Shelden and Donelson win Camp Hale Hup

Breckenridge cyclist Taylor Shelden got the new Tokyo Joe’s mountain bike team kit to the top of another podium Wednesday night, taking the Camp Hale Hup pro/open crown in a time of 1 hour, 9 minutes and 22 seconds. The former Jelly Belly-Maxxis UCI Continental team rider also stood atop the podium at Saturday’s Race Rendezvous 17.9-mile mountain bike race in Winter Park and was second in a sprint finish at the 67-mile Crooked Gravel on July 23.

Josiah Middaugh, who elected to simply bike himself to the 22-mile race from Avon as part of a 60-mile, 4,100-foot training day, finished 31 seconds back in second with fellow local Jake Wells rounding out the podium in 1:10:43.

“Camp Hale was a fun race, but that doesn’t mean it was easy!” Middaugh said, noting the long, flat gravel roads made breakaways difficult.

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“The high speeds make it hard to get away and even harder to bridge gaps,” he explained.

Former World Cup mountain biker Chris Baddick worked with Wells to try and thin out the group on the first lap.

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“People were testing each other in certain spots on the course and I was happy to see that I was still in podium contention going into the single track on the second lap,” Wells said.

Eli Kranefuss put in a surge on the second lap single track climb. Shortly after, Middaugh dropped a chain and could only helplessly watch as Kranefuss and Shelden continued.

“I saw Josiah had dropped his chain on the descent so I tried to hold his wheel for as long as I could but then I was just chasing for the rest of the lap,” Wells said.

The drama wasn’t over, however, as Kranefuss flatted coming down the last single track section. “Taylor was riding strong off the front,” Middaugh said of the race at that particular juncture.

“I think everyone was riding solo for the last 3 miles.”

Next up for Middaugh is a four-day gravel race in Canada, the Trans Rockies Gravel Royale, before a Spartan race in Kelowna and finally XTERRA Worlds in Italy on Oct. 1. 

Tamara Donelson took the women’s pro/open crown, racing away from four-time XTERRA USA champion Suzie Snyder (1:36:43) in a battle of multi-sport trail stars. Donelson, The Cycle Effect co-founder and Edwards Performance Team coach, is also an amateur XTERRA regional, national, and world champion. 

No matter the age category, all 119 athletes pedaled hard to beat an impending thunderstorm looming over the mountains south of the iconic 10th Mountain Division training site.

“I’m on a fitness maintenance program, I never really get any faster, just older,” stated Erik Dorf, who cruised to a win in the grand master expert (50+) division, covering the course in 1:15:50. Outside of the pro/open, only master expert champ (40+) Brandon Dyksterhouse (1:14:30) covered the course quicker than Dorf, who is looking forward to Steamboat Gravel in a couple of weeks. “I know a lot of locals are going up for that,” he said of the premiere gravel century ride, which Wells is also set to contest.

“I was coming off of a big weekend of training so overall I’m pretty happy with the way it played out,” Wells said of Wednesday’s efforts. 

The men’s sport division provided one of the evening’s closer finishes, with Vail Junior Cycling (VJC) athlete Bode Cobb getting a tire in front of Leadville’s Josiah Horning. So close was the finish that both were rewarded a time of 43:13, with VJC’s Eric Asselin hot on their heels in third (43:14). The trio took turns pulling throughout the race.

“It was a pretty fun, fast group to ride with,” Horning said.

In the final sprint, Horning made a move for the inside corner of the last turn while Cobb stayed wide. Cobb’s line choice proved to be decisive.

“My coach said that was a mistake,” Horning stated light-heartedly. The Lake County High School junior has good reason to be excited simply feeling the adrenaline from bike racing. He is 10 days from a monumental one-year anniversary of a training ride crash that nearly paralyzed the three-sport athlete. On Aug. 13, 2021, he flew over his handlebars, fracturing three vertebrae. The injury required a fusion in his neck. Three weeks later he had tethering surgery for scoliosis.

“So lots of work on my spine,” he said. When asked if he felt blessed to be riding hard again, he answered, “Yeah definitely. I wouldn’t say I’m 100%, but it feels very, very good.”

The Block & Chapleau Mountain Bike Town Series has just two races remaining on the 2022 schedule. The Berry Creek Bash is Aug. 17 in Edwards and the Vail Grind wraps up the season on Aug. 31.

Beginner Girls 8-10

Isabella Kanova 0:11:37
Kyler Brummer 0:11:40
Ava Serven 0:12:03

Sport Girls 8-10

Lindy Brummer 0:23:07

Sport Boys 8-10

Mathéo Gervais 0:18:33
Michael Max Max Major 0:19:28
Corbin Klesner 0:19:34
Owen Serven 0:28:08

Beginner Girls 11-14

Holly Berghauer 0:22:50

Beginner Boys 11-14

Brooks Bent 0:18:38
Tyler Moore 0:19:21
Colin Kaneda 0:19:30
Severin Richaud 0:20:43
Reid Tyler 0:25:01

Sport Girls 11-14

Susie Bullock 0:23:52
Eva Klesner 0:26:05

Sport Boys 11-14

Peter Kan Jr. 0:24:53
Cayle Brummer 0:26:55
Cooper McDonagh 0:27:36
Julian Ciszek 0:29:08
Thomas Marchand 0:29:14
Owen Harris 0:33:52

Beginner Men

Avery Smith 0:44:24
Owen Razee 0:54:10
Garrett Lodewyck 0:57:13

Sport Women

Melanie Watson 0:52:46

Sport Men

Bode Cobb 0:43:13
Josiah Horning 0:43:13
Eric Asselin 0:43:14
Freedom Bennett 0:44:59
Jack Sargent 0:44:59
Nolan Sawtelle 0:47:22
Casey Childers 0:47:23
Justin Brouse 0:51:52
Geoffrey Maples 1:05:13

Women’s Vet Sport (30+)

May Jackson 0:54:03
Kerry Brown 0:57:51

Men’s Vet Sport (30+)

Weston Sawtelle 0:43:25
Chris Gleeson 0:49:56
Matthew Viscido 0:53:47
Frederick Groos 0:54:34

Women’s Master Sport (40+)

Beth Bush 0:49:15
Alisa Santiesteban 0:50:10
Nancy Mires 0:52:43
Valerie Sloniker 0:54:09
Michelle Wolffe 0:57:41
Carrie Larson 0:59:19

Men’s Master Sport (40+)

Alfredo Santiesteban 0:42:11
Matt Razo 0:42:11
T.J. Voboril 0:42:49
Jason Rosener 0:42:50
Adam Kowalski 0:42:57
Bobby Brown 0:46:00
Andrew Atkins 0:46:20
Jared Napoleon 0:46:27
Tzvi Bieler 0:46:29
Matt Marshall 0:54:10
Eric Wannamaker 1:01:07

Men’s Grand Master Sport (50+)

Matt Johnson 0:45:01
Chip Craft 0:47:13
David LaGrange 0:49:11
Innes Isom 0:50:23
T Walters 0:51:11
Kavi Sachar 0:51:18
James Carullo 0:57:51
Kevin Simpson 1:18:52

Men’s Super Grand Master (60+)

Peter Davis 0:41:36
Ron Gruber 0:41:36
Mike Moher 0:51:01
Philippe Courtois 0:52:31
Tim McParlan 0:53:56
Paul Gotthelf 0:54:02

Expert Women

Lucy Perkins 0:44:35
Lisa Isom 0:45:24
Elona Greene 0:51:24

Expert Men

David Sanders 1:22:30
Carter Holzhei 1:22:36
Isak Lund 1:25:58

Women’s Vet Expert (30+)

Pavan Krueger 0:49:49
Heidi Trueblood 0:51:27

Men’s Vet Expert (30+)

Marshall Troutner 1:20:28
Kyle Wilcox 1:21:59
Miles Henson 1:22:17
Michael Sherven 1:24:04

Men’s Master Expert (40+)

Brandon Dyksterhouse 1:14:30
Michael Dorr 1:21:06
Michael Glass 1:22:57
Nick Crossed 1:24:49
Nick Brummer 1:26:36
Anton Kort 1:28:33
Rey Calzadilles 1:31:26
Carlos Soto Molina 1:42:48

Men’s Grand Master Expert (50+)

Erik Dorf 1:15:50
Stephen White 1:19:22
Matt Donovan 1:19:23
Robert Moehring 1:19:24
Jason Russell 1:20:45
Mike Trueblood 1:22:57
Jay Sapp 1:31:35
Dawes Wilson 1:35:56
Charles Brown 1:38:20

Women’s Single Speed

Erinn Hoban 0:53:34

Men’s Single Speed

Mark Nesline 1:23:59
Richard Knapp 1:26:01
BJ Psenda 1:37:00

Women’s Pro/Open

Tamara Donelson 1:29:57
Suzie Synder 1:36:43

Men’s Pro/Open

Taylor Shelden 1:09:22
Josiah Middaugh 1:09:53
Jake Wells 1:10:43
Christopher Baddick 1:11:25
Eli Kranefuss 1:12:45
Sam Brown 1:13:47
Brandon Hanson 1:14:28
Truett Bennett 1:16:45
Jonathan Modig 1:18:29
Aiden Brown 1:18:32
Garret Moehring 1:40:26

Vail Bike Swap set for Aug. 13

With the mountain bike season winding down, now is the time to trade out gently used bikes in good working order and/or find your ride for next year. The Vail Bike Swap, presented by Ski and Snowboard Club Vail and The Kind Bikes and Skis will take place at Battle Mountain High School in Edwards on Aug. 13 from 11 a.m. – 4 p.m. There is a 20% commission from each purchase going to SSCV to benefit the Vail Junior Cycling Team.

Equipment drop-off is Aug. 12 from 5-7p.m. and Aug. 13 from 8-10 a.m. and unsold equipment should be picked up on Aug. 13 between 4-5:30 p.m. Admission is $5 per person with children under 12 getting in free.

More information can be found at VailBikeSwap.com