In the world of bike racing there is no shortage of tough races.  Marathons, Ultra-marathons, multi-day races, 100-mile races, 24-hour races, a year-round profusion of ways to suffer on a bicycle, for those so inclined.  

While most of my racing was the type that finishes in a few hours — I like to get my suffering over with as quickly as possible — I’ve done my share of long events. They’re both uniquely challenging and weirdly rewarding.  It takes a certain mindset to spend hours on a bicycle seat, outdoors in the weather, subsisting on energy gels and sports drinks, in lieu of the creature comforts of a warm bed and a hot meal at home.

When it comes to single-day ultra-events there are none I know of tougher than the Vapor Trail 125.  The VT-125 has been going on in Salida for 21 years.  While obviously, and not insignificantly, 25 miles longer than the better-known Leadville or Telluride 100, the distance seems more like a promotional thing intended to differentiate the race from those other events.  What makes the VT-125 uniquely difficult is not the distance, it’s the terrain it covers.  With over 16,500 feet of climbing, primarily on singletrack deep in the backcountry, the VT-125 is a unique test of self-sufficiency on a bike.  Old-school cross-country racing of the highest order.  

Due to the ruggedness and steepness of the terrain, the course requires a considerable amount of hike-a-biking even for the strongest riders.  As a result, the time to complete the VT-125 is longer by hours than the typical 100-mile endurance race.  They say if you’ve done the Leadville 100, plan on doubling your time to complete the VT-125.  Twelve hours is the course cutoff time for Leadville; for the VT-125, twelve hours is a podium.

Because of its length, the VT-125 has another unique feature.  To keep racers from having to finish in the dark when they’re exhausted and disoriented, the race starts at 10:00 pm in downtown Salida.  Which means, for the first eight hours or so, racers are navigating mountain trails in the dark of night.

In a concession to my own mortality, I recognized that it’s a race beyond my capability.  Ten years ago?  Maybe.  But these days I have no desire to go that deep into the pain cave, assuming I could even make the cutoff times.  But a friend convinced me to volunteer in a support role so I signed up to ride sweep for the Silver Creek Trail section of the course.  Silver Creek is the next-to-last section of single track on the course, covering roughly, miles 95 – 105.

Prior to my sweep, I spent a couple hours hanging out at Aid Station #5.  It was fun and inspiring talking to the other volunteers, watching racers come through.  The looks on their faces after completing the brutal Poncha Creek Road climb was a mix of determination and stunned exhaustion.  I was glad to simply be a volunteer.

There were 147 participants in this year’s edition of the race.  The winner was Cory Wallace from Jasper, Alberta with a time of 11:54:15, beating his 2025 winning time of 12:00:53 and setting a new course record.  The winner of the women’s race was Jennah Jones from Buena Vista, Colorado with a time of 18:18:18.