Buhl, Carter Take 48Straight Finals — And Trouble Ahead

It wouldn’t take a genius to predict who the woman’s winner of the 2008 48Straight mountain bike series would be. With a second and a first coming into the finals at San Luis Obispo, Melissa Buhl’s second place in the final event easily gave her the season title, plus a $5,000 cash prize and a new Jeep Grand Cherokee.

But it was the men’s race that was the stunner, just as it’s been during previous stops in New Jersey and Utah. Eric Carter got the season title, the cash and the car based on his overall results, though Brian Lopes won the day. The men’s races have been amazing all season. Leads by less than a wheel length. Finishes so close that judges had to scan and rescan photos of the runs.

Carter and Lopes, who 48Straight officials call “two of the most acclaimed racers in the history of the sport,” duked it out to the end. But Carter, who says he has tried for the title for six years, finally got the success he’s been dreaming of. “It’s funny because I didn’t feel so good on the course, and never really felt I had my rhythm, but I guess I was riding a lot faster than I thought because I had some good runs and knocked off some great competitors,” he said after his victory.

Those competitors would include Cody Warren and Greg Minnaar of South Africa, who won the stop in Utah by inches.

The total in prizes for each event and the overall titles comes to $100,000, the biggest purse in the sport. 48Straight has also been trying to grow its concept into something like the Dew Tour, but greener and with more music. Every event features sponsor booths like Paul Mitchell giving away product samples, and environmental booths giving away information. The series show shown phenomenal growth since changing to Jeep from the Honda Ski tour and adding summer events.

But now, trouble is looming ahead. Jeep has informed Troy Ballard, the Idaho-based owner of 48Straight, that the auto brand intends to renegotiate the terms of its sponsorship. Read “cut back.” No new deal has been announced, but since the first winter event is less than six weeks away, the new agreement has had little time to be finalized. At the moment, all of the scheduled events are still on.

The San Luis Obispo race will be shown on CBS sports on November 1, check your local listings for the time.  For more about the series, check out the official site.

San Luis Obispo Final Results

Men
1. Brian Lopes – Laguna Beach, Calif.
2. Eric Carter – Temecula, Calif.
3. Greg Minnaar – South Africa

Women
1. Fionn Griffiths – Great Britain
2.Melissa Buhl, Chandler, Ariz.
3. Kathy Pruitt – Santa Cruz, Calif.

by Wina Sturgeon
AdventureSportsWeekly.com