Alexander Gordon of El Paso starts another lap on the Tommyknocker 10 mountain bike race Saturday at Fort Bayard. Gordon and Luke Cutburth of Las Cruces rode as The Rad Dog and the Lone Wolf, taking second place in the duo male category, completing nine laps during the 10-hour race.
By JUNO OGLE
Daily Press Staff
A snowy morning greeted the more than 400 racers participating in this year’s Tommyknocker 10 on Saturday at Fort Bayard.
The cold and windy conditions were somewhat daunting to some riders, but by midmorning the snow had moved on and began melting.
“I’ve never had to ride in snow before, so that was a first for me,” said Elizabeth Jobe of Tucson, the first to ride Saturday for her team, the Dust Bunnies. “It didn’t feel any different once you got going. It just still felt like a race.”
Neither the snow nor the wind that blew throughout the day held back Jobe and her three teammates, Helen Williams, Regina Reed and Caitlin Rathbun. They took first place in the team female category, finishing nine laps in just over nine-and-a-half hours of the 10-hour race.
This was the first Tommyknocker for most of the team members — including Reed, who was on her first race after having a baby four months ago.
“It was fun, especially that downhill,” she said.
The team members said they enjoyed the friendliness of everyone in the race and appreciated the space made available for camping at Fort Bayard.
This is the second year the race has been held at the historic fort. Racers started and finished laps in front of what once were doctors’ homes and headed out on the 13-mile single-track course.
Fernanda Gratton participated in last year’s race, during which she had an accident. This year, she and her teammates, John Collins and Rodney Dubois, all of El Paso, finished second in the coed team category. Their team, BMBA, or Borderland Mountain Bike Association, had eight laps in nine hours and eight minutes.
“The single track is beautiful. It’s a very nice family environment,” she said.
Complete results of the race can be found on the website of race organizer Zia Rides at ziarides.com/tommy-knocker-10.
Juno Ogle may be reached at [email protected].
