Other people her age are struggling to walk 100 yards without stopping or assistance, but Durango’s Martha Iverson keeps peddling toward more national titles.
Iverson, 77, has won around 20 cycling national championships. The latest was on Dec. 10 in Fayetteville, Arkansas, at the 2025 USA Cycling Cyclocross National Championships in the master woman 75-79 age division. She crossed the finish line in 48 minutes and 54 seconds.
“I was pretty sure I was going to win since I ended up being the only one in my age group. The closest woman to me in age was seven years younger. At my age, that makes a big difference. The course was good. USA Cycling did a good job. I would have preferred it had been more of a power course, that's my strong point, but it was more technical.”
Iverson started her cycling competition journey in the early 1970s when she lived in Boulder. Everyone was road racing back then, and after she competed in the Red Zinger Bicycle Classic, she was hooked. Iverson didn’t begin racing mountain bikes until the mid-1980s. By then, she had raced in the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic several times.
After her husband passed away in an accident, Iverson knew she wanted to make a move for her daughter. She moved to Durango in 1992 to teach at Fort Lewis College, teaching physics there until 2007.
Iverson won her first national titles when she was in her mid-30s, but took a break from racing until about 20 years later, when she picked up more national titles in her mid-50s. She’s racked up national titles in time trial, road racing and mountain biking, although time trial has been her best with two world championships.
She didn’t begin racing cyclocross until about 15 years ago, when she started to train with the FLC cyclocross team in their practice races. Iverson enjoys cyclocross in part because it gets her away from the increase in traffic on the Durango roads that she’s seen in her 30+ years living here.
At 77, Iverson has taken different steps to maintain her longevity, like cutting out red meat a few years back and getting her protein from fish and chicken. She doesn’t ride as much as she used to, but still trains with her partner, Richard. Iverson hopes to compete more in the burgeoning gravel scene.
“In the last four years, I finally started doing strength training,” Iverson said. “I wish I had been doing it a lot sooner, because at my age, especially, but for any women over the age of 60, it's super important. I don't know that it really helps directly with my cycling, but it keeps my body from falling apart … I've been doing two to three days a week of strength training.”
It was a unique experience for Iverson at the cyclocross national championships, with her being the only woman in her age class, but at the same time, all women over the age of 55 started together. Therefore, that race broke apart easily.
Iverson was happy with her pace and was focused on not crashing in the dry but slippery conditions. She crossed the finish line to claim another national championship.
The question is, with around 20 national championships, why does she still compete? A lot of people want to slow down when the effects of crashing are a lot greater as you age.
Iverson knows it keeps her motivated to stay fit. If she stopped racing, she may stop working completely or not work out as hard. There’s also strength in numbers in that philosophy, as she draws inspiration from Frederic Schmidt, the cyclocross national champion in the master men 90-94 age group, who has the same mentality as Iverson.
While Iverson may be alone in her age group, she’s not alone as a Durango national champion, sharing the honor with some fellow Durangoans who are over 60 years younger than her.
“Almost all of them started as mountain bikers,” Iverson said about the other Durango champions. “We've got great mountain biking here even though riding on the road with the traffic isn’t so good … and the weather is good. We don't have the winds they get on the Front Range. It’s a lot of factors, but probably mostly mountain biking opportunities.”
bkelly@durangoherald.com
