2011 Laramie Enduro

Story and Photos by Shawn Lortie

(July 30, 2011) Laramie Wy.-Clear skies and warm temperatures greeted racers for this years Enduro, with hundreds of racers tackling the 72 mile course that winds its way through the Laramie Range in Southeastern Wyoming. This is some awesome terrain that travels through more than a few different types of riding from windswept double track, to loose technical granite, to hard pack goodness through the woods. With 8600 ft. of climbing and generally fast trail conditions the winning times were blazingly fast.

In the Men’s Open race Kelly Magelky and Colby Pearce took an early lead around the 20-mile mark, with last years winner Jay Henry, and Barkley Robinson following close behind. By the last big climb up the Headquarters Trail more than 60 miles in, amazingly, the top three riders were still within a few minutes of each other.  Magelkey had taken the lead, with Henry chasing hard in second, and Pearce hanging tough in third. In the end that’s how the positions stayed across the line, with Magelkeys winning time of 4:39:46 beating Henry by a mere 30 seconds.

The fatigue that the hot temps and the intense sun had taken on these guys was obvious both in their pained expressions and salt soaked jerseys. Mike Hogan finished 8^th overall and won the 40-49 class had this to say about the race, “It was a tough day in the saddle. The course was in amazing shape. It has a way of sneaking up on you, as it seems to get progressively harder. The first 50 miles are loaded with fast and fun singletrack and these sections are separated by a few two-track road sections that have some deceptively hard climbs. Then you hit 50 miles and you wonder what happened to your legs? Overall it was a super great race that should be on everyone's list!”

In the Women’s Open race Gretchen Reeves took the lead from the start. Kelly Boniface rode hard and fought all day to bring Reeves back, but couldn’t make it happen. “I went into Laramie pretty tired.” Said Boniface, “I raced well for about 3 hours and then just ran out of gas. I was happy with the fact that I was able to dig deep and finish in second, but I would have liked to have felt better and to have been able to ride with Gretchen at least for a little while!”

The post race party is always a good one, and this year didn’t disappoint, with great food and drinks for all to top off another excellent year of the Enduro. As Boniface says, “I love the vibe of that race, the course, and the volunteers, and we always have a big representation from Steamboat, which makes it even more fun.” Indeed, this race has a great feel and the Laramie Range is a special place with great riding!

For full race results see: LaramieEnduro.org