Bike classic course races through brewery
- Details
- Created on Tuesday, 31 May 2011 11:55
- Written by Dena Rosenberry
The Durango Herald
Not many mountain bike races go through crowded restaurants and down a ramp into the back alley, but this wasn’t just any mountain bike race.
For the 40th Iron Horse Bicycle Classic in Durango, race organizers decided to bring back the mountain bike race, and they decided to go all out.
On Sunday, both the men’s and women’s pro fields battled through a windswept course around the Fort Lewis College campus before riding back into town and through Steamworks Brewing Co. before crossing the finish line. (That's a racer riding through Steamworks, above.)
Durango native and Durango High School alum Howard Grotts added to his fourth-place finish in the Iron Horse Road Race with a decisive win Sunday.
“I was hurting in (Saturday’s) race, but (Sunday) I felt good the entire time,” Grotts said after only the third professional race of his career.
Troy Wells of Durango started out the day strong, leading the race for two of the three laps. Grotts turned on the burners on the first climb of the final lap.
“Howard (Grotts) is so light, he just road away on the first steep part,” Wells said. “I tried to ease up my second lap, but it wasn’t enough. I didn’t have enough in the tank to catch him.”
Wells and Travis Brown, a Mountain Biking Hall of Famer from Durango, finished second and third, respectively.
Read more about the race and see photos and a short video at the Durango Herald.
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