RME #2-Front Range 60

Report and Photos by Shawn Lortie

(MAY 7, 2011)-Lakewood Co-A warm spell settled in over the Front Range and temperatures would climb into the eighties before the day was done. Hundreds of racers showed up to test themselves in race #2 of the Rocky Mountain Endurance series. Put on by Warriors Cycling, the event was held at Bear Creek Lake State Park where a 10-mile loop of mostly singletrack ran through the expansive acreage of the park.

The race was run on the same course as last year, only in the opposite direction.  With lots of fast rolling trail, and just a few short climbs each lap, the winner of the Men’s Marathon, Kalen Beisel (Pro Cycling/SRAM), was averaging somewhere around 17 mph. The race organizers decided to run the Half Marathon later in the afternoon, which cleared up the course for the Full Marathon. Doug Johnson (Bandwagon Racing) finished 8^th overall for the day and leads the RME Series in the 40-49 class, had this to say, “It was really nice not having the half marathon on course at the same time, that saved me a few hundred ‘on your lefts’ “.

In the Men’s Marathon, Kalan Beisel took the win after both Brady Kappius (Clif Bar) and Taylor Sheldon (Tokyo Joes) had to deal with flats. Sheldon also went down hard after colliding with a spectator. After riding together as a three-man breakaway for 5 laps, the mishaps suffered by Kappius and Sheldon let Beisel get away and win by more than 6 minutes.  At the finish it was Beisel with the win, Sheldon in second, and Travis Macy (Team Merrell Adventure) coming in third.

In the Women’s Marathon Kelly Boniface (Moots) escaped a tough Sonya Looney (Topeak /Ergon) after the two battled from the gun. “Last year, I felt that Amanda Carey pushed the pace from the start, and she and I battled for many laps before we both detonated and Kelly Boniface came around us. This year, Kelly and I were leading the pack. She was mellow at the start, so I decided to push it and see what happened,” related Looney. 

Boniface was able to pull away as Lisa Hudson (Feedback Sports) caught up to Looney at the beginning of lap two. “We spent the lap going back and forth,” said Looney, “Coming into lap 3, I opened up a gap and spent the rest of the race looking over my shoulder.”  Looney did hold on, finishing second behind Boniface, with Hudson taking third.

Now that two of the five races in the RME Series have been run, a leaders jersey has been awarded to the rider leading each age category. “Thanks to Pactimo and the Rocky Mountain Endurance series for hooking us up with those cool series leader jerseys. I think it adds something tangible to all your efforts and is a step in the right direction to bring in more riders, fans and sponsors,” said Doug Johnson.  

For full race results see: Warriors Cycling