INDEPENDENCE PASS — The costumes were out. The beer was flowing. Bill Walton pedaled through on his monster bike. Mike Tierney rode his unicycle up from Aspen. Lance Armstrong cheered from the roadside. Festooned cycling fans boogied in the street.
Independence Pass once again transformed from a lonely alpine outpost into the highest party in Colorado on Wednesday as hundreds of spectators flocked to the 12,095-foot apex of the USA Pro Challenge.
In a twist on the race’s most festive mountaintop gathering, hundreds pedaled to the top of the pass. By the time the riders were passing through Wednesday afternoon, bicycles easily outnumbered cars. That’s a major shift from the race’s inaugural traverse of Independence Pass in 2011. Back then, the Forest Service surprisingly allowed spectators to camp along the mountain road. .
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That scared the Forest Service.
“It wasn’t sustainable for the alpine tundra,” said Martha Moran, recreation manager for the agency’s Aspen-Sopris Ranger District.
The next year, , drawing the ire of both race spectators and organizers, who pleaded with the agency to reconsider.
The gathering amassed on Independence has dwindled over the years. There were maybe 1,000 people up there Wednesday. Just right, Moran said.
The party still raged. Ryan Kost of Arvada was in his hillbilly costume, clanging a pot while his pals blasted dance music. Their bubble machine cranked out floating spheres.
“My goal again this year is to get riders to take a shot of whiskey,” Kost said. “It worked with a couple of them last year.”
Miles to Go
Aspen homegrown hero Keegan Swirbul was feeling strong heading into his second Pro Challenge. There were some lingering headaches from a concussion he suffered in a crash two weeks ago in a race in Italy, but the 19-year-old, racing with Axeon, had rested through the Tour of Utah.
“I thought I was going to be all right,” he said, lining up to watch the Stage 3 finish in downtown Aspen.
But race doctors pulled him from the race on the night before the fifth annual Pro Challenge was set to start in Steamboat Springs. He had failed the concussion protocol, even after resting for two weeks. Swirbul, who exploded onto the pro biking limelight in 2012 as a in Aspen’s Power of Four mountain bike race, was eyeing this year’s Pro Challenge as an opportunity to find that glory again. Without the big names, this year’s Pro Challenge could propel up-and-coming riders into cycling’s upper echelon.
“Hopefully next year,” said Swirbul, who will take October off and then begin training for next season. “There are a lot of new guys showing their face this year. It’s cool to see.”
Wednesday’s Stage 3
Kiel Reijnen repeated his Aspen victory from a year ago, edging BMC’s Rohan Dennis and Ruben Zepuntke of Cannondale-Garmin at the finish line after a screaming descent from Independence Pass. After a climb up Fremont Pass, an 11-rider breakaway formed that carried to the foot of Independence Pass. A three-rider breakaway took off as the climbing continued higher, and BMC rode from the peloton to try to bridge the gap. The main field shrunk to 10 riders as they crested Independence Pass behind BMC’s efforts. On the ensuing descent, BMC was positioned for the win, but Reijnen won by about a bike length.
Daniel Petty, The Denver Post
