Cobe Freeburn and Sofia Waite showed their local knowledge of Durango’s mountain bike trails on Sunday.
That knowledge paid off as they thrilled the crowd as they rode through Steamworks before taking victory in the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic Subaru Mountain Bike Race.
On Saturday, Freeburn bided his time in the men’s pro road race and he did the same on Sunday in the men’s pro mountain bike race. He was always in the top group and waited until the last few laps to make his move.
“It was sweet,” Freeburn said. “It was so nice coming back downtown. I remember as a junior, I raced through Steamworks but now, there were so many people there and it was a great atmosphere. It really feels like the Iron Horse again.”
Waite, usually on the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup circuit, is recovering from some health issues and since she lives in Durango, she thought it would be a great opportunity to test how she’s feeling in a famous local race.
The 22-year-old had a nice battle with Erin Osborne in the women’s pro race and pulled away in the fourth and final lap of the 5.36-mile course.
“It was really fun,” Waite said. “I knew the technical nature of this course, the fast pace up on the Rim and all the rocks would serve me best. I made sure to lead as much as possible and use that to my strength and push as hard as possible on the top.”
Freeburn finished the five-lap men’s pro race in one hour, 40 minutes and 58.7 seconds. Behind him was Austin Beard in second in 1:41:36.1 and Cody Cupp in third in 1:41:36.1
“It was a great course out there,” Beard said. “I had a lot of fun. It was interesting, there were a couple of road sections that kept everything together and led to some pack racing.”
Kai Lokey, Landon Dendy, Cody Cupp and Todd Wells had a small gap early in the men’s race before Wells fell back into the second group later in the lap. Lokey, Dendy and Cupp crossed the line about 10 seconds ahead of Freeburn, Wells, Jackson Sandau and Owen Deale to start the second lap.
Freeburn said he didn’t feel very comfortable early on. He was still a little fatigued from winning the road race the day before and felt uncomfortable in the pack racing early with everyone’s wide mountain bike handlebars. He doesn’t race mountain bikes as much as he used to.
The lead group turned into five riders during the second lap and the same leading five of Freeburn, Wells, Lokey, Beard and Cupp were together for most of the third lap.
Beard made his move at the end of the third. He attacked the downhill section and led by eight seconds over the other four at the start of the fourth lap. Beard knew Freeburn had more pace on the climbs and had to make a move on a descent to stay in the fight.
Freeburn and Beard were together to start the final lap and were about 10 seconds ahead of Wells and Cupp.
Beard was dropped by Freeburn and Freeburn had about a 20-second advantage in the closing part of the lap before coming across the finish line for the easy win.
“I knew I had to get away before the downhill and I pushed the climb as hard as I could and got a good-sized gap,” Freeburn said. “From then on, you couldn’t really see but I was trying to go as fast as I could with no major mistakes.”
In the women’s race, Osborne finished in second in 1:31:51.7, 12 seconds behind Waite. Fort Lewis College’s Michaela Thompson finished third in 1:32:32.9.
“I’m stoked,” Osborne said. “We were back and forth all day; she (Waite) was leading and I was leading. She was definitely stronger in the climbs and I was stronger in the descents.”
Waite, Osborne and Ruby Ryan formed a lead group by the halfway point of the first lap. Waite gapped Osborne by about five seconds halfway through lap two while Thompson and Ryan were about 15 seconds behind.
The eventual winner gapped Osborne by about 12 seconds to start the third lap before Osborne fought back and grabbed the lead by a bike length in the middle of the third lap.
Osborne had a four-second gap on Waite to start the final lap as Ryan and Thompson were about 50 seconds behind.
Waite battled back to take about an eight-second lead to begin the final stretch of the race. Osborne said she left the door open for Waite to overtake her in the last single-track section.
Osborne was on Waite’s back wheel after that until Waite overtook a slower rider in a different category before Steamworks. Osborne couldn’t get around him before Steamworks and had to ride behind him, losing critical time to Waite, which sealed Waite’s win.
“It was super cool,” Waite said. “I wasn’t expecting so many fans on the course and it’s always fun to be cheered on. The fact that I live here too is really special. I had a great day out there.”
bkelly@durangoherald.com
