Fun 'til Dusk
Canceled bike race turns into mud-bogging

Mountain biker Gabe Criswell of Albuquerque leans on the rail of his friend's truck behind two mountain bikes in the parking lot of the El Rancho hotel Saturday. Criswell and his friends came to Gallup for the Dawn 'til Dusk bike race and were disappointed when the weather forced a cancellation of the race. — © 2009 Gallup Independent / Cable Hoover

Copyright © 2009
Gallup Independent
By Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola
Staff writer

GALLUP — Although a record number of 454 mountain bikers registered for Saturday’s Dawn ’til Dusk Race, Mother Nature had other plans.

An early morning spring snow storm threw a monkey wrench into what was supposed to be the fifth annual Dawn ’til Dusk 12-Hour Mountain Bike Race on Gallup’s High Desert Trail System. The race was postponed twice and then finally canceled before it turned into a wet and wild mug bogging event with all the participants struggling to get their vehicles out of the muddy staging area of the Mentmore trail head.

The hero of the day ended up being a Gallup businessman, not a mountain biker. In an impromptu post-mud bogging lunch party at the El Rancho Hotel that replaced the planned evening awards ceremony, organizers presented businessman Eric Chisamore with a custom belt buckle from Stoneweavers, a prize that was supposed to go to the overall fastest male biker. With a backhoe from Big Mike’s, Chisamore had bladed the access road so more than a hundred vehicles could drive out; he then towed the remaining vehicles that still weren’t able to get out of the mud. Accompanied by his wife, Amber, Chisamore was the object of considerable praise and gratitude by organizers and bikers alike.

As disappointing as the cancellation was, most everyone seemed to have a good time at the El Rancho. Race organizers were handing out a slew of prizes, from goofy cowbells and cow head hats to T-shirts and coveted mountain bike gear. Contestants in the Cowboy Up!

Costume Contest gamely posed on the stage between the two dance floors while audience members cheered on their favorite mountain bike cowboys and cowgirls.

Aleisha Naegle and Leonora Shurley of Fort Defiance, Ariz., proved to be the audience favorites — mostly because Naegle’s enhanced cowgirl curves were so ample they could have put Dolly Parton to shame.

Former Gallup Mayor Bob Rosebrough, one of the event’s organizers, commented on the day’s events while watching some of the El Rancho merriment from the sidelines. “The response of these bikers to the weather has just been amazing,” he said, explaining the riders remained cheerful and pleasant throughout the morning’s disappointing turn of events.

“What I thought would be a disaster has really been a fun day,” Rosebrough added.

Margaret and Scott Newman of Santa Fe had compliments for Dawn ’til Dusk organizers in spite of the cancellation. “I think you guys hosted a fantastic event,” Margaret Newman said. “We’re so impressed. Everyone’s so friendly.”

According to Scott Newman, he had previously registered for another mountain bike race that was canceled because of bad weather, but the outcome wasn’t as positive. “It wasn’t handled as professionally as this one was,” he said.

In contrast, Newman said, Dawn ’til Dusk organizers were concerned about the riders and the trail. “They communicated well,” he said. “They did the right thing.”

Steven Yore, also of Santa Fe, agreed with that assessment. “They made the right call absolutely,” he said. “You ruin bikes and you ruin courses and rails.”

Yore said this would have been his fourth year competing in the Dawn ’til Dusk race. “It’s a great race,” he added. “It’s a wonderful community.”

After the El Rancho gathering ended, race organizer Lindsay Mapes said Dawn ’til Dusk organizers had tried to learn from the mistakes of other canceled races. They had tried to communicate well with all the riders, she explained, and they tried to make their decisions based on the riders’ safety and the protection of the trail.

“This is a big deal to cancel a race,” Mapes admitted. In addition to the hundreds of riders from New Mexico, Arizona, and Colorado, she said bikers drove from as far away as Wyoming and Calgary, Canada.

Mapes said organizers would be meeting to decide how they might compensate the riders. Rescheduling the race later in the year would probably not be feasible, she added. In a follow-up e-mail message sent out on Sunday, Mapes wrote that race organizers were still considering what they could do for the racers.