| 9/14/2009 11:12:00 AM | Email this article • Print this article |
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| Thirty-six mountain bike enthusiasts began the Vapor 125 begin their high altitude endurance ride early Sunday morning – with the first six hours in darkness. Nineteen riders finished with times ranging from 11-18 hours. “I finished four Redbulls and a 5-Hour Energy drink,” John Fulton of Salida said.
Photo by Kevin Hoffman |
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Rain delays Vapor 125
Kevin Hoffman
Mail Staff Writer
After a 2-hour rain-delayed start, 36 elite mountain bicyclers - on the stroke of midnight Saturday - rode into Sunday for the 125-mile high altitude endurance run known as the Vapor 125.
Originally scheduled to start at 10 p.m. Saturday from the F Street bridge, it took two hours for weather to stabilize enough for racers to start.
Among 19 finishers, the best times were recorded by Josh Tostado of Alma at 10:43, Jason Stubbe of Gunnison at 12:28 and Aaron Huckstep of Crested Butte at 12:49.
Five women entered the event, but Eszter Horanyi of Boulder was the sole female finisher at 13:14.
Event organizer and rider Tom Purvis of Salida insisted the Vapor 125 isn't a race, but is a "group adventure ride" made easier for participants who set out to accomplish the difficult ride.
"In the first year we set out to make it a race with entry fees, permits and Search and Rescue, but we've decided it's better for participants and for us to make it a non-race social event," he said.
The 125-mile course, about six hours of which was ridden in darkness, attracts some of the most advanced riders from throughout Colorado by invitation only.
Capped annually at 45 riders, 36 participants this year left Salida in the middle of the night eventually turning north and west toward the Sawatch Range.
The course included 20,000 feet of climb and crossed the Continental Divide several times.
Because of the distance involved and remote back country of the course, riders are required to have wilderness survival skills. New participants must submit a resume of comparable rides.
By the time riders joined the Colorado Trail at Blank's Cabin, seven had dropped out for various reasons, but cold was cited as a main factor. Snow dusted 14,000-foot peaks of the Sawatch Range that night.
Riders followed the Colorado Trail to Cascade Campground, to St. Elmo, over the divide at Alpine Tunnel and down the railroad grade to the west approach to Old Monarch Pass.
Nate Porter of Salida said that with precipitation, those sections of the trail were "wild."
"Coming up from Cascade there was snow on the trees and nothing else. The lights reflecting off it was like riding through a tunnel - really cool," Porter said as he passed through the Monarch Pass checkpoint Sunday morning.
Riders climbed Old Monarch Pass, crossed to Marshall Pass, continued through the Silver Creek area toward Rainbow Trail, connected with U.S. 285 and returned to the Salida finish on Poncha Boulevard.
Organizers established aid stations and collected ride information such as times per segment and accounting for riders. Emergency medical technicians and search and rescue personnel were on standby-by throughout the event.
Purvis compared the overall experience to an "amusement park ride" with high and lows.
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