Subaru-Trek MTB team athletes Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski and Heather Irmiger successfully defended their national marathon titles this month at the Firecracker 50 in Breckenridge, CO. For the husband and wife due, 2010 will mark the second year in a row wearing National Champion jerseys.
The racers started on a four-mile, 1200-vertical-foot climb up Boreas Pass Road. By the top of the road, JHK and Peter Stetina had a gap and were pulling away. “The race was harder from the gun than last year,” said Horgan-Kobelski. “I felt good but we were suffering. I was riding over my limit but stretched out a gap on the singletrack. But then I flatted on a descent and had to throw in a tube.” At the first descent into French Gulch, JHK had opened a gap over Stetina by one minute. Behind him Ryan Trebon (Kona) was descending well with Sam Schultz on his wheel. By the time JHK was dealing with his flat, Schultz found himself in the race lead.
When asked how this felt, Schultz said, “I was hoping that JHK could come back because this is a lot of pressure. I started feeling cramps coming. I managed to pound a bunch of fluids and hang in there. Unfortunately Stetina was climbing like a maniac.” Both JHK and Schultz heavily complimented Stetina’s climbing ability. Schultz said, “he was a class act and just pulled over on the singletrack [where Schultz is more experienced] and let me go ahead.”
By the time they were descending from Lincoln Hill on the first 25-mile lap, JHK had slipped to sixth place. But by the next climb out to the start/finish, JHK had passed all but Stetina and Schultz. “I had told myself I had two hours to catch back up. I was encouraged when I was able to see Sam and Peter going through the start finish only about a minute ahead of me,” said Horgan-Kobelski. By the end of the race, JHK had build up a six-minute margin of victory over the entire field.
29ers All The Way For Subaru Trek Team
This is the second year in a row that both the men’s and women’s races have been won on 29-inch wheel bikes. According to cyclingnews, “A turning point in the sport seems to be taking place. The Subaru-Trek team no longer even brings their 26-inch wheeled bikes to races.” Heather Irmiger (Subaru-Trek) pulled away from her rivals to win by a convincing seven-minute margin over second-place Amy Dombroski. Pua Sawicki (below), was riding with Irmiger at the top of the first climb but was later gapped in the singletrack and ultimately forced to withdraw with a mechanical.
Irmiger, along with her husband Horgan-Kobelski, will now try to defend their cross country national championship titles at Sol Vista, Colorado, this weekend. “I want to be fast for the national championships, the next World Cups, and the World Championships,” said Irmiger. “I’m aiming to win every race from here on out – just going for wins. It’s very straightforward.”
