The Steamboat Pilot & Today

Steamboat Springs — Paul Brabenec looked like he was either savoring the moment or toying around.

Or maybe he was just out of energy when he pulled up at the very end of Wednesday night’s Thunderhead Hill Climb Town Challenge mountain bike race on Mount Werner.

Brabenec came to a complete stop just six inches from the chalk finish line, carefully staying upright as his bike wobbled to the left, then to the right. Finally, at the urging of dozens of racers who had already finished, he pedaled one more time, laughing loud as he broke the barrier and rode through the finish.

“I used up all my juice,” Brabenec said. “I blew up a ways down the hill, and that’s when I said, ‘Ah, let’s take it easy.’”

The grueling evening race left plenty pushing, but in the end, 157 racers conquered Steamboat Springs’ signature mountain, making it up the steep slopes in any style or way they could.

None did so with quite the flash of Barkley Robinson, the experienced Steamboat rider who dominated the course. Robinson won the men’s pro division with a course-record time of 34 minutes, 42 seconds.

The course began at the base of Steamboat Ski Area, just 100 yards from where winter skiers and summer tourists load onto the gondola. It ended nearly five miles of trail and 2,200 feet of vertical climb later, just 100 yards from where the gondola unloads.

It took Robinson only 23 more minutes to pedal to the top of the gondola than it takes a passenger to ride.

Peter Kalmes was second in the division at 35:39, and Corey Piscopo was third in 37:01, according to unofficial post-race results.

Kelly Boniface won the women’s expert division in 43:44, ahead of Katie Linquist’s 47:42 and Kate Rench’s 50:20.

Not everyone was chasing course records. Hadley Nylen was perfectly happy setting her own personal best in her fourth summer competing on the course.

“It’s relentless, but I do it every year. This is my favorite race,” she said. “I improve a little every year, and I improved four minutes this year.”

The trail wasn’t as kind to others. The path cut through beetle-ravaged portions of the ski area as well as lush aspen thickets, and actually offered a few flat or downhill jaunts. It was the steep uphill segments that had riders panting heavily, and more than few hopping off their bikes to push through the difficult spots.

“I’m more of a downhill guy,” said Cory Prager, a bike technician at Ski Haus who abandoned pedaling his single speed and opted to hoof it for one particularly grueling stretch. “It was tough. I did it for the challenge, and I got all I wanted. I might have gotten a little more than I bargained for.”

After the 54-year-old Brabenec regained his balance and pedaled through the finish, he kept going and swung up beside the gondola building. He said he was tired but wasn’t out of breath. More than anything, he was excited.

“Some people are really good climbers, so they like this. I’ve never felt that way about it,” he said, gazing down the slopes he fought so hard to climb. “I’m just tickled to be able to do this. I had heart surgery three years ago. Before the surgery, I was hurting, and was severely limited as to what I could do, but they gave me all this back.”