Mission Viejo Biker Sets the Pace in Race

Mission Viejo mountain biker Mike Lee is a newcomer to round-the-clock endurance races. He pulled his first all-nighter on a bike at last weekend’s 24 Hours of Adrenalin in Idyllwild.

“I hung drywall for 24 hours once,” Lee said, “that wasn’t a lot of fun.”

But Lee had a blast in Idyllwild, leading a four-man team to victory in the open men’s division at the first North American Outdoor Racing Bike Assn. national championship in the event.

Scott Marcoe of Dana Point, Charles Jenkins of San Diego and Hal Helbock of Canyon Lakes joined Lee to bury the field, finishing 28 9 1/2-mile laps around the rugged Hurkey Creek area in 24 hours 7 minutes 16 seconds. The next overall finisher, Back Alley of Temecula, was a five-person team that was more than a lap behind.

Jenkins, the 2000 California state pro/semi-pro cross-country mountain biking champion, rode the first relay leg in 52 minutes and gave the Trek West Coast Factory Team the lead.

Then Lee extended it, finishing his leg in 42:18, the fastest of the event.

“That’s ridiculous for that course,” said Chad Grenier, communications director for the 24 Hours of Adrenalin. “Our trail manager is an ex-World Cup racer and he did it [before the event] in 47 minutes. He typically does the fastest lap at an event and this guy shaved five minutes off of that.”

Lee, 34, is finishing his first season as a professional mountain biker. He finished 20th in the NORBA series despite breaking his collar bone in March. He finished eighth at the Olympic trials.

Lee and his teammates entered the Idyllwild event to prove that Trek’s West Coast team is as strong as its East Coast team, which has won what is now the 24 Hours of Snowshoe three years in a row.

The national championship was originally scheduled for August in Winter Park, Colo., but organizers had to adjust when they couldn’t get a permit from the U.S. Forest Service.

MORE ADRENALIN

Organizers say the Idyllwild event is the fastest growing among the 10 24 Hours of Adrenalin competitions in the United States and Canada, increasing from 400 participants in 1999 to 650 this year.

Forty-three of them were going after the world solo championship, which was won by Chris Eatough of Great Britain. Eatough completed 22 laps in 23:25:04. Nick Morin of Kalamazoo, Mich., and John Stamstad of Seattle were second and third with 21 laps. Katie Lindquist of Plymouth, Minn., won the women’s solo race with 16 laps completed in 23:02:34.

Keith Eckstein of Costa Mesa and Paul Miller of Seal Beach were on a five-man team that completed 25 laps and won its division.

Eckstein and Miller rode for DAART Endurance Team of Yucaipa with Byron Pettibone and Ron Burian of Yucaipa and Joe Martinez of Redlands. The team finished fourth in the event last year.

“Everything came together,” Eckstein said.

Gary Clairmont and Kate Salvino of Irvine finished second in the two-person event, finishing 20 laps in 24:02:39.

SURFING

Australian surfer Pauline Menczer, the 1993 world champion, won her first event of 2000 Sunday at the Billabong women’s three-star World Qualifying Series event at T Street in San Clemente.

Menczer defeated Melanie Redman, Rochelle Ballard and Neridah Falconer in the final.

Hawaii’s Joel Centeio won the Billabong Junior also Sunday at T Street, beating Mike Losness and John Robertson of San Clemente and Timmy Reyes of Huntington Beach.

SKATEBOARDING CHAMPIONSHIPS

The Vans World Championships of Skateboarding, the final stop on the Vans Triple Crown of Skateboarding Tour, will be held Friday through Sunday at the Oceanside Pier. Competitors will be vying for $127,500 in prize money, including $10,000 bonuses for the series winner in the street and vert events.

Bob Burnquist of Brazil leads the vert series and Kerry Getz of Philadelphia leads the street. Orange County competitors include Neal Hendrix (Newport Beach, vert), Omar Hassan (Costa Mesa, vert and street), Eugenio Amaral (Costa Mesa, vert), Paul Channita (Garden Grove, street), Chet Thomas (Huntington Beach, street), Ron Creager (Orange, street), Ed Templeton (Fountain Valley, street), Mike Maldonado (Huntington Beach, street), and Elissa Steamer (Huntington Beach, women’s street).

Practice sessions start today at noon. Competition starts at 2 p.m. Friday and 11 a.m. Saturday and Sunday.

VEGAS BEACH

Beach volleyball’s final domestic event of 2000, the Paul Mitchell King and Queen of the Beach competition, is today through Sunday in Las Vegas.The main draw starts Friday at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino.