Shredding tread

Last year, Donley, a superb cyclist and even better triathlete, accomplished the rare feat of topping every racer -- male and female -- in the 50-mile solo race that's part of the panoply of events that make up the Fireweed 400, Alaska's biggest bike race.

This morning, Donley aims to defend that title when 33 soloists in the 50-mile event -- including 18 men -- leave Sheep Mountain Lodge at 11 a.m.

Donley won last year in 2 hours, 3 minutes, 32 seconds. That was 12 minutes faster than runner-up Laurel Brady among the women but, more surprisingly, 42 seconds faster than Jason Potsander, who comfortably topped the men's field.

Potsander did not enter this year's race. But Jens Beck, another top Alaska triathlete, did. Earlier this year, Beck finished second to Daniel Folmer in the Arctic Bicycle Club's 35- kilometer Seward Highway time trial.

Few sporting events in which men and women race head to head on equal footing are won by women, and when they do, people notice.

Mushers Libby Riddles, Roxy Wright and the late Susan Butcher all earned lasting fame by winning races traditionally won by men. And when 16-year-old Michaela Hutchinson of Skyview High captured a state wrestling title at 103 pounds four years ago, some 2,000 people packed the Chugiak High gym, some armed with banners reading "Girl Power." Hutchinson was the first girl in the nation to accomplish the feat.

Donley doesn't expect any banners at Sheep Mountain Lodge this morning. But people will be watching.

"What awesome women we have in this state," Anchorage cyclist and triathlete Andy Duenow said by phone from Fairbanks, where he's competing in the Sourdough Triathlon today. "It's hard for any guy to compete with that. Around here, unless you're winning, you're likely to get chicked. A lot of the goal for the guys in this state is not to get chicked."

Duenow noted that last year's Fireweed 50-mile field was weaker than some years, with many top riders opting for longer races. And he acknowledged that may not have mattered.

"She's going to finish well in the midst of anybody, she's so strong," Duenow said of Donley. "There was some harassing of Jason because we all know and love Jason -- and we knew how frustrated he was by it."

That figures. Four years ago, triathlete Lori Deschamps beat every athlete at the Big Lake Triathlon.

And who did she pull away from during the run? Jason Potsander.

AND THEY'RE OFF

Riders in the three 400-mile races from Sheep Mountain to Valdez and back started down the Glenn Highway under a sunny sky at midday Friday. Among them is Canadian rider Caroline van den Bulk, 44, who won the women's open division of the 2008 national Ultra Marathon Cycling Championship.

Some 82 riders in a 300-kilometer two-day tour also began Friday.

At times, the Fireweed is a dizzying mish-mash of 17 events, some of them competitive, some of them not. Distances include 50, 100, 200 and 400 miles, with the 200-mile racers ending in Valdez and all others starting and ending at the Sheep Mountain Lodge.

Reach reporter Mike Campbell at mcampbell@adn.com or 257-4329.