Namrita O'Dea and Chuck Wheeler took top solo honors in the weekend’s 24 Hours of Vail Lake at California’s Vail Lake Mountain Resort.

The race, part of Granny Gear Production’s 2008 Suzuki 24 Hour Series, wrapped up Sunday morning, with Wheeler defeating 2007 24 Hour National Series men's solo champion, Rob Lichtenwalner, riding 17 laps for a total of 173.4 miles.

Lichtenwalner came to California from his home in Pennsylvania partly to commence an earnest defense of the title he surprised himself by winning, and partly it was to find out what all the fuss is about with the course.

"I've heard the Vail Lake course is good to ride, and I've decided to ride every Granny Gear 24 Hour course that I can. They're all really well thought out, and they never get boring. When you ride a lot of laps as a solo rider, that's important," said Lichtenwalner before the start at noon on Saturday.

The course, combined with day-time temperatures in the 90s, took their toll on Lichtenwalner who climbed off his bike at 9 a.m. on Sunday. Wheeler, meanwhile, continued on logging additional laps until he secured his first win at a Granny Gear Productions race.

"I've been doing 24s for about ten years now, but this is only my second Granny Gear race," said the Phoenix, Arizona, resident.

Last year Wheeler competed at 24 Hours Moab, where he was 29th after the first lap, stayed out of the top fifteen until nightfall, and then started to climb up the rankings to finish the race in fourth spot.

"I don't really have a strategy," Wheeler explained. "I just go out and ride and try to stay constant. It works less frequently now that a lot of riders are getting so good."

Eddie and Namrita O'Dea

"I'm not used to racing in those kinds of temperature," said Lichtenwalner at 9 o'clock on Sunday morning. He'd done the math, realized that he wasn't going to catch Wheeler, and that competitor Eddie O'Dea wasn't going to catch him, so he climbed off and went for an early sleep. "I'm happy with second place points. It gets my series title defense off to a good start," he said.

In the women’s race, O’Dea’s wife Namrita found herself in an early battle with a much stronger Shanna Armstrong of Texas, a four-time ultra-man world champion, and 2006 Race Across America winner. Armstrong consistently dominated the climbs on the course, only to lose time on descents.

Armstrong, who has a reputation for taking long breaks between laps, lost nearly an hour over the course of five laps to O’Dea, who rode steadily throughout the race. By evening, Armstrong, a relative newcomer to mountain biking, is still not comfortable riding at night and lost 30 minutes on the first after-dark lap.

Armstrong’s discomfort may have been well-founded as she suffered two night-time crashes on the same lap and withdrew from the race by 9:00 p.m. on Saturday.

With Armstrong out of the race, O'Dea continued unchallenged for the lead. By sunrise she had enough of an advantage that she was able to end her race at 9 a.m., having completed 11 laps. Second was Terri Wahlberg with 10 laps, and third went to Liz Baumgardt-Kays at eight.

For O'Dea, who was competing in her eighth 24, this could turn out to be a critical win.
"I think I have a chance for the series overall. I'm not sure who else is doing the whole series, but I think I have a chance," she said