There were plenty of ties to Durango and Colorado Mesa University as Austin Beard and Chloe Fraser wrapped up the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic weekend by winning the pro mountain bike races on Sunday.
Beard and Fraser both went to Colorado Mesa in Grand Junction, and Beard now races for Durango’s Segment 28 squad. He and fellow Colorado Mesa graduate, Segment 28 rider and Durangoan Ivan Sippy separated from the pack early on in the five-lap men’s pro race, before Beard made the decisive move on the fourth lap to take an easy win.
Fraser, Durango’s Anna Morozowich and Colorado Mesa graduate and Durango resident Ruby Ryan separated from the pack in the four-lap, pro women’s race. Fraser and Morozowich dropped Ryan on the final lap, and Fraser got into the lead in the final few corners before the short finish straight to come across the finish line in first next to Buckley Park.
Beard, 22, won the men’s pro race in one hour, 32 minutes and 49 seconds after going around the 5.36-mile course in five laps. Sippy was second in 1:33:48 and Carson Beard finished third in 1:37:54.
“It was a really fun race,” Beard said. “Ivan and I kind of got away on the first lap, and we were just working really well together, cranking through laps. We were switching off on the road sections there, and it was a super fun course, super fast. In the single track, you really have to stay on it. I’m really happy with how it went.”
Riders had a beautiful sunny day to complete their laps around the mountain bike course, highlighted by a big crowd at Steamworks Brewing Company, ready to give beers out to riders.
The race began at Buckley Park, where riders completed a lap around the park before heading south on East Second Avenue to Eighth Street. At Eighth Street, they turned north on East Fifth Avenue into the single track. Riders took a lap on the Rim Trail, descended the south side of the Factory Trail to the lower part of the Nature Trail onto East Fifth Avenue, then reversed course down Eighth Street through Steamworks before finishing at Buckley Park.
Once Beard and Sippy separated from the pack, Beard saw that Sippy was really strong in the single track with his smooth riding, and Beard had the power on the climbs. On the fourth lap, Beard knew he was feeling good. Halfway up the Rim Trail climb, Beard attacked when he saw Sippy was falling off his wheel a bit. This gave him a lead that was easy to manage on the rest of the course.
“It was super fun,” Sippy said. “Austin and I went to school together at CMU, so it was like another day riding with him, which is really cool, on my home trails … On the fourth lap … he went and I thought, ‘I'm going to save a little bit so I can get to him on the twisty stuff at the top.’ I just couldn't quite close it.”
Sippy hasn’t done the mountain bike race as a pro since it returned to going through Steamworks. He doesn’t think there’s another race in the world with a section like Steamworks to go with the huge crowd. But Sippy was happy to see lots of fans all over the course.
Next up for Beard is the GoPro Games in Vail from June 4-7. After that, Beard will stay in Durango to train before going to race in Europe in July.
“Durango does bike racing right,” Beard said. “We’re going through a bar in this mountain bike race. There are so many people there, everyone is cheering as loud as they can. It’s really cool to see how big the community is here, and it makes it really fun.”
In the women’s race, Fraser, 22, won in 1:30:28, a second ahead of Morozowich, 14, in second, an impressive feat especially since Fraser finished sixth in the women’s pro road race on Saturday. Maiya Blanchard, a Fort Lewis College student racing for Segment 28, finished third in 1:30:55. Ryan was fourth in 1:31:48, ahead of Durango’s Ellen Campbell in fifth in 1:34:03.
“It was so tight,” Fraser said. “My legs were for sure feeling it a bit at the start, but they came around pretty well. I’ve been doing a bit of stage racing this year, so that helped with the back-to-back day thing.”
Although Fraser is from Boulder, she does have some experience on the trails in the mountain bike course from coming down to race collegiately with Colorado Mesa. The dirt was very loose, and early in the race, Fraser regretted how much she inflated her tires.
But once the top three separated, Fraser, Morozowich and Ryan worked together, trading time at the front as each rider had different strengths on the course. Fraser felt like her road racing experience helped her with the tactics and with how she spent her energy.
Once it was just her and Morozowich on the final lap, Fraser put some pressure on Morozowich on the final climb before holding her position coming into the final two corners.
“It was a really fun race … I really would have loved just like a straight finish, so I could have seen how that would have went,” Morozowich said. “I could tell that I had a good sprint … we somehow we got a double abreast, so I just decided to take it safe, and I ended up getting second … I'm still happy with the rest of the race, and how I rode.”
Morozowich has had a very strong spring and start to the summer, winning all the mountain bike pro cups she’s competed in and winning track and field races in high school in Arizona.
The Iron Horse is a special event for Morozowich and her family, since she’s a native of Durango and has grown up seeing her father, Steve, do the races. This year was special because it’s the longest mountain bike race she’s ever done, racing in the women’s pro division, and it was her first time riding through Steamworks.
“It was crazy, it was fun, and I loved it,” Morozowich said about Steamworks. “They were holding up beer bottles, and I yelled, ‘I’m only 14!’ They were holding them every lap, and all the other girls can have them, but I’m not even close.”
Next up for Morozowich are the road and mountain bike national championships.
Earlier in the day, riders lined up for the La Strada La Plata Gravel race, with Caleb Classen winning the men’s race and Kira Payer winning the women’s race. It was a stellar effort from both riders after Classen finished second in the men’s pro road race and Payer finished second in the women’s pro road race on Saturday.
The La Strada La Plata Gravel Race started and finished at Steamworks. The 55-mile course included 4,985 feet of climbing. Riders ascended Horse Gulch Road, looped around Texas Creek to the east, then returned west to Horse Gulch Road and finished at Steamworks.
Classen won the men’s pro race in 2:26:47.6 in a sprint finish over Henry Nelson in second in 2:26:47.7. Jake Sandau finished third in 2:32:15.
On the women’s side, Payer won in 2:52:57, dominating the race with Kelsey Andrist finishing second in 3:02:35 and Jessica Wood finishing third in 3:09:31.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
