Want to race your heroes?
Ned and Todd’s Durango Dirt Fondo, the brainchild of two multi-decorated mountain bike champions Ned Overend and Todd Wells, both of Durango, is sure to put on quite a show this Sept. 12. More than 350 riders from 14 states and at least two countries will line up for a 30- or 50-mile racing tour of the best singletrack Durango has to offer. And it all commemorates the 25th Anniversary of the 1990 World Championship races that helped put Durango on the mountain bike map.
Fondo races – long rides with timed segments – are popular in Europe and are generally done on dirt roads or pavement. When Overend and Wells got it in their heads they wanted to do it, they knew where to go: Gaige Sippy, race director for the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic.
“We said, ‘Let’s do it,’” Sippy said. “We started talking about it a year ago, and it happened that it would be the same year as the 25th Anniversary of the Worlds. So, it was ready–set–go.”
Sippy, who moved to Durango decades ago, romanced by trails and enamored cycling stars, said the Iron Horse team already has the infrastructure to organize the race.
“We have the resources, the insurance, all that stuff,” he said. “It’s the logical organization to put it together. The city, the county, the Bureau of Land Management are all stepping up with the permitting process. It’s no small endeavor to do this many trail systems across town and over roads.”
Wells’ first vision was a long tour into the mountains and back.
“I originally wanted something in the high country,” Wells said. “Something that would blow people away, but we weren’t going to get to use those trails. With Gaige running the show, he came up with the idea we showcase all this awesome singletrack we have in town. It’s very cool and very unique to Durango. Here’s a unique opportunity to bring a real singletrack mountain bike fondo to the U.S. scene.”
They’re bringing it alright. Many of the original racers in the 1990 Worlds will be here: John Tomac, Julia Furtado, Tinker Juarez, and every major cycling media outlet will cover it. Adding to the allure, today’s hottest young racers will line up with the pioneers of the sport.
“Durango has a big place in the history of mountain biking and the development of the whole sport,” said Ned Overend, a world champion and six-time national champion racer. “I think it’s cool to commemorate it.”
The race starts and ends at the Discovery Museum, the epicenter of the event. A display of the evolution of mountain biking and Durango’s place in the sport will be revealed Saturday night during an after party.
The course will speak for itself, accessing the often rough Telegraph trail networks, parts of the infamous Animas City Mountain trails and the technical challenges of Dalla Mountain Park before ending with a tour through the winding trails of Overend Mountain Park. The longer 50-mile course will no doubt challenge riders, but even the short course is a tough 30 miles. The race may see Durango once again leading the pack in mountain biking destinations.
“There’s no other community like this,” said Overend. “Where you have this variety of trails surrounding town.”
Overend, men’s winner of the 1990 Worlds, is known to help local up-and-coming racers with coaching, equipment needs, and even flights to races across the country.
“We have a strong cycling community,” he said. “That community is what gets the credit for helping and supporting these young racers.”
On Sunday, the National Interscholastic Cycling Association’s executive director Austin McKlerney will attend a NICA benefit breakfast. He’ll see first hand how developmental cycling club Durango DEVO has helped pave the way for young cyclists, that many get into competitive cycling in high school and many more continue at Fort Lewis College, one of the most competitive collegiate cycling programs in the nation.
On Friday morning, in conjunction with the 25th anniversary theme, a public trails and land symposium will be held at FLC, where Colorado’s recently appointed czar of recreation Luis Benitez will be a keynote speaker.
“There was a land symposium at the same time as the Worlds,” Sippy said. “The impetus was the Bureau of Land Management and the United States Forest service were terrified about mountain biking. (Mountain bikers) needed to get organized and have a seat at the table from a trail stand point.”
And that’s how Trails 2000 was born. Twenty-five-years later the non-profit trails advocacy group has helped create and sustain more than 300 miles of singletrack within 30 minutes of downtown Durango. The symposium will highlight Durango’s achievements in trail building.
“(People can) come experience what we’ve done here, that it’s been a community effort,” Sippy said. “It’s time to recognize that.”
Wells, a three-time Olympic mountain biker who wasn’t yet mountain biking in 1990, said he’s excited to bring attention to his beloved local trails.
“I’m looking forward to showcasing what we have,” he said. “I love Durango.”
It will all be under a watchful eye of the media. Sippy called it the multiplier effect.
“It’s great to get hundreds of people out on the trails, and it’s great to have a party downtown and recognize the community, but it’s going to be great when someone reads an article and says, ‘We need to plan a vacation to Durango and go mountain biking.’”
bmathis@bcimedia.com
