Secrest Wins Cycling Race

WASHINGTON — Mike Secrest of Flint, Mich., rode his bicycle up to the base of the Washington Monument early Tuesday morning to win the Race Across America from San Francisco to Washington in slightly more than nine days.

Secrest, 34, who finished second the last two years, completed the 3,117-mile trek at 1:35 a.m. EDT. Secrest was among 35 people who left the Golden Gate Bridge June 20.

By Tuesday afternoon, only three men had completed the course that stretched through 10 states and the District of Columbia. Secrest finished in 9 days 11 hours 35 minutes to beat Michael Trail, of Colville, Wash., by 2 hours 18 minutes. Austrian Franz Spilauer finished third in 9 days 22 hours 57 minutes.

Seventeen riders are still in the running. Among the women, Casey Patterson, 43, of Topanga was in Ohio late Tuesday with a 74-mile advantage over Cheryl Marek of Seattle. The women are predicted to finish sometime today.