Full Moon and Clear Skies for the Vapor Trail 125

Davis and Horanyi Shatter Records.

(September 10, 2011) Salida, Colo. - At 9 pm on September 10th, 49 riders, ranging in age from mid-20’s to 60, congregated at Absolute Bikes in Salida. Dressed ready to undertake 125 miles of high-altitude riding through the middle of the night, clothing choices ranged as wide as the ages. While most mortals were getting ready to call it an evening, this brave bunch of mountain bikers waited anxiously for final instructions from Tom Purvis before setting off to tackle one of the hardest, if not the hardest, one day mountain bike race in the country.

Shawn Gillis, owner of Absolute Bikes, Tom Purvis and Heidi Slaymaker put on the epic Vapor Trail 125 race dubbed “A High Altitude Ultramarathon Mountain Bike Enduro.”.  The Vapor Trail is a monster that climbs 20,000 feet through the mountains west of Salida.  Though only 25 miles longer than the Leadville 100, finishing times for the VT125 are generally twice that of Leadville.

Tom Purvis, long time race director, describes the creation process to the monster: “Andrew Mesesan was the guy who came up with the idea. We all loved night riding and liked the idea of coming up with a race that had the nighttime element without being a lap race. Andrew is a big-adventure kind of guy. He had tramped around doing long vision-quest-rides up and over the continental divide. And he was really fascinated by our railroad legacy--those long steady climbs designed for narrow gauge locomotives that have become such an asset to endurance riders in these parts.”

This year, the fickle mountain weather brought clear skies and a full moon making it a wonderful cold night at high altitude.  Many chose to ride the initial 5 mile climb to Blanks Cabin with lights turned off, relying on only the light of the moon to light the way.  Jonathan Davis arrived at the Cabin, the first check point, 2 minutes ahead of his nearest competitors.  “Jonathan rode away from us all, and then kept riding,” said eventual 5th place finish Kurt Refsnider.  Giving chase along the Colorado Trail, over the Alpine Tunnel, Tomichi Pass, and Granite Peak at nearly 13,000 feet, all in the dark, were Refsnider and Aaron Gulley of Santa Fe.  Gulley had an unfortunate flat at 12,900 feet and was forced to fix a torn sidewall at high altitude, in the dark, and at sub-freezing temperatures.

At the bottom of the Canyon Creek descent was the famous Dave Wiens pancake and sausage aid station.  While the temptation to end the ride here and enjoy the hospitality of the Gunnison Crew was strong for many, riders had been told by Purvis not to quit here because “then we have to find you a ride back.”  Jarral Ryter, of Gunnison, was told by his wife that he had to keep going because she wasn’t going to drive him to Salida to pick up his stuff.

Headed up Old Monarch Road, Aaron Huckstep and Dan Loftus, both of Crested Butte gave chase to the leaders.  At the top, riders were greeted with the Salida High School Mountain Bike Team and were immediately mobbed by young riders ready to lube chains, clean bikes and provide food.  The route continued along the Monarch Crest to Marshall Pass where riders were greeted by the extra-credit Starvation Creek Loop.  After a rocky descent down Starvation Creek, riders are forced to climb 5-miles up Poncha Creek road to Marshall Pass again, the crux of the second half of the route.

When asked what he thought of the climb at the top, Loftus claimed, “The descent almost made it worth it.”

Riders then continued along the Crest to Silver Creek trail, descending down to the “Dinty Moore” aid station manned by Colorado Trail Race winner Kevin Thomas. The final 10 miles of trail traverses the Rainbow trail and tends to put a smile back on the faces of exhausted riders before they descend back to Shawn Gillis’ house for the finish line and post-race BBQ.

Jonathan Davis of Blackhawk shattered the record with a finishing time of 13 hrs 42 minutes.  Aaron Huckstep of Crested Butte put in a stellar ride on the second half of the course and rolled into the finish second with Gulley holding onto third and Loftus rolling in fourth.  Eszter Horanyi of Crested Butte came in at 18:27 as the first female across the finish line on her single speed, also setting a new course record.  “I’ve made better decisions in my life, but I’ve also made worse ones,” said Horanyi when asked about her bike choice for the route.

Riders and volunteers mingled at the BBQ watching their compatriots roll in all afternoon, each rider greeted with applause and cheers.  Huckstep, multiple time finisher of the race claimed, “The Vapor Trail is the hardest race I've ever done, without a doubt. Salida's send-off and the support along the course make this one a must-do.  And getting to ride some of the greatest singletrack in the country in one ride?  Yeah I'm tired and sore, but damn that was fun!”  

The final finisher of the monster ride was 60 year old Kent Davidson, rolling in at 7:56 pm, just shy of a 22-hour ride.  He too was greeted with a heros welcome, just like every rider before him.

Imags by Chris Miller