Bob Cook Memorial Mt. Evans Hillclimb

By Eddie Clark  

(July 23, 2011) IDAHO SPRINGS, Colo.—In its 46^th annual running, the Bob Cook Memorial Mt. Evans Hillclimb was contested on a perfect Rocky Mountain day replete with plenty of sunshine, cool temperatures and 7540 feet of climbing up the country’s highest paved road.  A grand total of 1197 racers assembled in the early morning to test their selves, and take a shot at becoming the next Colorado hillclimb champion.   

What started in 1962 as a race amongst a small group of bike racers has grown to a nationally known and esteemed event that boasts a previous winners list which is a regular who’s who of top U.S. professional cyclist.  In fact, the current record holder (1:41:20 in 2004), Tom Danielson, just finished his first Tour de France in 9^th place on the general classification as the top American. 

In 1981, the race was renamed after its previous record holder and 5-time winner, Bob Cook.  Cook was widely recognized as a premier emerging talent in US professional road racing, and set the bar for having the highest ever recorded Vo2 max of his time in the late 1970’s.  Sadly, cancer took his life at the young age of 23 in March of 1981. 

Racing for the ‘ultimate old guys racing team’ (Great Divide Brewing), Masters 45+ racer Bart Sheldrake first raced the hillclimb in 1981, and recounted, “The first one I did was the year after Bob Cook passed away.  I had dreams of beating his record.  I’ve tried for 20 years and never got there.” 

Sheldrake’s teammate Karl Kiester recalled, “It’s just such a hard race.  You’re either feeling like you can keep pushing or you just can’t, it’s a matter of feeling just miserable or very miserable.”

The first riders to hit the legendary 28 mile ascent were the citizen racers with a 7:30am start from the Clear Creek Middle School in Idaho Springs.  In all, 403 citizen racers started in this field with numerous age groups for male and female competitors.  Racing in the men’s 40-49 class, John Pendergraft proved he was the fastest un-licensed racer by completing the hillclimb in a time of 2:07:50.  Terri Nelson clocked the fastest citizen women’s time by finishing in 2:31:55.

In the pro 1-2 men’s race, a group of roughly 10 rode together until the final few miles of the race.  It’s worth noting that the few final miles produce some of the steepest grades and are at elevations above 13,000 feet.  Surprisingly, it came down to a 2 man sprint with LeRoy Popowski of Team Juwi Solar/First Solar taking the win over Chris Case (Sonic Boom Racing p/b Lucky Pie Pizza and Tap House) with a time of 1:57:36. 

Tammy Jacques put in a crushing performance in the women’s 1-2 race by finishing in 2:13:24, which was more than 10 minutes faster than second placed Amy Gray-Smith.

Full results here.