack Resort, Mary Ann Ozier of Boise, Tamarack Resort, and India Wysong of Sun Valley, Mudd Honey’s.
Several days of rain set the course up perfectly as the dust completely settled and the trails became fast and tacky. The weather was sunny and clear to start the Galena Grinder early Saturday morning. This course has been in existence for many years and is notorious for it’s high altitude climbing, fast technical descents, and outrageous views of Ketchum, Baldy, and the Sawtooth Mountains. Ned Overend and John Tomac duked it out at the 1988 NORBA National race at Galena, where Tomac edged out Overend. The start/finish sits at 7,000 feet elevation. The 2007 course consisted of two laps, each one comprised of 3,200’ feet of elevation gain. It’s not a course for sissies. This race was part of the Knobby Tire Mountain Bike Series, Boise Idaho.
The Knobby Tire Series is Idaho’s State Championship Cross Country, Downhill, and Marathon Series. The series is generously sponsored by SunCor Idaho, Larry Miller Subaru, Jytte, Balance Bar, Hammer Nutrition, CamelBak, Native Eyewear, DeFeet, Big Sky Brewing, and Chrome.
For additional information, you can go to www.knobbytireseries.com, or contact Cynthia Gibson at Cynthia@knobbytireseries.com.
For complete race results, go to the “2007 RACE RESULTS” page of the www.knobbytireseries.com.
