{"id":38916,"date":"2022-08-12T20:02:31","date_gmt":"2022-08-13T02:02:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/bodewes-looking-to-break-record-in-colorado-trail-race\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T02:47:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T08:47:11","slug":"bodewes-looking-to-break-record-in-colorado-trail-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/bodewes-looking-to-break-record-in-colorado-trail-race\/","title":{"rendered":"Bodewes looking to break record in Colorado Trail Race"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Will
Will Bodewes replenishes himself with some watermelon after pedaling the Colorado Trail Race in 4 days, 11 hours and 30 minutes. He finished second. (Courtesy of Holly Proulx, via Will Bodewes)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

After completing a big ultra endurance race like the Colorado Trail Race, Will Bodewes said he always thinks he\u2019ll never do it again.<\/p>\n

As time goes by, however, he said he begins thinking about all the things he could have done differently.<\/p>\n

Last year, Bodewes rode his brother\u2019s hard tail bike on the 527-mile self-supported race from Durango to Denver and ran into some mechanical issues. Early in the race, one of the screws on his bike shoe fell off, preventing him being able to click out of his pedal and causing him to fall several times. Then, with about 70 miles to go, his bike\u2019s derailleur broke. He banged on it with a rock until he got a few gears working so he could finish the race.<\/p>\n

His diet wasn\u2019t great either: lots of peanut butter, Nutella and salt burritos.<\/p>\n

He also got so tired he had an out-of-body experience.<\/p>\n

Despite the difficulties he encountered, Bodewes still finished second in the race, finishing in four days, 11 hours and 30 minutes. Neil Beltchenko won in 4:03:09. Another Durango rider, Scott Simmons, finished fourth in 4:17:58. Neither Simmons nor Beltchenko are registered this year.<\/p>\n

After thinking about the race, Bodewes not only changed his mind and decided to compete in the race again, he\u2019s now looking to break the record of three days and 19 hours.<\/p>\n

When Bodewes sets off from Denver at 4 a.m. Sunday (the race switches directions every year), he\u2019ll have a new plan (including less sleep), a new bike (still a hard tail, but with an extra 20 millimeters of travel) and different food (including lots of Tailwind Nutrition powder to make drinks) to power him.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith my fitness and experience with the trail, I\u2019m confident,\u201d he said. \u201cFor me, it\u2019s about seeing how hard I can push myself and seeing where that line is. I don\u2019t think a lot of people figure out their limits, but I think there\u2019s value in knowing and value in finding out.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said he thinks whether or not he can break the record will come down to external factors: weather, specifically lightning, mechanical issues with his bike and if he can avoid injury. His plan to sleep just one hour per night, divided in 20-minute segments, meanwhile, will be a wildcard.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy biggest concern is the weather and lightning; that\u2019s always a big danger,\u201d he said, and will require him to make some good choices while climbing. \u201cSecond, I have to not get injured. And third, I don\u2019t know how little sleep I can handle.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bodewes isn\u2019t taking a sleeping bag with him, just a tarp, a down jacket and some rain gear. That\u2019s partly because he only plans on sleeping a few hours the entire race.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve never really found the right limit and right balance,\u201d he said, noting he plans power naps just long enough to refresh his brain. \u201cWe\u2019ll see if it works,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Bodewes has also done some sleep banking to prepare: sleeping a minimum of 10 hours a night for 14 days before the race.<\/p>\n

And he\u2019s been training for the past eight months, mixing runs and rides to prepare.<\/p>\n

Doing ultras is in his family. His dad and brothers have also done some while his sister, Kristina, recently hiked the Colorado Trail in just under 15 days \u2013 setting a record of her own.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re encouraging siblings,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s such a good mental challenge to overcome and provides stability and confidence in yourself. They\u2019re more about learning how to be out there enduring a lot of pain and motivating yourself: Can I keep going, and can I deal with the challenges that arise? The real value is intrinsic of what you get from the experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bodewes is one of 92 people registered for the race (only about half finished last year). To break the record, Bodewes will need to arrive in Durango by 11 p.m. Wednesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cPersonally, I think I have the potential to do it,\u201d Bodewes said. \u201cI might as well try and see what happens.\u201d<\/p>\n

People can track the racers\u2019 progress live at http:\/\/trackleaders.com\/ctr22f.php<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sunday morning in Denver<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":38917,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[28,977],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-38916","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-headlines","tag-mountain-biking"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38916","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38916"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38916\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":84172,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38916\/revisions\/84172"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38917"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38916"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38916"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38916"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=38916"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}