The morning brought perfect riding weather with cool temperatures and with a wind that subsided long enough to see the Fort Lewis College cycling team sweep the men’s and women’s Collegiate A categories in Saturday’s team time trail race to kick off the Squawker Classic Road Race.
The Skyhawks’ men finished first with a time of 36 minutes, 43 seconds, while the women took first in 43:32 on the 19-mile course on La Posta Road.
Six Rocky Mountain Collegiate Cycling Conference schools converged for the annual cycling event in Durango. Along with Fort Lewis, teams from Colorado Mesa University, Colorado State University, Colorado School of Mines, Air Force Academy and the University of Colorado-Boulder were in attendance.
This was the sixth RMCCC conference race of the spring season.
This year’s time trial was a bit different and longer than years previous. Instead of finishing near U.S. Highway 550 near the state line between Colorado and New Mexico, teams turned back and finished at Weaselskin Bridge near Country Road 214 where it intersects with County Road 213 (La Posta).
“We had really strong guys for our team (Saturday),” said FLC cyclist Ryan Standish. “I think we went out a little too hard, a little too ambitious, because we hadn’t done (a time trial) that long yet. When we came back, we were a little dead. Everyone still rode super strong, and I think we had a really good time.”
Standish was a part of the winning men’s team along with Cormac McGeough, Ian McPherson and Payson McElveen. FLC was nearly a full minute better than the second-place finishers of Colorado Mesa and CU-Boulder, which both finished with a time of 37:33.
FLC’s second mne’s A group of Thomas Gauthier, Emmanuel Gagne, Kolben Preble and Troy Meeker finished fourth at 38:02. FLC’s third men’s A team of Andre Bos, Zack Noonan, Stephan Davoust and James Hillyer finished fifth in 38:30.
On the women’s side, FLC’s team of Sofia Gomez-Villafañe, Emily Abraham, Jenna MacPherson and Sydney Edmonson rode strong on the new course in the top FLC women’s A squad. FLC kept a steady pace ahead of Colorado Mesa, which finished second with 43:44.
CU-Boulder’s women took third place in 45:36.
“I’m actually impressed that we won. I thought we slowed down a little bit too much,” Gomez-Villafañe said. “(The course) was really hard actually. It’s a really long time trial, normally it would be a 32-minute trial.”
The new course posed enough challenges, but FLC’s second women’s A team of Casey Hynes, Maddie Chaves, Dominique Shore and Erin Quinn was only one minute behind CU-Boulder, which was good enough for fourth at 46:43.
Fort Lewis took first in the men’s B group, which was made up of Skyler Trujillo, Ryan Pask, Tyler Jones and Mason Shea. The team got a time of 40:50. FLC’s second Men’s B team took fourth with a time of 41:54.
“(The race) was definitely harder,” Shea said. “We did pretty decent, though. It was the third time that our time trial team has raced, so we have been getting smoother and better as the season goes on.”
The time trials are usually the grinder of the series at the Squawker Classic, putting teammates and individual talent to the test. Along with the time trials and the criterium race Saturday afternoon, the Squawker Classic consists of the Carver Brewing Co. Road Race, which will be held at 8 a.m. Sunday.
“The team time trials are always the most difficult because you’re trying to synchronize the energy of four different riders, and we all have different skills,” Gomez-Villafañe said. “The team that rides the best, rides the closest and communicates the most. Having a result like this with three weeks until nationals is really exciting.”
The change to the course was meant to mimic the USA Cycling Collegiate Road Nationals course in Asheville, North Carolina, which will be held May 13-15.
This race was also a warm-up for the upcoming Iron Horse Bicycle Classic, which will be held May 28-30.
Last season, Standish took second in the Coca-Cola Men’s Road Race during the 2015 Iron Horse. The Australian cyclist, who also rides for the San Juan Cycling team, rode last year’s road race in a time of 2 hours, 29 minutes, 56.5 seconds.
“Time trials aren’t all that exciting, but we still treat it seriously,” Standish said.
jmentzer@durangoherald.com
