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Descents provide technical aspect to Iron Horse Bicycle Classic road race

Tricky turns not for the faint of heart

Flying down a mountain pass at speeds of 40 mph on a thin tire with exposed drops of hundreds of feet can be an intimidating experience.

That’s what cyclists in the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic face each year when they descend from the top of Molas Pass to complete the 47-mile race from Durango to Silverton.

“Going 35-40 miles an hour with 1 centimeter of rubber between you and the road gives you some pause,” said women’s professional racer Marisa Asplund, last year’s women’s road race champion and three-time runner up to Mara Abbott. “Some of the turns going into Silverton, you see the drop off on the right and think, ‘Maybe I should get a little more inside.’”

When thinking about the Iron Horse, it is easy to focus on the grueling task of ascending 5,700 feet between Durango and Silverton. With two big climbs up Coal Bank and Molas passes, racers certainly have to be in pristine physical condition.

But the final descent from the top of Molas Divide at 10,910 feet into Silverton at 9,305 feet can make the butterflies in a rider’s stomach swirl as fast as the athletes winding through the steep turns.

“A lot of people are frightened of those descents because of the exposure off the side. You might worry about riding off the edge,” said five-time IHBC road race champion and 59-year-old local legend Ned Overend. “You have to be relaxed and think about not holding your breath on the downhill. Beginners definitely will get nervous.”

After a steep 1,800-foot climb up Coal Bank Pass from Cascade, racers will descend 800 feet to Lime Creek before another 1,000 foot climb up Molas Pass. Then, the race is all about the 1,600 foot descent from the top of Molas into Silverton. That descent occurs all in a seven-mile stretch.

“If you don’t go good down that last hill and somebody is close to you coming fast, they can catch you in that downhill,” said 2006 IHBC men’s road race champion Rolando Gonzalez, a perennial top-five finisher. “That seven or eight miles from Molas to Silverton is just enough for someone to go ahead. You have to keep focused and hone in the best you can so not to lose speed breaking in the corners.”

Overend knows first-hand what it is like to lose during that final stretch. He also knows what it is like to come from behind and chase down the leader.

“The downhill is technical, especially when it is windy,” the Specialized rider said. “One year I caught Howard Grotts on the downhill and managed to get by him, and he’s a lighter guy and was blowing around more.

“A few years ago some big kid from Giant-Strawberry took 10 seconds out of us to regain the group. Bigger guys do better in the descent because they have more weight.”

Experienced professionals admit the IHBC descents are a bit less intimidating than some they’ve encountered. Their confidence is elevated by open roads, as the passes are closed to vehicle traffic during the race.

That allows them to focus entirely on their technique and positioning in the turns.

Overend said equipment choices make all the difference when it comes to speed and steadiness.

“If you have a taller aero section on your rims, the wind catches it and can blow you around. You might be faster with the aero rims, but they also can get blown around more and make you hit the breaks,” Overend said. “Another part of it is what you wear. If you’ve got a big flapping jacket on, it doesn’t matter how much your bike costs, it will slow down the descent.”

Overend has mastered the positioning on his seat for the downhills. While he stays on his seat, it isn’t by much, as he leans all the way forward and puts the full weight of his chest on his handlebars.

“You have to have an aerodynamic tuck. You have to drop your head down and lean to the outside a bit to counteract centrifugal force,” he said. “Leaning over the bars makes a wedge shape that is good for the aerodynamics.

“It’s not the best position for beginners, though.”

Four-time women’s rider Mara Abbott of Boulder, like Overend, knows what it is like to lose a race in the final descent. She said that’s what helped her get over having any nerves of the steep downhill turns.

“It depends on the day and depends on the conditions. Sometimes it’s scary,” she admitted. “After losing races on descents, you get motivated to get past that fear.”

jlivingston@ durangoherald.com

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