Trek/VW team manager Zack Vestal sent along this recap of the 2007 24 Hours of Moab.




24 Hours of Moab 2007 was a resurrection of the event, following disasterous weather conditions in 2006.  the weather accomodated 400+ teams and 60+ solo riders by steering a cold front to the north and east, leaving Moab dry, cool, and breezy.  Dust and dry were the order of the day, leaving teams and riders to focus on the fundamentals of the race.

Chris Eatough, our rider, was calm and prepared in the days leading up, and this level-headed approach carried through right up to the start.  Mechanic Steve Borkoski prepped 2 identical Top Fuel full-suspension bikes, with matching new 2008 blue SID forks.  Bontrager Revolt Super-X 2.2 Tubeless tires were chosen, to combat the deeps sand and reduce the potential for punctures on the short, sharp rocky sections.  Chris ran 85 psi in the SID fork, and 75 psi in Monarch rear shocks, aiming for a comfortable setup in the rough.

The course was classic Moab, with alternating sections of hardpack dirt, deep sandy wallows, and slickrock outcrops.  In nearly all of the rocky sections, multiple lines lensed out from the main trail, making line selection a minor challenge in some places!  All riders commented on the sand, noting it was sandier than in years, rendering some sections completely unrideable.

Chris came out of the opening LeMans-style start in about 40th place, and managed to work his way up to 6th or so overall by the end of the first lap.  Settleing into his routine of ultra efficient pit stops and a comfortable pace, he was in the Solo lead after lap 2 and never looked back.  He steadily gained 5-10 minutes per lap on chaser Josh Tostado.  Perrenial contender Ernesto Marenchin broke a chain on the first lap, and never recovered from the mishap, eventually abandoning around 11pm.  Josh suddenly dropped out of the top 5 around 12am and similarly pulled the plug in the early morning.  Chris managed to maintain a comfortable pace until around 3am, when he started taking longer breaks, needing rest, food, and warm clothing to combat the 40 degree nightime temps.  However, even these stops never lasted more than 10 minutes as Chris motivated through fatigue and soreness to lap 2nd place by daybreak.  Considering the laps were now taking 1:40 (as opposed to 1:15 near the start), this was a significant lead! 

By 9:30am, Chris had completed 14 laps, and the next rider down had only just begun a 12th lap.  It remained to be seen if the 2nd place rider, Travis Macy, could complete 2 full laps before the 12 noon cutoff, and therefore challenge Chris for the lead at 14 laps.  We on the crew watched and waited for Travis to roll through, completing his 13th lap and beginning his 14th.  At around 11am he came through, and begun a 14th lap, but we knew there was no way he'd manage to start a 15th lap before the cutoff.

Chris had won!  He walked into the timing tent around 11am, scanned his RFID badge for the last time, and logged out of the race as the winner, with 14 laps by 11am.  Travis ended up with 14 laps by 12:41pm, an amazing result for an otherwise unhearalded rider.

Chris of course was exhausted but satisfied, pretty much the same state that we on the staff found ourselves in!  Soigneur Chris Furer did an amazing job with food, cooking up meals for the staff as well as for Chris, and asst. mechanic Andrew Sheppard provided time splits and relayed on-course information to the tech pit as the race unfolded.   With this event falling so late in the year, full darkness lasted from 7pm to 7am, neccessitating extra dilligence and care with regards to light batteries and warm clothing.  Everything, including the bikes, were absolutely, 100% FLAWLESS, and I would personally consider this to be the smoothest 24 hour event I've ever staffed. 

Thanks to all who brought us here, and thanks especially to Chris Eatough for being the best guy a team could ever hope to work for!  You earned it!