Spring was in the air as the 40+ Durango Devo athletes, parents and coaches arrived in Salida, Colorado for their second Team Race of the 2011 race season. The Rampage by the River was the 3rd race in the Mountain States Cup Series and once again, Durango was represented heavily in every category and event.
The Devo team camped out together 2 miles east of Salida. One of the Devo Moms’ Kimberly was kind enough to drive her 5th wheel into camp and provided hot healthy meals for breakfast lunch and dinner to whomever wanted in. It was the first time the team has had the eating part of race weekends perfected. So spoiled now!
Friday nights team preride of the cross country course was delayed by rain, but soon enough, the storm went away and warming up occurred. At camp that night, the team hung around the campfire and joked about our last days on earth.
Saturday morning brought amazing winds. Winds so fast that Sweet Elites Howard Grotts took the second fastest time trial of the day and won the junior cat 1 category. Teammates Sepp Kuss took 3rd and Gino Pastore finished 5th. Gino’s older sister Alicia also won the junior women category easily. The U14 boys managed to sweep the podium as all 4 rode very strong with Charlie Greenberg, Keenen Desplanques, Perrin Killeen and Dylan Williamson going 1 through 4. U14 gal teammate, Sierra Trout also won her race. Coaches Sarah and Annie took 1st and 2nd in their categories.
That afternoon, the winds blew us all over the place. Some kids went back to camp and ate more of Kim’s great home cooking, some went into downtown Salida and soaked up the scene, parents went for sweet Salida rides, and some took shelter and awaited the brutal Short Track race later that afternoon.
The Short Track was one tough cookie. A longish 3 minute dirt road climb, led to a technical, exposed 3 minute downhill singletrack, making it more of a circuit course race than a traditional short track. The Cat 1 boys went first and it was Devo alumni and Sweet Elite superstar, Howard Grotts all the way from the gun. In the process of winning, he set the fastest time, beating the winner of the pro mens race later that day! Teammates Stephan Davoust and Haakon Sigerslid finished 3 and 4 for another good looking Devo podium. In the Cat 1 womens race, it was Alicia Rose again with the dominating performance, making her undefeated on the year. This is here last race in the States for the next 3 weeks, as she has ben invited to Europe to compete with the USA Cycling junior development program.
In the Pro Mens race, Coach Chad Cheeney and Sweet Elite’s Tad Elliott and Colton Anderson all looking to represent Devo. In the end it was Colton taking 4th, Tad 11th and Coach Chad rode off the back in 16th place. Sage Wilderman and Teal Stetson-Lee of Sweet Elite, dominated the Pro Womens race with Sage taking the win by 3 minutes and Teal sprinting for 3rd place on the finish climb. Charlie Greenberg of the U14 boys team rode strong in the last race and wo from the gun. Never giving up throughout the race, his time was the fastest Under 14 time of the day!
That night the team met in Downtown Salida for awards at the Boathouse restaurant. Hands were sore from high fiving as the podium was filled over and over with Durangoans. The festive atmosphere carried over to camp as the team meeting was followed by another great Schwag-Fest. Local cyclists and industry-men, donate cycling goods to Devo and they are given away at each team race to athletes and family. It has turned into a very exciting event.
The sunday race schedule had the juniors going last at 1:30 and 3:30pm. This made for an unusual comfy morning around camp. While most of the team slept, Coach Sarah rode her singlespeed 3 miles into town, rode the race, won the race and rode home just in time for coffee and breakfast.
The Cat 1 and 2 Boys were first to go and it again was Howard Grotts inning by a large margin. His teammate Sepp Kuss pulled out an amazing performance and finished behind him in second place for his best Cat 1 result to date. Teammates Gino Pastore. Stephan Davoust, Levi Kurlander, Haakon Sigerslid and Elliott Saslow rounded out the dominant Devo team performance and finished 4th through 8th! In the Cat 2 Boys race it was Devo rookie Nate Andrews best finish with a 3rd place. Alisha Rose won the junior girls cross country race by 21 minutes.
In the Cat 3 Boys 15-18 race it was first time racer and brand new Devo athlete Connor Yates taking the win with a sprint for the win on the final climb. Teammates Henry Larson, Chase Seivert, Andrew Cunningham and Owen Wertz finished 2nd through 5th. In the Under 14 Boys it was Keenan Desplanques winning and finishing 2nd overall with the start wave juniors, his best finish to date. River Weiss placed second and teammate Bryce Gordan ran in a front flat from a mile out to finish 4th. Teammates Perrin Killeen and Dylan Williamson finished 5th and 6th. The U14 girls race had Seirra Trout finishing 3rd to two of the fastest junior girls in the country. And last but not least, the Cat 3 15-18 girls saw U19ers India Waller and Robin Austin taking 1st ad 2nd.
The weekend was another great success for the Devo program. There were a lot of strong racing performances, but the most memorable part of the weekend had to be the great team atmosphere that was displayed throughout the event. Whether it be the parents cheering all over the course, or the finish line highfives, the campfire stories, the camp chair circles, one thing was common, the Durango Devo’s were loving life.
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