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The 2008 Durango South Rim Duathlon is hosted by Durango Parks and Rec. This year it consisted of a kids race, short course and  long course.

The short course included a 2.5 mile run and a 6 mile bike section. The long course consisted of a 6 mile run and 18 miles of mountain biking (3 laps of the 6 mile run course).

The course was along the South Rim trail, a part of the greater Telegraph Trail System built by Trails 2000 and included fun twisty singletrack, short climbs (longest at 4 minutes) and one long muddy downhill down the Big Canyon trail.

We finished up 2nd in the 35 under team category with a 2:12, about 3.5 minutes out of first.

Overall Race Results:

Dan Ourada won the 19-34 age group (2:01.17).

Shonny Vanlandingham won the women’s (2:07:23). Kristin Danielson was second (2:29:30).

I survived the 2008 super sandy Alien Run, ended up 6th. It was not pretty. i ended up with a flat tire on the back side of the Alien course, caused by running over a few too many cacti in a dizzy anaerobic state. My Big Air cartridge came through and allowed me to fill up 3X to make it home.  Travis B took the pro class win with Zach Shriver in a close 2nd. $30 still gets you a race entry, t-shirt and a bar-b-que lunch, old school mountain bike style. More races should be managed like the Alien Run. ms

http://www.aztecufo.com/bike/ 

The “Alien Run at Hart Canyon” is a mountain bike trail that was developed by private citizens, Al & Deral Saiz along with two other brothers and various friends, all residents of Aztec. The trail was designed in response to the Friends of the Aztec Library’s call for a mountain bike rally as a possible fund-raiser during Aztec UFO99. These brothers responded to that call and designed the trail that circles the “alleged” crash site in Hart Canyon and is located on BLM Land . A special use permit was applied for but the proper studies that needed to be done for BLM clearance had not been done.  The July 2000 issue of New Mexico Magazine, featured a story on the trail as well as the local paper, The Daily Times. There have been inquiries from as far away as Hawaii , New York , and Montana , who accessed this information via the Aztec Library’s Web Page

Race Results are posted with Team BikeParts.com fielding 6 pro and semi-pro riders for the first MSC event in Fruita. Thanks to all the guys that made the trip over Fruita!

BikeParts.com team rider Jesse Swift mapped the Fruita Rabbit Valley Mountain Bike Race Cross Country Course with his Garmin Edge 205 and posted it here for everyone to view. Check it out!
MAP: MSC #1- Rabbit Valley XC | Mountain Biking | Fruita, Mesa, Colorado, United States

So, the closest “mountain bike” race to Denver is the Battle of the Bear in Lakewood at Bear Creek Reservoir. This course is flat and fast with 7-8 laps. One year it snowed 6″ the day before the race, only to have 90 degree temperatures the next year. I always enjoy the race because its a good time for the family and friends to come out and cheer at a course that doesn’t send me 30 miles into the lonely wilderness. I was excited to see that this year they have lengthen the course so you dont get dizzy racing it! Check out the map of the new course and the race website! See you on the dirt! - swift

Garmin Edge 205 GPS Unit - used to make this map!

Jon Watt sent me this link to a Velonews article about the Colorado Epic MTB Endurance Stage Race. Its nice to see that racers on a budget dont have travel to Costa Rica or BC to get a chance at an Epic-multi day-brutal stage race! What are your thoughts? Would you do a 5 day MTB stage race in CO? Would you only train and race big races that season? Would you race Solo or Team? - Swift

The 2008 Mountain States Cup series just got posted on their website. It looks like they came back with the classic races like Angel Fire, Crested Butte, Snow Mass, Telluride and Keystone. But I am REALLY excited to hear about the new race venues in Fruita and Sol Vista! I always love new courses! - Swift