Steamboat Springs — Laura Soard didn't let up - she kept pedaling as she swooped down the final hill, and she kept pedaling as she neared the finish.

And even though her nearest competitor was barely in sight, only rounding a turn hundreds of yards back, she forced her right leg down again as she flew across the white chalk line, winning the women's novice division of Wednesday night's Dog Days of Summer Cross Country Town Challenge mountain bike race at Howelsen Hill.

Soard coasted another 100 yards before finally turning her bike around and heading back to the finish line. Maybe the late surge wasn't necessary - with a time of 33 minutes, 9 seconds, she won her division by a comfortable 53 seconds - but it's a competition, she said. In her first summer competing in the locals-dominated event, it's the competition she's found most rewarding.

"I've been riding a couple of years, but this is my first summer racing," Soard said. "I used to always come to watch my husband race but decided to race myself this year."

It wasn't the pain of long rides that surprised Soard. She said it was the competition - how much she enjoyed it.

Once she made it back to the finish line, Soard laughed and hung around with all the competitors she said she's come to know this summer. But she said the thrill of racing those same friends has kept her coming back.

She wasn't the only one basking in the competition of what generally is a friendly, spirited event. Barkley Robinson again won the men's pro division, finishing the 10 1/2-mile course in 52:21. He faced heat like he hasn't in recent weeks; however, with Brad Bingham chasing Robinson through the final stretches of the course and all the way across the line, finishing less than a second back.

The pair flew down the last part of the course well ahead of their nearest competitor, eventually finishing more than three minutes in front of anyone else. Bingham pumped his legs furiously as his bike careened down the slope. But, as he had done throughout the race, Robinson clung to a narrow advantage and slipped across in first.

"Barkley set the pace for the whole course, and I was planning on staying with him," Bingham said.

The plan worked great for most of the trail, but Bingham said he clipped a tree and bit the dust, a bright red gash on his leg shimmering as proof. Although he eventually caught back up with Robinson, he never found a way around the perennial Town Challenge favorite.

"I was probably riding outside myself, trying to go too quick through stretches," Bingham said. "It was a great race. It felt like racing, and this was one of the best courses of the year."

Kelly Boniface took the women's open division, holding off Katie Lindquist to win in 1:03:13.

The trail, which led racers up from the base of Howelsen Hill, past the rodeo grounds and up Emerald Mountain, was in prime condition, thanks in part to the series of storms that initially canceled the event. The Dog Days race originally was scheduled for last week, but it was bumped back one week after heavy rain.

The storms of the past several days helped keep the dust down and the track tacky. That made for great racing, competitors said.

"It's a great course, because the climb is more mellow," Bingham said. "It's a lot more enjoyable than going straight up, like at Mount Werner. It made for a lot faster race."

The Town Challenge returns next week, heading uphill for the Buffalo Pass Hill Climb, one of the final two races of the season.

- To reach Joel Reichenberger, call 871-4253

or e-mail jreichenberger@steamboatpilot.com.