Racing

Alex Howes wins the Old Man Winter Rally

Our Coloradan shares his thoughts from his first race of the year

February 10, 2022

Alex Howes knew that the Old Man Winter Rally would come down to a running race.

In the days before the event, he had been to scout Rowena Trail, and the three-kilometre-long climb, which winds through the woods on a hiking track, was buried deep under drifts of fresh white snow. That’s where the race would be decided. Alex had done enough snowy fat-bike rides in the mountains near his home in Nederland, Colorado to know that the trail would be unrideable. He decided then and there that when he got to the bottom he would shoulder his bike and go into cross-country runner mode. Sure, he had only jogged a few times a year since he was in high school, but he would trust that his lungs and his heart would do the work. They did. As Alex’s competitors slipped and slid in their overshoes and tried and failed to remount their bikes, Alex powered up the 25-minute climb on foot. Before the race, he’d removed his front water bottle cage to make carrying his bike easier and put on waterproof mountain-bike boots with good tread. He dropped everyone and was able to secure the win in Colorado’s favourite early-season bike race.

Most years, the Old Man Winter Rally is a straightforward gravel event. Alex had ridden it before on a road bike with 32c tyres. Boulder’s local pros show up to it to test themselves against the town’s elite weekenders. If the weather is good, out-of-state racers will come to compete too. Old Man Winter goes ahead regardless.

“It’s really cool to see everyone come out, dust off their bikes, and just throw down through the slush.”

-Alex Howes

“The conditions are rarely ideal, but people show up for it no matter what,” Alex says. “We have enough people who are crazy enough to go race their bikes in the middle of winter here. It’s really cool to see everyone come out, dust off their bikes, and just throw down through the slush.”

Behind the race for the win, hundreds of other cyclists come out to enjoy the beautiful backroads of Boulder County. The main event is 100 kilometres long, with paved and unpaved sections, and includes three climbs. First up is Rowena, which comes just before half way. The watch stops at the summit, and the racing is then neutralised for the long, often icy, descent down to Boulder. Once the riders have passed safely through town, the timing starts again for the hard approach to the finish, which includes ascents of Linden and Old Stage Road. Riders’ results on the two timed sections are added together to determine the prizes.

After his successful hike-a-bike attack on Rowena, Alex just had to follow wheels to the line. He already had four minutes’ advantage over his nearest rival. Instead, he and one other rider went on the attack soon after they had crossed out of Boulder.

“We regrouped at the top of Rowena, and I tried not to throw up in the bushes after running for 25 minutes full gas,” Alex says. “From there, there are two pretty hard hills. They are quite steep, and the body was pretty twisted and pretty shot after doing the run, but we raced over those climbs, and I came off those with one other rider. The two of us pretty much time trialled it in from there.”

Alex crossed the line covered in frozen slush with a top-tube shaped bruise on his shoulder and a big smile on his face. At the after party, he had a couple of beers with friends from Colorado’s cycling community. He won’t be seeing much of them this year.

After a few more weeks of fat biking and home trainer rides, he’ll be off to the races. This season, he’s focusing on the Lifetime Grand Prix, but will be jumping into road races for EF Education-EasyPost right through the year.

He’ll probably wait till the next off-season before he thinks about going for another trail run.

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