Gallery: Winter strikes again at Old Man Winter Rally

The Rocky Mountains first gravel race of the year put the riders through gritty conditions as snow from the previous day melted into slushy slop along the 75km course

02:00, Tuesday 6th February 2024

Logan Jones-Wilkins

Junior Writer - North America

Share

A look at the grit and grime of Colorado's first gravel race of the season

In the week leading up to the Old Man Winter Rally, it seemed as if the name of the race would be the only thing wintery about it as sunny and 60-degree Fahrenheit temperatures bathed the Front Range of Colorado.

While the race, which has occupied the first slot in the Colorado cycling calendar for the past decade, has had its fair share of fair-weather days, 2024 would not be one of those editions. Come the eve of the race, everything changed.

On Saturday, a heavy dose of wet snow hit Colorado, with the Boulder area that hosted the race collecting nine inches of new snow over 24 hours. In a day, the winter moniker of the race was back in a big way. A start time adjustment and a shortened 75km course to avoid the impassable Rowena Trail followed before the race rolled out of the small town of Lyons on Sunday.

Nevertheless, the conditions changed as quickly as they developed and instead of a dry, snowless trek around the roads of Boulder County, the peloton was treated to a race across rapidly thawing gravel roads that covered riders from head to toe in the gritty, slushy muck.

Old Man Winter is, after all, a moody character.

Here's a selection of the best pictures from the event.

Read more:

A tough day in the mud

The leading group while some of their kit colours still remained visible

Alexey Vermeulen leads the final selection of three riders. Noah Granigan (second in line) won the race in a sprint

In the women's race, it was U23 cross-country mountain bike national champion Madigan 'Maddie' Munro who took the solo win

Munro was able to ride solo for most of the day, keeping her kit slightly cleaner than the men's top finishers who raced in packs all day

For most of the racers the day was about pushing power and, crucially, finding the fastest and driest lines

Depending on the way the sun shined on the roads, sometimes this was easy than at others times

The finish line, mercifully, was not far away with the course shortening and everyone was able to wipe the mud from their faces while recounting their war stories from the race

Smiles cut through the mud-crusted faces at the end of day, even if opening one''s eyes was a bit more of a painful proposition

Lyons, Colorado, from above as the town was taken over by the cyclists and runners of Old Man Winter

Not to be left out of the gravel wave, a kids race featured at the start/finish area. Although they were spared most of the mud

Old Man Winter Rally also pairs a 10km running race with the cycling event

In addition to the 10km run and 75km ride, there was also the 5km run, 50km ride and a combined event including the 10km run and the 50km ride

Whether they were a runner or a rider, however, the day was full of energy as the Boulder-area endurance community celebrated ten years of one of their most cherished events