A few posts back, I reported on the Leadville 100 MTB, a mountain bike race with 3,000 participants, most of whom were amateurs. Other than high grueling terrain, the 2 races have little in common: 7 days vs 1, pros vs amateurs, entirely different equipment, highway vs mountain trails, live national TV coverage vs local newspapers, and, last but not least - $. Big $ vs zero $.
This first group of 5 break-away riders were a good bit ahead of the main group,
perhaps because some riders crashed a ways back, slowing down those behind the crash and allowing those ahead of the crash to gain a substantial lead. The yellow-green 'silo' on the left, and its counterpart across the street, are sprint markers: first rider across the line that runs between the 2 silos wins a cash prize put up by one of the sponsors.
The Challenge riders are backed by deep-pocket sponsors. In the hour or so that we waited for the riders to appear, dozens of race-related vehicles passed by, including law enforcement in all shapes and sizes (but mostly motorcycles), race marshals and photo teams on motorcycles, Nissan 'official race vehicles', a loud-haler car blaring out the names of the current leaders and expected arrival time, EMT vehicles, an airplane, a helicopter.
The rest of the pack.
Unlike the Leadville race, where the riders finished over a 6-hour period, the pros passed by in mere seconds, going about 50 MPH.
Closely following the riders, were the sponsor support cars, each with several spare bikes on top. Everything - riders, bikes, cars, support crews - were decked out in team colors sporting sponsor logos. Quite a spectacle!
PS to Dodge Service Sucks!: I forgot to mention that I emailed the Dodge dealerships in Grand Junction and Salida long before calling the Salida dealership and making an appointment. I never received an email reply from either dealership.
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