The circle symbolizes many things. Unity, eternity, completion. At Saturday’s 12 Hours of Mesa Verde, an endurance mountain bike race in Cortez, 220 participants came face to face with these feelings along with different levels of frustration and fatigue, pain and post-ride elation.

Following a 16-mile loop at Phil’s World, the purpose was to tally the most laps over 12 hours. For riders, as teams and individuals, the repetitive day of laps felt like it lasted forever, especially the rocky 5 mile portion known as Stinky Springs.

The no-frill event is all about biking. It’s simplicity, however, is a pleasant change to some of the larger events where you can’t even get close to the finish line.

“It’s still small and grassroots and the course is all singletrack, which is really unique,” Peter Kenyon, singlespeed solo competitor and Paragon racer, said. “It’s just a bunch of people going out and riding.”

The race was capped off by a post-race celebration, recognizing the general accomplishment of the field as well as the superhuman effort of class and overall winners.

Riders like Jona Bollinger of Paragon Racing Team who finished first in the solo female class. Completing her seventh lap, Bollinger crossed the finish line at dusk and received an ovation from fellow finishers and supporters.

Bollinger was the only rider in the solo female class with seven laps. However, the quest for seven was more of a personal goal set prior to the race. After six laps, Bollinger had secured victory over second-place Roxanne Hall of Leadville, but opted for a seventh lap on the course. It was nearing 6:30 p.m., the cut-off time for all riders, when Bollinger left on her victory lap.

Two hours later, she returned after 114 total miles of riding and 13 hours and 18 minutes on her bike — longer than a few transatlantic flights.

This was only one example of the supreme level of biking. In its second year, the event doubled in size as well as skill. Durango shipped in a strong crew of individual and team riders, along with Leadville, Flagstaff, Phoenix, Albuquerque and Telluride.
Other local phenoms were Becky Reimann of Ophir, winner of the solo female singlespeed class. She rode six laps and 97.74 miles, and also had the fastest lap time of her class, 1:45:31.

Peter Kenyon was recognized for his accomplishment, third-place in the solo male singlespeed class. Putting his new singlespeed bike to work, Kenyon completed seven laps on the course, and had the fastest seven laps in his class, just under 11 hours of riding.

“It was a venture through hell and back, but all in all, after it was done, it was good,” he described. “It was definitely an exercise in pain management, but that’s part of riding a singlespeed I guess.”

Then again, that’s just part of being Peter Kenyon.

He clocked a fastest lap time of 1:24:8, and had a consistent performance all around, only a couple minutes slower with each passing lap.

“Going solo is a different mind set,” Kenyon said. “You want to start and finish at the same pace and finish with similar lap times to what you started with. You don’t want to crush yourself off the bat so you blow out later.”

It’s the crux, however, to maintain a steady rhythm, especially in a sport like mountain biking where a lot can go wrong mechanically, mentally and physically.

“On a singlespeed, your tempo is a little easier to gauge since you have one gear, and the simplicity of a singlespeed is great,” Kenyon described. “It’s definitely harder, though, since there’s no granny gear, and on that back section of those rocks it gets a little old without full suspension and gears.”

And when you’re riding for more than eight hours, disasters happen.

“I had to stop 12 times to put my chain back on,” Kenyon vented, coming in off his fifth lap. Luckily, a steadfast support crew of Brian “Higgins” Flaherty, Travis Young and Diana Rector tended to the mechanical and physical needs of the local solo riders.

Up the road, the four-person team of Matt Beaudin, Ben Knight, David LeFevre and Stash Wislocki waged a different kind of race. In the highly competitive four-person class, the strategy was speed. Racing an average of two laps per person, team riders had to be at the top of their game when their turn came, and fast.

The Little Lebowski Urban Achievers were fast from the start. Beaudin lead the running sprint in the Le Mans start at 7 a.m. From then on, the team averaged lap times of 1:25 with a fastest lap of 1:20:45 by Beaudin. Beaudin also got an extra third lap at the end to give the team a total nine laps. The results landed the Lil’ Lebowskis third-place in both their class and overall standings.

The first-place male team, from Durango, nailed out an unprecedented 10 laps on the course. They also had the fastest lap time, 1:10:34, by Miles Venzara.

Such strong results roused a lot of oohing and aahing from the post-race crowd, but no matter the final times or lap tally, the event offered a personal challenge to all riders.

There was even a little extra love going out to the moms, distinguished by a pink Mother’s Day ribbon on their bikes. For myself, getting passed by around 30 dudes in my first go on the course, it was nice to at least hear some words of encouragement.
“Good job mom,” shouted one passerby, making the passing process on the narrow singletrack a little easier to bear.

The riding also provided for lots of fun, particularly the whoopty-doos of the Rib Cage where your bike feels like a roller coaster ride. There were also some tough spots like the technical climb of Moki Hill in the appropriately-named Stinky Springs. After multiple laps, this jolting section made its impact on the body, especially the back and arms.

At some point on the course, the laps felt eternal. Mechanical malfunctions forced unlucky riders to carry their bikes for miles and hours. Generally, though, riders completed the course in roughly an hour and a half. Back at camp, riders rested, refueled and tried not to think too much about their next stint on the bike. When that time came, it was back to the start/finish where teammates exchanged batons and solo riders spun through on their way out for another lap.

Daniel Murray was another solo rider in the men’s division. He finished five laps in 18th place. Although slightly disappointed by his lap tally, Murray was the first among the five lap finishers in his field, and admitted to going out too hard. He also felt less prepared physically than the top finishers who all tallied 8 laps.

“I am still looking for my race legs,” he said.

That’s OK. It’s still early season here in Telluride, and it’s tough to get out to ride. There’s still more snow in the forecast, but there’s also a summer’s-worth of bike riding and bike races ahead.

For Jeff Hemperly, of Rico, the struggle to complete a sixth and final lap in the solo singlespeed class marked an end to his race day. He finished 10th, and rode an impressive 97 miles on the course.

Team Free Box, another Telluride four-man team of Aric Maloy, Garan Mangan-Dimuzio, Luke Brown and Phil Pitt finished eighth with eight laps. Placing 24th overall, the team benefitted from Mangan-Dimuzio’s speed, including a team-fastest lap time of 1:25:40.

Kip Jenkins of Ridgway, raced on a duo male team with Pagosa Springs’ Robbie Johnson. As the Lapping Dogz, the two-man team made 8 laps on the course, finishing fifth in their class and 17th overall.

In the duo co-ed class, Be My Guest, with yours truly and James Guest, finished fourth with seven laps. A neophyte mountain biker and first timer to Phil’s World, it was a full circle of experiences.

There was the excitement of flying around corners on your bike, the brutality of flying over handle bars, the cramps, the continuous laughs at Stash’s never-ending comedic routine, the stomach full of cupcakes and cookies and chicken, the rain in the morning, the tending to a one-year-old — diapers!! — during lap breaks and the interest in the steady stream of events, the strong showings and the unlucky sufferings from flats to full physical/mental melt downs.

From sun up to sun down, the riders plodded along, pedaling in circles. That’s endurance mountain biking, and there’s plenty more to come this summer in the never-ending circle of cycling events.

This weekend, there’s two road rides in the region. The three-day George C. Cain Memorial Ride travels from Telluride to Gypsum to Monticello. For more information, call 327-4939 or 728-0938. In Montrose on Sunday, the Mission to Ride Tour offers various distance of road rides including a 40-miler and a century 100-miler that hits up both the Black Canyon and the country roads between Montrose and Olathe. For more information, visit www.missiontoride.com.