Taking clothes off while you’re riding is pretty tough to do. Being able to dress just right to knock the chill off but then not end up overheating, it’s tricky. Coal Bank can actually get pretty hot when you’re climbing, and you don’t want to be overheating and carrying extra stuff on ya. “You don’t want to carry too much gear up there.
“It’s hard to say how to dress properly,” Overend said. Wells expects the weather, with snow piled high on the shoulders of the highway, to favor local riders. Knowing how to dress and handle the conditions is key to success in the short, punchy race.
It’s supposed to be a mostly clear morning with no precipitation, but temperatures on Coal Bank and Molas could hover at or below the freezing point of 37 degrees by the time the pro riders get into the mountains. It’s this weekend’s weather conditions that many believe could favor Overend once more. I’ve been back here for a few days, but the weather hasn’t been very good, especially in the high country. “I was in South America for a couple of weeks, northern California a few weeks after that. “I’m not that wound up about it, you know? I’ve done some training, but it was a tough time to train,” Overend said. Highway 550 and what goes into the climbs of Shalona Hill, Coal Bank Pass and Molas Pass better than Overend. As always, Overend was coy about his chances of winning a sixth title this Saturday, but no one doubts his ability to take another top-10 or to even cross the line first. He has raced in every IHBC road race since 1982 and won his fifth title in 2011. Ned Overend, 63, will compete in Saturday’s road race. Fort Lewis College cycling alum and 303Cycling pro rider Griffin Easter will also compete for the first time in an IHBC road race, though he competed in several downtown criterium races during his time at FLC, where he won a collegiate road race national championship. Durango’s Benjamin Sonntag has been close, including his photo-finish second place to McElveen in 2016. If a break goes and you make it in the break, all of those guys will have a chance.”Ī favorite in the road race that features more than 5,000 feet of climbing could be Durango’s Payson McElveen, the 2016 IHBC champ, though he is unsure if he will compete after a recent bout against flu-like symptoms. It should be exciting because there are a lot of guys on a fairly similar level, and it’s going to come down to whoever happens to have a good day that day. “A lot of guys can win, but it’s not like Sepp is racing and you just know Sepp is going to win the race. “It’s hard to pick a favorite,” said Durango’s Todd Wells, a three-time mountain bike Olympian and now an assistant race director for the IHBC. As to who will win either race, it’s anyone’s guess. Still, several elite athletes remain, but there is uncertainty as to who will compete and which riders will be willing to race in a nearly 50-mile road race from Durango to Silverton as well as Sunday’s mountain bike race in downtown Durango.
It’s taken a toll on the men’s field for the 2019 IHBC weekend in Durango. Rising road star Quinn Simmons is racing in junior races in Europe, and fellow junior Riley Amos is competing in junior Canadian Cup mountain bike races this weekend. Christopher Blevins is racing World Cup mountain bike races in Europe. Howard Grotts, the 2016 Olympian who was l ast year’s IHBC champ and back-to-back King of the Mountain winner, has taken much of the spring off and is unlikely to compete this weekend a year after outsprinting Keegan Swirbul, the 2015 IHBC winner who just competed at the Tour of California.
Sepp Kuss, the 2017 champion and World Tour rider, is at the Giro d’Italia. So much of Durango’s top talent is out of town that the 48th Iron Horse Bicycle Classic could be any rider’s race.