"He has done the most important (ultra-endurance) races, and this is the last one," Baldesi said as his car followed behind Colo. "He needs only this one."
Colo is one of several contenders in this year's Fireweed 400, Alaska's biggest cycling race, which begins today at Sheep Mountain Lodge along the Glenn Highway.
Fireweed 400 is actually a collection of nine races as short as 50 miles and as long as the 400-mile solo event with staggered starts today and Saturday that have attracted more than 730 racers. The long 400 solo race is the most grueling.
The long Fireweed 400 course connects to the Richardson Highway, goes up and over Thompson Pass and into Valdez. Then the cyclists turn around and return to Sheep Mountain -- all in less than a day.
"(Fireweed) is a fairly fast course, and that's challenging in and of itself, because you have to be a little bit more efficient," said Jeff Oatley of Fairbanks, the record-holder in the 400-mile race who went on to compete in the Race Across America in 2007, one of the most grueling road races in the world.
"The difficulty of Fireweed is backloaded because the first 200 miles is relatively easy and it's a little deceptive," Oatley continued.
Before they're done, riders climb nearly the equivalent of Mount McKinley. Overall elevation gain is about 19,000 feet, most of it on the return trip after riders have already put in about 10 hours of saddle time.
"The climbing starts when you turn around (in Valdez) and you might even get a favorable tailwind pushing you up Thompson Pass," Oatley said. "But once you hit Glennallen, that last 75 miles of road -- those climbs just go on and on."
This year's field of racers in the 400-mile event is one of the strongest yet. The 16 racers entered hail from such locations as Colorado, Minnesota, Austria, Britain and Italy.
Colo, a longtime ultra-endurance cyclist, is one of the top competitors, as is Ben Popp, a competitive cyclist who lives in Minnesota and runs a personal training company for endurance athletes.
But Alaskans have dominated the 400 field since the race began in 2003 and remain some of the toughest competitors. Nearly half of this year's entrants are Alaskans.
In 2004, Ben Couturier of Eagle River became the youngest to win the race in 21 hours, 38 minutes. Two years later, Oatley shattered the previous course record of 21 hours 26 minutes by finishing in 19 hours 56 minutes.
And last year, Fairbanks field geologist Rocky Reifenstuhl, at age 55, won in just over 22 hours.
Who will prevail this time?
Longtime Alaskans who know the difficulty of the conditions here? Or Europeans and Lower 48 champions, who have raced in more locations with a broader field of competitors?
Popp of Saint Paul, Minn., is a 34-year-old endurance athlete who continues to race in Lower 48 states and overseas. In 2002, he was part of a team that won the two-man division of Race Across America. He's coached college-level cycling teams too.
Popp said he hoped for a Fireweed time fast enough to qualify him for another RAAM race. The Fireweed 400 is one of a handful of distance races cyclists can use to qualify for that grueling 3,000-mile cross-country trek.
"We're pretty excited about making it to the north," Popp said from his home last week. "Growing up as skiers, it'll be nice to see that area of the country."
Training for the mountains he will encounter in Alaska has been a challenge, Popp said.
"We have river valleys that are like 300 feet, so 2,500 and 3,000-foot mountains are a far cry from that," he said. "We have a lot of rolling rides where you can do 100-miles rides and get 6,000 or 7,000 feet of climbing, and that's about as good as it gets."
Popp plans to stick to his race plan, even if that means trailing.
"From my experience with ultra racing, you can have goals, but there are so many variables you can't control like weather and flat tires and other problems.
"If you try and compete against somebody, it is hopeless. You have to figure out what it is that you want to race.
"The key to ultra cycling has always been nutrition, because you have to figure out what works for you to keep that energy up."
Popp said his longest ride this year in preparation for Fireweed, was a 300-mile overnighter that took 18 hours. Other than that, it's been early-morning training, squeezed in between his job and family, which includes twin 2 1/2-year-old boys.
"That's Dad's sacred time, and it's great," he said. "It's the quiet before the storm."
For defending champion Reifenstuhl, training has gone a bit better this year. Last year, he was working out of town and had to schlep a bike from Fairbanks to the North Slope for training on the landing strip there.
This year, he's been able to train at home, where there are no shortage of climbs.
Still, he said, the training doesn't get easier. At 56, he is the second- oldest competitor in the race. And recovery does not come as easily as it once did.
"I'm just going to go at my own pace," he said. "I've done a lot of racing ... and when I didn't race at my own pace, I paid for it because I don't recover anymore.
"I don't have the high end I used to have when I was racing national and world championships 20, 25 years ago.
"So I have no particular strategy other than to just go out and try not to make too many mistakes."
For Reifenstuhl, the climbs will not be the problem, he said. In fact, getting out of the saddle to muscle up a steep grade provides relief from the constant winds that sweep through the flats.
"You can move around and stretch and stand up," he said. "It's those headwinds on the way back that are hard, especially on a small rider."
Oatley, the record holder, said he thinks Reifenstuhl, one of his training partners, has a good shot at the title. Despite the presence of several RAAM finishers at this year's event, Fireweed is still the locals' domain.
"I think the Fireweed is a little bit different than RAAM in that you have to ride a little bit faster," he said. "It's not a climber's course, even though there is climbing. You still have to have the speed."
Fireweed race organizer Peter Lekisch said he is excited about this year's field of competitors in the race's longest event. Over the past few years, the 200-mile and 100-mile races have increased in competitor numbers, while the 400-mile race has stayed relatively stable.
Overall, the collection of Fireweed races has grown from 150 competitors in 2003 to a record 733 this year.
While he has a soft spot for the Alaskans in the 400-mile race, Lekisch said it is uplifting to see interest in the longer race grow internationally. When the Fireweed started in 2003, there were only nine 400-mile racers. This year, he said, is its biggest field yet.
"It's our best field so far too," Lekisch said. "These guys that are coming from Europe are pretty good. I think we're getting a really good reputation and the word of mouth is getting around how beautiful this course is and how well we treat our riders.
"It's going to be an interesting race."
Find Melissa DeVaughn online at adn.com/contact/mdevaughn or call 257-4482.
Fireweed 400
START TIMES TODAY
400 solo -- noon
400 relays -- 12:15 p.m.
START TIMES SATURDAY
200 relays -- 7 a.m.
200 road race, no aerobars -- 7:15 a.m.
200 solo, nondrafting -- 7:30 a.m.
100 road race Alaska state championship -- 10 a.m.
100 solo, nondrafting -- 10:30 a.m.
50 drafters -- 10:45 a.m.
50 fat tire -- 11 a.m.
RACE RECORDS
100 men -- Matt Novakovich of Anchorage in 2004: 4:08:12
100 women -- Sheryl Loan of Anchorage in 2003: 4:31:35
200 men -- Tom McMillan in 2004: 9:01:02
200 women -- Janice Tower of Anchorage in 2004: 9:25:20
400 women -- Janice Tower of Anchorage in 2003: 25:17:18
400 men -- Jeff Oatley of Fairbanks in 2006: 19:56:32
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