It’s a waffling time of year. To ski or to bike. Or perhaps do nothing at all when the wind blows and the sky’s gray. It’s been especially hard getting out for rides. Although this winter was one of the best, it left cyclists inside, riding the trainer.

Until a few weeks ago, there was too much snow on the road. And local mountain biking trails are still submerged. Thank goodness for nearby bike hubs like Moab, Fruita and Phil’s World in Cortez.

Still, riders are getting out, and some have even started racing. Despite the disadvantages of training in Telluride, four riders tackled the multi-day Tour of the Gila in Silver City, N.M. Closer to home, a couple of local mountain bikers got some serious trail time at 18 hours of Fruita over the weekend.

It’s been a tough initiation to the season. When you go to a big stage race like the Gila, other competitors come at you with a winter’s-worth of training.

“It was definitely a rude awakening,” Peter Kenyon said of this year’s Gila.  “If the Gila was in August it would be a different story.”

Kenyon competed in the senior men’s 3 category of the five-day stage race. He was accompanied by Brian Flaherty and Chris Cardoza and Jona Bollinger, who rode in the women’s 3/4 division.

The Gila consists of three stages of road riding, each day’s race reaching more than 70 miles in distance with some lofty climbs at the finish. There was also a time trial and a criterium, each measuring 20-plus miles in distance.

The senior men’s 3 division consisted of 66 riders, and few stragglers.
“The field was really deep and it was game on from the moment the race started,” Kenyon said. “There were also a lot more teams of riders working together and just driving the pace like I’ve never seen.”

The Telluride trio tried to stick together, but with varying results.

Flaherty finished 23rd overall with a five-day combined time of 12:39:15. The result was solid, and the 12 hours of riding pushed him one step closer to the summer season.
Kenyon was close behind in the strong field of competitors. He placed 34th overall. Cardoza came in 59th, 13:30:19, and Bollinger finished 19th, 10:28:02, in the women’s 3/4’s four-day stage race.

For Kenyon, it wasn’t the long hours of riding that challenged him.
“With three weeks of training I couldn’t expect much,” he said. “But it didn’t help that the pace was exceedingly faster than last year and the conditions were the windiest a lot of locals could remember.”

He also struggled with the time trial event.

“The time trial is such a specific discipline and you need to have the whole gamut of equipment,” he said. “If you know how to ride a time trial bike properly you can make up huge chunks of time and affect your place in the overall standings.”

In Fruita, there were no skin suits and time trial bikes. Instead, fat tires and mountain biking were the mainstream. While weekend warriors took over the trails for some recreational riding, Matt Beaudin, Stash Wislocki and Forrest Twombly were there to race.

With other out-of-town teammates, the team competed in the fourth annual 18 hours of Fruita at the Highline State Park. The endurance singletrack race is famous for its midnight start, requiring riders to turn out their first laps on the course in the dark.
Each rider completed 2-3 laps at a time on the 6-mile course that featured super fast singletrack with a bermed section and spurts of steep uphills.

“You maybe came out of your big ring twice on each lap; it was that fast,” Beaudin said. “It was obvious who’d been suffering on trainers over the winter and who hadn’t. It crushed me.”

Not too hard, however, as the local boys brought home a second-place finish. Not bad for an early season turn on the trails.

The best part of the multi-hour endurance bike races are the participants, both racers and support crews. In Fruita, it was the guys in pink, competing on their Xtracycles (a touring setup).

“One [of the guys] was stupid-scary fast and riding with a freaking boombox and lizard-thing on his helmet. The worst part? He was gaining on me…” Beaudin said. “I’ve never ridden that afraid before.”

It’s all part of the fun. The fear. The pain. The post-race rejoicing.

The endurance racing continues this weekend with 12 hours of Mesa Verde. The laps for this event are completed at Phil’s World in Cortez, and it’s a favorite for local riders.
Kenyon, Daniel Murray and Bollinger will compete individually, trying to tally a maximum number of laps. Last year’s solo winner totaled eight laps for a grand total 120 miles. Riders can also compete as teams of two or four.

A strong contingent of local riders will be on hand, complete with friends and family providing support. If you’re in the mood to test your wheels and get some spring training, check out the Web site at www.12hoursofmesaverde.com