Tour de Front Range - Jersey Ceremony

This past week 23 riders showed up at the White Ranch trailhead near Golden, Colorado to begin an urban epic coined The Tour de Front Range. Of those 23 riders (many of who where part of the A-list of mountain bike racing) only 7 persevered and finished the ride. These seven riders pedaled over 52 miles, climbed 9,209 ft, and they did all of it on a sunny day with temps in the 90 degree range.

All Grand Tours have special jerseys that symbolize special achievements. Well the Tour de Front Range is no different. This year we are providing virtual jerseys to our finishers.

The Tour de Front Range, unlike other Grand Tours, does not have a yellow jersey. Instead, All jerseys have a yellow stripe. The yellow represents the spirit of the Tour and no one person can harness that. All riders that are honored with a jersey have the spirit and for that reason all jerseys have a yellow stripe.

The Jerseys:

Red Polka Dot - Richard Eddy: The climbs are what make the Tour de Front Range a challenge. The steep, loose rock trails make the Front Range a suffer fest. The hill climbs are difficult when you have a support system of other riders. Take that support system away and it is just the rider and the mountain, which is enough to make grown men cry. After lunch, Richard rode the final climbs solo, determined to finish the Tour. Richard took on these solo ascents in 90 degree heat, and a full face mask helmet. Richard was driven to finish and he did so with great style; earning him the Polka Dot jersey.

Green - Chris Plesko: Aggressive riding is what the color represent. However, Chris was not aggressive in the sense of bumping elbows with fellow riders. His aggression took the form of doubling the number of miles he rode. At the trailhead before the ride, I asked Chris how many miles he had already ridden. He casually replied, "Forty miles and I plan on riding all of this." At the lunch break Chris had a stifling 60 miles and over 10,000 ft of vertical climbing. And in Morrison he was only ten miles short of a century. He opted to ride to the restaurant in order to hit the century mark. By the end of the day, Chris rode over 100 miles and 13,000 vertical feet of elevation. Chris, you deserve this jersey!

White - Bill Henderson: The white jersey represents the best performance by a first time Tour de Front Range participant. Bill gets this honor due to a comment that he made at lunch. When asked how he was feeling, he said, "I feel great! This is the longest ride I've ever done." When asked if he meant the longest ride this year, he replied, "No... Ever!" Bill has cycling in his genes and even when the Tour finished in Morrison, Bill kept on riding his bike and rode to the restaurant to enjoy Mexican Food. Well done, Bill!

Blue - Scott Zarret: The Blue jersey is worn by the man who puts down the most amount of liquid. The heat was a big factor and Scott complained about a headache during the lunch break at Matthews/Winters. Filling up his camel back, he hit the trail again to ride Red Rocks and Morrison Slide. By the time he started the base of Mount Falcon his camel back was again empty! After the Tour, Scott was unable to join us for the post ride Mexican food because of a concert he was going to attend, where he would put down even more liquid libations.

Gray - Jim Bergman: The Gray jersey is worn by the rider with diesel like commitment to the ride. Once the engine is wound up and running smooth, Jim did not want to take a break. Jim finished the Tour with a diesel like pace that he could have maintained for another hundred miles if he wanted. Even when stopping for lunch, Jim did not dismount his bike. He stood there, straddling his bike, ready to ride for 15 minutes. Like a diesel locomotive, there was no slowing Jim down once he gained momentum.

Black - Steve Sieders & Tony Shouse: Two riders share this jersey. This rider represents those riders that with stealth like ability finish the ride without me getting a chance to know them better. These dedicated riders flew under my radar, attacked the Tour de Front Range course, and came out smiling at the end. Before going into Stealth mode Steve could be heard at the white Ranch trailhead encouraging the men into battle by blowing on the duck call that was attached to his bike. Tony, only came out of stealth mode long enough to introduce himself at lunch. Without lunch he rode towards the finish with the same diesel like determination as Jim. To both these stealth riders, I salute you! You did a great ride!

To all the finishers, wear these (virtual) jerseys with pride! You have earned them and you will forever be immortalized in the annals of the Tour de France history as men that took on the challenge and made it look easy...