Barbara Lawlor, Boulder County. Around 8 a.m. Sunday, June 28, 241 bicyclists began the long uphill trek from Boulder to Peterson Lake at Eldora Mountain Resort. It is one of the most grueling bike races in the Front Range and this year it was even more so. The Mike Horgan Hill Climb has become part of the Boulder Stage Race, a three-day event.

On Friday, the racers did a time trial from Lyons to Boulder; On Saturday, they competed on the flats, a circuit between Hygiene and St. Vrain. On Sunday they finished with the hill climb.

There were 241 finishers from 41 Colorado cities,  including 62 teams,  11 racers 60 and older, and one racer 70 and over.

Most of the participants would agree the hardest part was the switchbacks at the beginning of Magnolia Road. The riders left en masse and had spread out by the time they started up the hill. The leads streamed along the green pastures and beside green-leafed aspens as they pushed to Hwy. 119 and the short downhill stretch from Magnolia to the Eldora turnoff. They were accompanied by a motorcycle and traffic patrol officers letting them gain their speed and make the turn.

The first cyclist to hit the finish was Josh Yeaton, 25, of Boulder, an engineer who spends his non-working time traveling and racing. Just before he began the three-day Boulder race, he was in Minnesota, coming in eighth in a race featuring short, steep hills.

“But Magnolia Road is the steepest road run. All you can do on the washboards is just hang on.”

Josh says that the top 10 racers split $1,000 for their effort, but he’s not in it for the money.

“Winning the cash is a bonus. It’s an incentive but not the reason for racing. When you are suffering on the course, it’s always good to know there’s a little money at the end.”

Josh made the finish with a 1:23.43 time. Thomas Wavrin came in a close second with a time of 1:23.48.

Fourth place Rory Kelly said the first-time stage race made it more complicated. “I am very tired, exhausted, but it’s all downhill from here and I can take a nap. It was very hot yesterday, but being up here is very pleasant.”

The  first woman to cross the finish was Samantha Lunsky, 23, of Boulder, a CU student who just began racing last year. She says she does better going uphill and she was nervous at the beginning of the race, wanting to go but knowing she had to conserve her energy. She did better when she began the climb. She was barely breathing hard as she crossed the finish.

After each grouping of racers came in there was a short medal presentation on a cardboard box podium for the top winners. After downing water and bananas, many of the racers turned around and headed down through Nederland into Boulder Canyon—a piece of cake after their three-day, 100-mile, hot, dusty, bumpy, hilly first Boulder Stage Race.