Durango’s cycling community packed a local brew pub from the entrance to its far reaches Wednesday night to pay tribute to its champions. The champs returned the favor.
“It’s really cool to call Durango home,” Todd Wells, the 2014 national cross country champion, said during a ceremony on the Carver Brewing Co. patio. “And all of you make this the cycling town that it is.”
On state, national and even international levels, Southwest Colorado had plenty to brag about at the annual Community Cycling Celebration.
Where to start?
How about with Durango native Carmen Small, who was part of the women’s team time trial squad that won gold at the road cycling world championships in September in Ponferrada, Spain.
Then there was Wells, a longtime Durangoan who dominated the national cross country mountain bike scene most of the year, earning national champion honors at Bear Creek Resort, Pennsylvania. It was his third national title.
Durango’s Christopher Blevins, the son of Field and Priscilla Blevins, took first in the 15-16 age group in Pennsylvania. That national title came two weeks after Blevins was criterium and road race winner at the USA Cycling Amateur Road National Championships in July in Madison, Wisconsin.
“Durango makes it really easy to have fun on your bike,” Blevins said after being introduced by emcee Gaige Sippy. “It’s awesome to be part of it.”
Sippy said Durango is ready to adopt Keegan Swenson, who grew up in Utah but now trains in Durango. Swenson won the under-23 national cross country race in Pennsylvania in an event that perhaps best underlined the area’s talent. In the same race, Durango’s Howard Grotts was second, Durango’s Sepp Kuss third, Fort Lewis newcomer Casey Williams fourth, and FLC cyclists Ryan Standish and Payson McElveen fifth and sixth, respectively.
Back on the international scene, Grotts, a product of the Durango DEVO youth cycling program, became the first American to medal in a world championship cross country race in 13 years, taking third in September in Hafjell, Norway.
“I couldn’t be happier to call Durango my hometown,” said Grotts, who now helps coach DEVO.
And don’t forget Ned Overend, who won the inaugural National Fat Bike Championship in March in Cable, Wisconsin. Or Lauren Hall of Dolores, winner of the women’s Gent-Wevelgem road race in Belgium. Or Trails 2000, the Cycling Community Champion.
FLC continues to dominate on the national level. Griffin Easter won the national collegiate men’s road race, and teamed with Zach Noonan, Natan Cavalca and Dean Hass to win the team time trial. In mountain biking, FLC’s Becky Gardner won the women’s downhill and Sofia Gomez Villafane the omnium.
Durango High School captured its division in the state mountain biking championships, led by Katja Freeburn, the highest scoring girl, and Blevins, the state champ.
The evening’s benefactors were Durango DEVO and the FLC Cycling team.
johnp@durangoherald.com
