Two local Cook County high school boys, Henry DeArruda-Weaver and Will Surbaugh, traveled to Colorado with Will’s father, Steve, to take part in the three-stage mountain bike race in Leadville, Colorado. Riding through brutal ups and downs in rare air, Will ended up in third place and Henry in 5th place in their age groups. At 10,152 feet, Leadville is the highest U.S. city by altitude.
A flat tire five miles from the finish line cost Will Surbaugh second place in his age group at the three-stage Leadville 100- mile mountain bike race held in Leadville, Colorado. Still, Will fixed the tire, climbed back on his bike and pushed his pedals hard to the finish, crossing in third place to earn a coveted podium finish in this prestigious race.
Will’s combined three-day aggregate time was 8:08:52.
Not far behind Will was his teammate and buddy Henry DeArruda-Weaver. Henry finished with a time of 9:18:47, good for a solid 5th place finish. As Henry said, “flying back down power-line and Columbine provided me with a whole new definition to ‘shredding the gnar.’”
A third participant was Will’s dad, Steve, who had a combined three-day time of 12:46:24.
Three years ago, the Leadville Race Series incorporated a new event: the Leadville Stage Race. The challenge is the same, the course follows the same rugged terrain that made the Leadville Trail 100 famous, but now it is spread over three days. This year’s event occurred July 28 – 30.
The local trio left Cook County five days before the event in an attempt to have some time to acclimate to the elevations while also riding and learning certain challenging sections of the course. The race starts at an altitude of 10,200 feet and crosses over three mountain passes with a total elevation gain over three days of nearly 13,000 feet.
The first day racers traveled 42 miles. Grinding, they scratched their way up St. Kevin’s to an elevation of approximately 11,200 feet, and then crossed over Sugarloaf Cove before making their way down a tortuous mountain power line and cutting across the Rocky Mountain hillsides to Twin Lakes.
On day 2 competitors had 20 miles to traverse. The course wound its way up a goat trail above the tree line to the top of Columbine Mountain where the riders turned back at 12,600 feet before making their way down to Twin Lakes.
To put the climb in perspective, on average, it takes a rider about two hours to climb to the top and less than 30 minutes to wheel back down.
On day 3 tired bikers looked forward to riding 42 miles back to the town of Leadville, but this time it involved climbing the brutal power line. All in all the entire race was grueling and filled with raw punishment. But at the end, the boys loved it, and finishing it was a great accomplishment.
Each of the riders learned something about themselves during the race.
Steve learned what “shredding the gnar” meant from Henry and Will. He said he looks forward to closing the four-hour gap between him and his son in his next life.
As for Henry, “Will and I shredded Leadville, but it also shredded us too! And we are hopeful to make it back for the main event in the near future.”
And Will, who wasn’t one bit deflated by the flat tire incident, said he hopes to keep improving at Leadville, riding with exceptional speed, ability and enthusiasm, especially in difficult terrain and conditions, which is just another way of saying “shredding the gnar.”
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