Gravel is growing, and Todd Wells is on board.
Wells, a 41-year-old professional mountain biker from Durango and three-time Olympian, tackled the Crusher in the Tushar race on July 9 in Beaver, Utah.
The race starts in Beaver and finishes at the Eagle Point Resort near Beaver.
It is a 70-mile course that starts near 6,000 feet and finishes at 10,000 feet, with 10,000 feet of elevation gain throughout the race. It traverses the Tushar Mountains and Fishlake National Forest.
Wells finished second among the professional men. He crossed the line in 4 hours, 13 minutes, 39 seconds, 15 seconds behind winner and three-time champion Robert Squire of Salt Lake City. Keegan Swenson, formerly of Durango and now again of Park City, Utah, was third in 4:19:53. Durango’s Rotem Ishay placed seventh in 4;33:40.
The Crusher in the Tushar is a gravel road race dreamed up by former Navigator’s pro Burke Swindlehurt,” Wells said in an email to The Durango Herald.
“The course is everything I imagine a gravel should be, nearly 70 percent gravel, lots of different conditions from hard pack dirt, loose pea gravel and freshly laid golf ball size toward the end. You basically climb up to a plateau, roll along for a five miles, descend down the Col d’ Crush, catch your breath on the road for a few miles and climb back up and keep climbing all the way to the ski resort.”
The course starts with an 11-mile climb up a road. Once the course hits dirt, the real racing begins.
“Fairly early on the first big climb we trimmed down to a group of six,” Wells said.
“We gained and lost riders all the way up to the second feed zone 25 miles up to the top of the plateau. Rolling along the top of the range at 40 mph in a group on loose gravel road is something that is both exhilarating and terrifying.
“We plunged down the Col d’ Crush where you could easily shoot off the side of the mountain in the washboard blown out loose switchbacks if you lose your brakes or have a lapse in concentration.
“I managed to open about 30-second gap on the group, but, with nearly 8 miles of crosswind pavement before we started the climb back up, I was never going to stay away.”
The group caught Wells on the roughest section of the course that features loose rollers.
“By the time we hit the climb proper, Squire surged and I couldn’t hold his wheel,” Wells said.
“I rode alone till we hit the fresh gravel section of the course less then 10 miles from the finish where I was fighting some cramps.
“What a race! I had my doubts about gravel racing, but it was a really cool; a great combination of on- and off-road racing.”
There is a US Cup mountain bike race this weekend in Williston, Vermont.
Riders will then go to the USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Championships July 18-23 in West Virginia.
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
