Despite forest fires raging within nasal distance of Durango, round four of the NORBA National Championships went ahead without flames licking at the feet of competitors.

The serious racing kicked off on Friday, with the cross-country competitors taking on a technical eight-mile circuit in the thin, Rocky Mountain air.

Cross-Country
Current World Champion, Alison Dunlap (Luna Chix), looked odds-on favourite for the win, but found herself in the thick of a cat-and-mouse battle with Jimena Florit (RLX/Polo Sport). The duo rode like Siamese twins for most of the race until a crash on a rocky downhill section left Florit out in front. Florit didn’t need another invitation, and capitalised on Dunlap’s misfortune to take the win. Fresh off the first flight out of Manchester, Games bronze medallist, Mary Grigson (Subaru/Gary Fisher), brushed off her jet lag to take third place.

For Roland Green (Trek/Volkswagen), the past week has been one race after another, as he hotfooted it from Canada-to-Manchester-to-Canada-to-Durango in the space of six days. Green rolled into town at 2am on the morning of the race, almost riding straight onto the start line, without even a chance to pre-ride the course. All this jet set shenanigans didn’t seem to put a dent in the armour of the Commonwealth Games Gold medallist, as he rode away from a lead group that included teammate Travis Brown, RLX/Polo Sport rider Jeremy Horgen-Kobelski and Adrian Bonilla (Café de Columbia), to his fourth straight NORBA win.

Fellow Canadian, Ryder Hesjedal (Subaru/Gary Fisher), crashed during the early laps, but fought his way back from eighth to second at the finish. Travis Brown took third and narrowed the gap on US Championship leader, Horgen-Kobelski, in the process.

Women
1. Jimena Florit – RLX/Polo Sport
2. Alison Dunlap – Luna Chix
3. Mary Grigson – Subaru/Gary Fisher

Men
1. Roland Green – Trek/Volkswagen
2. Ryder Hesjedal – Subaru/Gary Fisher
3. Travis Brown – Trek/Volkswagen

Mountain Cross
Saturday was time for the piss-pot lids and platform pedals of the Mountain Cross riders to entertain the crowd. Big air and bloody crashes are what gets the crowd going, and the Durango Mountain Cross certainly delivered, with Yeti/Pearl Izumi rider, Tara Llanes, suffering a broken collarbone after trying a difficult double-double combination, and Brian Lopes (GT/Fox) snapping his chain on the gate and going over the bars.

Mountain Cross inventor, Eric Carter (Mongoose/Hyundai), lined up in the men’s final against Wade Bootes (Trek/Volkswagen), Rich Houseman (Team Houseman) and Carter’s teammate, Brian Schmith. Bootes stuffed the start, leaving Carter to take the holeshot and continue his superb form in this newborn sport. Bootes recovered to take second in front of Houseman and Schmith.

In the women’s final, the woman currently holding onto second place in the World Cup, Sabrinna Jonnier (Intense), dominated her final heat against Tai-Lee Muxlow (Dirtworks), Katrina Millar (Jamis) and Melissa Buhl (KHS-ODI).

Women
1. Sabrinna Jonnier – Intense
2. Tai-Lee Muxlow – Dirtworks
3. Katrina Millar – Jamis

Men
1. Eric Carter – Mongoose/Hyundai
2. Wade Bootes – Trek/Volkswagen
3. Rich Houseman – Team Houseman

Downhill
Ex-Durango resident, Missy Giove (Global Racing), had many demons to lay to rest in the downhill, after a difficult season and a terrible crash at the Vail World’s last year. With over eight seconds in hand as she crossed the line, it was a performance from the Giove of old that earned her the win. Jonnier could only manage fifth place, behind Lisa Sher (Chumba Wumba) in second, Tracy Moseley (Team Kona) in third and Kathy Pruitt (Zeal Optics) in fourth. Tracy is just 32 points behind series leader, Jonnier, with one race to go.

Chris Kovarik (Intense) has had a rocky season so far with World Cup winning highs, and a list of broken bones as lows, but the talented Aussie showed he is back on the road to recovery in time for World Champs and last World Cup, by winning the men’s Downhill. Kurt Vories (Haro/Lee Dungarees) took second, and the only US spot on the podium, as Antipodeans and a Canadian surrounded him. John Waddell (Sun Race-Santa Cruz) took third, Nathan Rankin (Foes-Azonic) fourth and Dustin Adams (fifth).

Finally, the guys over at DHrace.com have picked up word that Y2K World Downhill Champion and Durango resident, Myles Rockwell, is to retire at the end of the season. The big guy has been around at the top for many years now, and has enjoyed a resurgence of late, after a crippling knee injury at Nevegal in 1997 left his career in ruins.

Women
1. Missy Giove – Global Racing
2. Lisa Sher – Chumba Wumba
3. Tracy Moseley – Team Kona

Men
1. Chris Kovarik – Intense
2. Kurt Vories – Haro/Lee Dungarees
3. John Waddell – Sun Race/Santa Cruz

The Colorado town of Durango holds a special place in the heart of mountain bikers as it was the first venue of the official UCI World Championships back in 1990, and subsequently became residence to many top racing stars, including John Tomac and Missy Giove. The NORBA roadshow now moves on to Mount Snow, Vermont, on August 15-18.