The Alpine 50 mountain bike race started with a field of 114 racers who were registered, 97 men and 17 women, 101 of whom actually began the race at 6:30 a.m. Saturday, August 22, with a total of 92 who completed the race by crossing the town park finish line.
This year’s 114 registered racers compares to 127 who registered last year and 108 who finished the mountainous 50-mile course.
Fastest times for the three top men’s finishers were Durango racers Ivan Sippy and Ian Brown, three hours 14.38 minutes and three hours, 25.57 minutes, in first and second place, and Glenwood Springs racer Eric Mahoney, in third place with three hours, 31.28 minutes.
Among a bevy of speedy women mountain bicyclists, Durango racer Brittany Cowan was fastest, four hours, 33.59 minutes, followed by Annika Rips, from Bavaria, five hours, 3.4 minutes, and Heidi Lauterbach, Telluride, Colorado, in third position, five hours, 19.27 minutes.
Added to Saturday’s winning roster were a record 11 Lake City mountain bicyclists who started the race, nine men and two women, nine of whom finished the race.
First Lake Citian across the finish line was Lake City High School Sophomore Joseph Tubbs, four hours, 50.43 minutes, while the sole Lake City woman to cross the finish line was repeat Alpine 50 bicyclist Lydia McNeese, five hours, 35.38 minutes.
Comaraderie, bell ringing and whistles were evident throughout the late morning and afternoon on Saturday as announcer John Coy chronicled each racer’s arrival at the finish line.
Boulder racer Adam Sher, who finished 43rd, was gleefully met at the finish line by his wife, daughter, son and bulldog displaying a hand-lettered poster, “Dad’s High 12,960 Ft” in reference to his successful ascent of Engineer Pass.
On the sidelines and cheering were David and Rosie Whitelock from Inn at the Lake, Rosie especially cheering with a hug to her second cousin, Cody Brewer, Aledo, Texas, who crossed the finish line seven hours, 19.05 minutes.
Michael Fleishman, who co-coordinated the 9th annual Alpine 50 with John Coy on behalf of Human Powered Endeavors, says weather for the up Cinnamon and down Engineer race route was near ideal, identical to last year, with a spot of rain on Friday, clear throughout the majority of the day for the race, and then a rain shower on Sunday morning.
“Overall,” says Fleishman, “it felt pretty good.”
The upper Lake Fork start of the race followed the east side of Lake San Cristobal and then proceeded up valley in progressively lower gear up and over Cinnamon Pass, one huffing racer on the Shelf Road portion on the approach to Cinnamon observing “it might have been quicker to walk.”
All finishers completed the 50 miler without incident, Fleishman noting that logistically “it was one of our best years.” He credits part of the success to communications, a key link being Tom Carl’s mobile StarLink which allowed communication from throughout the mountainous terrain.
Coy and Fleishman will enumerate a long list of volunteers responsible for Alpine 50’s success this year in an upcoming letter, although racers were unanimous in their praise for the Cinnamon Pass aid station, this year manned by Tom Carl, Patrick Woods, John and Mary Kay Jergens, and Tim McClary, where Hammer nutrition products and an assortment of food including fruit, peanut butter, and pickles were cheerfully dispensed to racers on the long uphill stretch on Cinnamon Pass.
Mountain bike athletes from Durango, Colorado, not surprisingly were once again predominate in Saturday’s race led by Fort Lewis College student Ivan Sippy in first place. Sippy was among nine Durango men who finished the race, one of whom, 17th place finisher Phil Cowan, is married to this year’s first place women’s finisher, Brittany Cowan.
Speedy times by the three top-place men’s finishers and two women bicyclists resulted in Alpine 50’s Fastest Town Awards going to Durango in both 2025 and 2026.
A Lake City rider, Frieda Allen, received Underwood Photography’s True Grit Award for her ferocious determination to keep pedaling and not quit the race until near American Basin on Cinnamon Pass.
While racers from Durango once again dominated the events, but there were outstanding performances from across the state, including numerous mountain bike racers from Colorado Springs, Denver and metro area, Grand Junction and even from as far away as Bavaria and Costa Rica.
In addition to Frieda Allen who was hailed for gritty determination and Fastest Town Awards to men’s and women’s Durango racers, other awards on Saturday were “All Smiles” of Tyler Micek, from Golden, Colorado, for his sunny race disposition, “Best Dressed” to shorts-wearing Bryan Ortiz, Boulder, Colorado, and youngest and oldest accolades to two Lake City racers, Lake City Community School Freshman Landon Rhodes and 70-year-old Dan File.
With luxuriant facial hair, Dennis Johnson received the palm for “Best Beard.”
Fashionably dressed Ortiz commented on the calmness of Lake City compared to Boulder, Colorado, where he is utilities manager overseeing water, waste water, and storm water for the 120,000-population front range city. Mounted on his Specialized Epic-Evo mountain bike, Ortiz reflected on his first-ever Alpine 50 and the fact “this won’t be my last… it’s so much fun, so much to see.”
Based on proceeds from this year’s race, $500 was donated to Lake City Arts, Lake Fork Conservancy raising in excess of $2,800 on a mountain bike raffle which was won by Arris Slaughter of Shreveport, Louisiana.
The first man, and the first overall across the finish line, was 22 year-old Ivan Sippy with a course record of 3:14:38. He rode an S-Works mountain bike. A member of the elite biking club, Segment 28 based in Durango, Ivan started riding at age four with his family and has continued to grow and become stronger and faster.
When not in the saddle Ivan keeps busy with the recent launch of his own digital company, Waterfall Digital. In an echo heard from other riders throughout the day, Ivan stated that the views were the best part of the day, especially at the tops of both big climbs, as he describes it, otherwise known as Cinnamon and Engineer Passes.
Riding a Specialized bicycle, 27 year-old Ian Brown crossed the finish line with a time of 3:25:57. From Durango, Ian is a student and rides with the powerhouse Fort Lewis College Cycling Team. Ian says that he has been trying to ‘go fast’ for about ten years, but it has only been for the last five that he made a serious effort at competing. No surprise that the views were on top of the list of superlatives for the race, but Ian broke down the course, saying that the last bit of downhill was the most fun, followed immediately by the worst part of the course, the long flat run back into town.
From Glenwood Springs, Colorado, where he works as a civil engineer and with time 3:31.38, Eric Mahoney finished Saturday in third place among men. He credited his Specialized Epic-Evo and inspiration from scenic vistas of the San Juans from the top of Engineer Pass which he summed up as “sweet”.
On his inaugural Alpine 50, Mahoney said that he enjoyed the scenery, but the most difficult part of the race was the climb up Engineer Pass where he was sleepy and, for a small section, dismounted and walked his bike.
Prior to Lake City, Mahoney’s most recent bike race was in Breckenridge, Colorado, where the July 4 Firecracker 50 was reduced to a mere 25 miles due to wildfires. Coming up, he plans to enter a variety of cycle cross events on Colorado’s front range.
The first woman to shoot across the finish line was Brittany Cowan, building on the incredible display of power coming out of Durango, and Fort Lewis College in particular, as she is Head Women’s Coach of the Cycling Team. Riding a mystery bike, described as a ‘test’ bike, she put up a time of 4:33:59. She was impressed with how pretty the whole course is and said that this may have been her first time in Lake City and on the Alpine Loop, she will definitely be coming back.
The second woman to cross the finish line was the aptly named Annika Rips who, despite what the roster says, hails from the German side of the border in Bavaria. She rode a Specialized bike and had a time of 5:03:04. She and her husband have raced in many countries in Europe and the USA. They visit her husband’s former student exchange host family in Durango frequently and just found the nearest bike race.
Annika was extremely pleased with the course and especially liked being able to scout the course in a jeep the day before, although she laughed and said that she much preferred doing the Loop on a bike! She added that they found Lake City to be an ‘authentic village’ with friendly people, including the drivers encountered along the open course.
The third-place woman rode across the finish line on a Revel bike with a time of 5:19:27. Heidi Lauterbach comes from Telluride and works with non-profits when not working on her form and speed. In almost unanimously shared opinion with other riders, Heidi named the views the best part of the race, adding that the number of fans cheering on the racers was a pleasant surprise but the worst part of the race was the early morning start! She said that she is looking to learn flyfishing and wants to come back to Lake City because of the beautiful streams.
Of the handful of local Lake City riders to tackle the course, the first across the line was 15-year-old Joseph Tubbs, with a time of 4:50:43, nineteenth in the men’s class, and in twentieth place overall. Immediately swarmed by family, including his little sisters and mother Sarah Tubbs and father Patrick Tubbs, Joseph appeared unruffled by his 50 miles on the road. Joseph rides a Trek and says that biking is fun, but he doesn’t think he will be pursuing a racing career. He is a sophomore at Lake City Community School and echoed other riders in that he found the downhill runs fun but the last push into town was not that much fun.
Another representative from the Lake City Community School was Special Education Teacher Lydia McNeese, the fifth woman with a time of 5:35:38. Lydia has run this race four times and says that she really felt good on her Niner bike during the steep climbs. Lydia’s biggest struggle was overcoming some ill feelings the day before the race, but she woke up well and ready to tackle the course. While she is known in the Lake City area for her love of animals and support of the local animal welfare group, H-CARE, she had nothing but nice things to say about the fans and cheering bystanders.
Movie aficionado and Western State student, Bennett Levine finished his fourth Alpine 50 on a Yeti bike with a time of 5:48:49. Lake City Community school graduate and Mountaineer Theatre employee, Bennet has strong ties to the community and a tradition of throwing himself into many of the local athletic event, including repeat performances in both San Juan Solstice 50-mile run and the Alpine 50.
Saturday’s eldest rider, bicyclist Dan File has never missed entering and finishing an Alpine 50 since its inception nine years ago. Looking back on this year’s performance, he is characteristically light hearted, yelling out to fellow Lake City bike contender Brant Cunningham, who finished just ahead of him, at the race’s town park conclusion, “Hey! I’ve been trying to catch you since Cinnamon Pass!”
On a more serious note, File says he should have perhaps trained a bit harder on his light weight S Works mountain bike. Despite the uphill exhaustion and plenty of down hill speed, File reflects “it’s fun all the time, I feel God’s pleasure when I ride.”
Asked about a potential 10th consecutive appearance in next year’s Alpine 50, File smiles broadly, “I want to do better next year.”
At the finish line, 14-year-old Landon Rhodes was looking ahead to the start of his Freshman year at Lake City Community School this week but, more to the point, said that in his second Alpine 50 going downhill on his specialized mountain bike was, literally, a rocky experience.
For the high school freshman, the most difficult part of the race was the heat. This year’s 50 was Rhodes’ second consecutive year in the race and he describes the first part of the race up and around Lake San Cristobal, and onward to Cinnamon Pass, as “crazy,” while the most difficult and demanding portion of the race course was the climb from the Animas Valley up Engineer Pass.
Asked whether he’ll contemplate a third entry in next year’s Alpine 50, Landon is cautious, “I’ll think about it.”
On his fourth Alpine 50 and acknowledging gentle competition from septuagenarian Dan File, Lake City’s Brant Cunningham started out fast on his Specialized Chisel bike and quickly learned it is difficult and exhausting “to try and keep up with 20-year-olds.”
Cunningham slowed on Cinnamon Pass and was cheerily passed on the bike course by fellow Lake Citians Joseph Tubbs and Lydia McNeese. Although temperatures were a “tad bit warm” on the passes, Cunningham was relived that the mountain air was clear and crisp, with no trace of smoke from the distant Elk Wildfire.
Lake City high school sophomore Elliott Hartman had seemingly little preparation for Saturday’s race and in fact decided to enter the 50-miler and begin training just two weeks before the start of his first Alpine 50.
Riding a Giant Track, Elliott crossed the finish line nerar the race’s conclusion Saturday afternoon with a time of seven hours and 26 minutes continuous pedaling. Asked about the most difficult portion of the race, Elliott, mirroring other bike athletes, said it was the steep climb up Engineer Pass, while the breeziest and most fun part of the course was going down Engineer.
Country Store’s Wes Williams first entered thee Alpine 50 in 2022 and bided his time until this year for his second entry in the race. He rides an S-Works Specialized bike and says he began “questioning my sanity” on the Engineer climb. Memorable for thee grocer/biker was brief hail which accumulated in small drifts at the top of Engineer, less pleasurable the Animas side of the pass, grimacing as he described it as “steep and rocky.”
Camaraderie on the race was fun, says Williams, and he enjoyed pedaling in close proximity to Elliott Hartman for much of the race.
Williams was cheered at the finish line by his wife, Leann who smiles as he credits his race success, “my heart and lungs were fine,” he says, “but the legs were something else.”
His finish-the-race-time, he adds, “was just as bad as the first time.”
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