Eagle County cyclist takes silver medal at Park City Point 2 Point
TJ Tropsa/Courtesy photo
Sometimes, signing up for a race at the last minute is the way to go.
Haley Dumke has known most of the spring and summer what her main targets would be for the season: the Life Time Grand Prix — particularly Unbound Gravel and the Leadville 100 — as well as her local race, Bighorn Gravel, which took place in June. She didn’t have the Park City Point 2 Point on the calendar, however, until a couple days before the Aug. 30 event.
“I just kind of got to this latter part of the season and I haven’t really raced my mountain bike very much,” she said. “I was just kind of thinking going somewhere new and being on my mountain bike would refresh my mental state a little bit and get me excited about the rest of the season.”
“And I’m super happy I went,” she continued. “Just what the doctor ordered and the course was amazing.”
Without any pre-riding to speak of, Dumke completed the roughly 77-mile point-to-point course — which was on singletrack 90% of the time and climbed 10,000 feet — in 7 hours, 31 minutes and 4 seconds. Chelsea Bolton (7:01:01) claimed the pro women’s win while Amity Rockwell (7:48:32) rounded out the podium. Zach Calton, who won the inaugural Bighorn Gravel three years ago, claimed a dominant win on the men’s side. The 28-year-old cruised into the finish in 5:45:29, almost 18 minutes ahead of Truman Glasgow and third-placer Jacob Allen.
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After just missing the podium at Bighorn and coming away from Leadville somewhat disappointed, Dumke rode carefree through Park City’s extensive singletrack network.
“I feel like it’s been awhile since I haven’t had that pressure,” she said. “I just wanted to ride how I was feeling. It was the most I’ve felt like myself racing in a few months.”
The Minturn 32-year-old wasn’t the only Eagle County cyclist in the 356-member field, either. Michael Hand (7:32:03) placed 37th for men and Mike Dorr (7:39:29) was seventh in the 40-49 age-group. Ron Gruber was second in the 50-plus age group and finished 69th overall in 8:10:51. The 62-year-old, who won the season-long age group crown in the Vail Recreation District town series and relished the chance to race the Leadville 100 with his son earlier in August, said this has been the best year of riding yet.
“I was smiling the whole time,” he said of his first Park City Point 2 Point appearance. “Loved the trails — I was happy.”
