OGDEN -- Just staying on a mountain bike for 24 hours straight is unthinkable for most people.
Ogden resident Sarah Kaufmann not only accomplishes that feat multiple times every year -- she is quickly establishing herself as one of the top endurance bike racers in the nation.
Kaufmann, 28, placed second last month in the annual 24 Hours of Moab race, which this year also doubled as the national championship race for USA Cycling in the 24-hour race category.
"The race at Moab is big every year, but the stakes were even higher this year," she said.
In this grueling format, riders typically start at noon and keep riding, through the afternoon, evening, night and morning, until noon the next day.
Kaufmann said the Moab course, located at the popular Behind-the-Rocks area about 20 miles southeast of town, is especially challenging.
"I've done significantly more miles in 24-hour races, but that course is just so rough and so technical," she said. "It takes such a toll on your body, and it's such a hard course to be consistent on."
With all the different race classes participating, she said there are 500 to 1,000 riders on the course at any given time.
"The first lap is just chaos, trying to find the women I'm actually racing against," she said.
She ended up finishing second in the women's solo class to Eszter Horanyi, a Boulder, Colo.-based rider.
Kaufmann experienced a light malfunction shortly before sunrise in this year's race, which may have hurt her chances to take the top spot.
She ended up finishing 13 bone-jarring laps shortly after 11 a.m., about 95 minutes behind Horanyi. Kaufmann's finish would have been enough to place in the top 10 among the men.
Not bad, considering neither rider was among the two favorites heading into the race.
Hawaii's Pua Sawicki, who had won three of the previous four 24 Hours of Moab races, finished fifth this year. The other favorite, Jari Kirkland of Colorado, saw her title chances slip away after a crash during the second lap, "which was a shame," Kaufmann said.
"It's not fair to blame the light issue for my finish because I don't want to take anything away from Eszter, but I think it would have been a closer battle," she said. "Maybe I could have made her work a little harder for it. But this was supposed to be a battle between two other riders. Eszter and I were underdogs, so I'm really proud of what I did, and she really earned it."
Several local men's teams sponsored by local employer Autoliv had respectable finishes in the juniors, veterans and master classes, but none matched her success.
Kaufmann has shown steady improvement every year, with a career-high six wins in a variety of race formats and lengths in 2009.
She preceded her near-national title effort in Moab with first-places finishes earlier in the year at the Mount Ogden 50K race at Snowbasin, as well as the 24 Hours in the Old Pueblo race near Tucson, Ariz.
It could be considered coincidence that Kaufmann got into mountain biking in the first place.
Originally a cross-country skier and runner, she suffered an anterior cruciate ligament tear in one knee while in college. She began cycling as part of the rehabilitation process, and the rest, as they say, is history.
After a cross-continent road ride from British Columbia to Maine, she decided to start riding more seriously. After moving to California and taking a job in finance, she started road racing, which led her to leave the corporate world behind and take a job at a bike shop.
"It was a big pay cut, but also a big quality-of-life improvement," she said.
Her success was limited at first, and life was about to take another turn when she lined up a job with a consulting firm in Vermont. But then, things changed again when she learned about the 24 Hours in the Old Pueblo race while staying in Boulder City, Nev.
"I did the Tucson race, won it, and just decided I wasn't ready to give up riding yet," she said. "I got my pro license, and started arranging my life around riding."
The Massachusetts native has lived in Southern California, Colorado and Nevada before coming to Ogden, where one of her primary sponsors (and part-time employer) is based.
"Really the last couple years I lived out of my car part-time, working at bike shops and other odd jobs, and racing wasn't really working," she said.
"I set my mind to find a job in the industry with some flexibility, but also the stability to allow me to train. I also wanted a place with good riding, and Ogden is definitely that."
Kaufmann is still looking for her first national championship, but is no stranger to winning races. And while that first national title has remained elusive, she appears to be drawing ever closer.
Meanwhile, she is focused on defending her title at the Arizona race next February. But after coming so close in Moab this year, she also has her eyes on the bigger prize.
"The last three years I've placed fourth, third and now second, so I like to think next year will be my year."
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