Cecily Decker repeats as Bighorn Gravel 85-mile champion and 2020 Olympian beats the boys in the 50

Same course. Same script.

“It was a little déjà vu,” Cecily Decker said after winning her second-straight Bighorn Gravel Ram’s Horn Escape title. “I didn’t see another woman all day.”

On a hot, dusty and windy day, the Santa Fe cyclist pulled away on the first climb and never looked back in earning an 11-minute win, crossing the Gypsum finish line in 5 hours, 42 minutes, 38 seconds. Road national champion Lauren Stephens (5:53:43) took the silver and Sarah Lange (6:04:17) rounded out the podium at the fourth-annual event. While Decker’s result on paper was the same, the 27-year-old former U.S. Ski Team Alpine racer said she suffered more today than last summer.

“I definitely had a lot of low points and just because I had a big gap, I could kind of let myself ease up when I was feeling bad and then push it when I was feeling good,” she said. “I hit that last climb and I was just kind of cracked. I knew I had a good gap, so I probably was one of the slowest people climbing that last climb.”

Decker’s Pas Normal Studios teammate Karolina Migon — who came into the event having won the prestigious Unbound Gravel 200-mile race — crashed 20 minutes in.

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“At some point I wondered like, ‘ah, maybe I should give up and save some energy for another weekend,'” Migon said. “But then on the other hand, it’s such a nice course, it would be sad not to finish.”

Working from 10th, the Polish star climbed into sixth going up to the course’s high point at 11,000 feet. While the altitude sapped her strength, her competitiveness built as the race wore on.

“After descending to a bit lower altitude, I felt better again,” she said. “Also, passing other girls gave me more power to push.”

On the final climb up Red Hill Road, Migon and Emily Newsome were able to catch local rider Haley Dumke, who’d ridden solo for all but the first 5 miles.

“I was like, ‘oh know, how am I going to keep up with this person?’ I was able to sort of hang on but just couldn’t close the gap,” Dumke said.

Migon wound up finishing fourth as Newsom and Dumke battled for the final podium spot. In the end, it was Newsom (6:18:34) who claimed the cash as Dumke (6:18:44) finished just 10 seconds out of the money for the second-straight year.

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“I was a little bit crushed right after I finished. Still am a little. Just to be that close, to stand on the podium with the women who are at this race — it’s hard,” Dumke said. “I am happy with how I rode. I wasn’t expecting to feel this good and I was able to keep everything under control. I’m a little bummed.”

Decker and Migon both plan to race at Steamboat Gravel next weekend. Decker, who was third in that race last year, said Sunday’s gutty performance has given her the confidence to go for the win.

“Especially knowing this course is like a million times harder,” she said before adding that she’d also like to return to Gypsum and go for the three-peat. “I really like this course and this race.”

Huck beats the boys to win overall 50-mile title

Erin Huck might doubt whether she’s capable of improving speed with age, but her sprint finish at the end of the Little Bighorn race tells a different story. The 44-year-old Olympian held off Cormac Dunn to win the 50-mile event outright in a time of 3:33:43.

“I was just here to have fun and go hard,” Huck said after beating the boys.

Greg Stokes ripped the first singletrack on his mountain bike to move into an early lead, but Huck and Dunn caught up on the first climb.

“I was just trying to make sure I was keeping it honest,” said Huck, who pushed the pace on the climbs but was caught on the downhills. “We were working pretty well together.”

Stokes’ gears spun out on the pavement at the end of the gradual Gypsum Creek Road descent. As he dropped off the back, the race turned into a two-person affair.

“I tried to attack but I didn’t know where I was going,” Huck admitted with a laugh. “So (Dunn) was behind me and giving me directions because I didn’t know what the finish looked like — that was very nice of him.”

Through the final grassy straightaway, Huck held off her male counterpart to become the first female to win the overall in the event’s four-year history.

Coming off a double-victory at the GoPro Mountain Games earlier this month, the Boulder-based cyclist now turns her focus back to the Life Time Grand Prix, which continues with the Leadville 100 on Aug. 9. Last year, Huck finished fourth in 7:20:14 — just 10 minutes behind winner Melisa Rollins — despite losing 14 minutes to fix a flat. She’d love to repeat — or improve upon – her performance.

When asked if a sub-7-hour time is within reach, Huck said, “I don’t know if I can get faster as I get older.”

We’ll just have to wait and see.