Valley bike racers top marks in Scottsdale race

More than 1,000 cyclists flew through the hills of north Scottsdale and Fountain Hills on 2008's Tour de Scottsdale, setting a pace that shattered last year's times.

Sunday's fifth annual bicycle race attracted 1,040 registrants, which also topped last year's field of some 880 riders. Overnight showers and a crisp morning gave way to pleasant riding weather of calm, sunny skies with temperatures in the high 80s. Riders and spectators were treated to live music and vendor booths at the race start and finish on Market Street in north Scottsdale's DC Ranch community.

"We've got a couple of out-of-towners pushing the pack faster than usual," organizer David Benjes of DCB Adventures Inc. said Sunday morning as he got word of the race entering Fountain Hills.

The hometown advantage prevailed, however.

Michael Stevenson, 24, of Phoenix, came in first with a time of 2:28:33.9, almost 15 minutes faster than last year's winning time for the 70-mile course. He was a minute ahead of Brian Forbes, 36, of Mesa, who beat Yuriy Metlushenko, 32, of Phoenix, to the finish line with a time of 2:29:35 vs. Metlushenko's 2:29:35.3.

Nick Schreiber of Tucson and Phil Cortez of Bend, Ore., followed less than five minutes later.

Among women finishers, Katie Ellis, 23, of Phoenix, came in first with a time of 2:36:57.9. Sabrina Savage, no age or hometown given, was second at 2:39:19.6, and Emily Booth, 34, of Phoenix, was third at 3:01:19.4.

Benjes said the tour hoped to raise $20,000 for the McDowell Sonoran Conservancy this year. The ride has raised nearly $60,000 for the Scottsdale-based preserve organization over the past four years, he said.

Riders wait to start the 70 mile bike ride in the Tour de Scottsdale on the corner of Thompson Peak and Pima Road Sunday.