Twenty-second place in the 2024 Iron Horse Bicycle Classic men’s pro road race wasn’t good enough for Ned Overend, despite battling riders a third of his age.
Fans will be happy to see Overend isn’t going anywhere at this year’s IHBC men’s pro road race. The ageless wonder on two wheels is returning to bring the fight to the front-runners, only a few months away from his 70th birthday.
“I was thinking to myself, ‘If you're going to do better, you can't be pleased with whatever your last finish was,”’ Overend said. “So even though it was a good performance for me, for whatever age, I'd like to improve on it. But we'll see. I've trained a little harder this year; the fact that I'm going to be 70 this year has made me focus a little more on my training.”
Accolades like Mountain Bike Hall of Famer, United States Bicycling Hall of Famer, first winner of the UCI Mountain Bike World Championship and six-time mountain bike cross-country national champion are all attached to Overend’s storied career. The local accolade is that he’s a five-time IHBC road race winner.
There aren’t many 69-year-olds out there who are in the shape Overend is. He could stop racing, but his role as Ambassador at Specialized motivates him to keep going. Overend is involved in product development and sports marketing for Specialized. The key to giving the product credibility is by riding and racing.
Overend also realizes that he is getting older and he’d like to get some good results while he still can. He still loves riding his mountain, rode and gravel bikes. The mountain bike legend loves all the new products and technology changes. He’s thankful to be in the bike industry and to have Specialized support his racing.
As Overend has aged, his training has also changed to remain fast. He isn’t doing a lot of volume these days and competes in shorter events.
“Since I'm not training for 100 or 150-mile races, I need to focus on doing a little bit of volume and more intensity,” Overend said. “Then you have to be so focused on recovery when you're older, because it just doesn't work to go out and beat yourself up because then, you don’t get faster, you just get tired.”
It would be rare to find Overend doing popular recovery methods like a cold plunge, sauna, using Theragun or leg recovery boots. Instead, he focuses on hydration and protein.
“It's more important as you get older to have protein,” Overend said. “You have to worry about what they call sarcopenia, which is muscle wasting, as you get older, right? You get less strong, less human growth hormone. So then it's important not only to have the quality proteins, but also to do some more strength work.”
Around 20 years ago, Overend was more concerned about fats in his diet. He had a high carbohydrate-based diet, limited the fats he had and wasn’t concerned about sugar.
Now he focuses on quality protein, quality fats like olive oil and avocado, and having lower amounts of carbohydrates and sugars unless he’s riding.
Overend uses mountain biking as an active recovery method. After doing some intense training on the road bike, Overend likes to cruise around on his mountain bike, enjoy the trails and have fun.
Another reason for Overend’s longevity is his wariness of crashing. Throughout his entire career, Overend feels like he’s been more wary of crashing than his peers. He knows how just one fall and one broken bone can ruin a mountain bike season. While some crashes are inevitable, Overend also knows that being too cautious can cost him speed; it’s a fine line to push the envelope but not push it too far.
All of Overland’s training is based on feel. He aims to do strength training for 10 minutes with pushups, pullups and barbells three to four times a week. He likes to ride six times a week. But if he isn’t feeling recovered after the legendary Tuesday night group rides or a three-hour ride in the passes, he’ll switch up his plans to ensure he’s recovered.
Overend first appeared at the IHBC in 1982 and remembers fondly how the IHBC was a part of The National Prestige Series. Colorado had the best bike racers with the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs and The Coors International Bicycle Classic was in Colorado back in the 80s.
Now, all the different cycling events rob stars from each other, according to Overend. Gravel has taken riders from mountain biking and mountain biking has taken riders from road racing and vice versa.
Throughout all the changes in cycling in the last 53 years, the IHBC has stood strong.
“It's amazing, the legacy of the IHBC,” Overend said. “They've had to adapt, because there's a ton of races that are no longer on the calendar anymore because the promoters don't figure out how to adapt; they have one major sponsor, the major sponsor goes away and then they can't fund the race. So, the Iron Horse, it's incredible how they get a variety of sponsors for different events. They have a great volunteer group. They've been smart about figuring out how to evolve the race so it's sustainable.”
At the same time, Overend said it’s important IHBC doesn’t rest on its laurels and continues to give riders a quality experience. IHBC has to continue to attract riders and not assume people will come.
One person who keeps coming is Overend. At almost 70, he realizes he’s an inspiration for older riders and appreciates the support and the people who reach out on Instagram and Facebook.
This year, he envisions himself doing well but knows reality will hit once he hits Shalona Hill with the pack.
“Back in the day, I could say that I wanted to win and I'm going to be aggressive and stuff like that,” Overend said. “But now it's more like, I'm going to try and hang with the front group as long as possible. Then, if I don't, I'm going to try and work with the second group to catch the front group.”
bkelly@durangoherald.com
