Ben Voymas, an Osprey employee out of Ogden, Utah, had the fastest time in the Ride of the Ancients century ride Oct. 8.
He completed the 100-mile course that circles Canyons of the Ancients National Monument in 5 hours and 20 minutes.
“It all went according to plan; it’s nice to be the first finisher,” Voymas said. “This is my seventh century ride this year. I love the challenge.”
He held the lead for much of the friendly competition, held under sunny skies with mild temperatures. At mile 45, just past Ismay Trading Post, Voymas fought off a three-rider chase group that was about two minutes behind him. The peloton, made up of about 12 riders, was about three minutes back.
“I knew there were some strong riders behind me, and kept expecting to get caught,” Voymas said. “It’s a great event for a great cause, and is well organized.”
Jason Dunlap came in second, with a time of 5 hours and 28 minutes.
A large group of individual riders, which included recently retired professional cyclist Todd Wells, came in third with a time of 5 hours and 30 minutes.
The team with the fastest time, 6 hours and 37 minutes, was made up of Peggy Youngs, Sandy Wolf, Karen Ordman, and Laura Herrick.
The team of Joe Turek, Jacquie Carpenter, Katherine Lower, and Stephen Lower came in second with a time of 7 hours and five minutes.
And Team RadioStar, made up of Kevin Cook, Carolyn Johnson and Jim Mimiaga, came in third, with a time of 7 hours and 15 minutes.
Race organizer Ashley Carelock said about 85 people signed up for the race, a record for the 3rd annual event.
“I kind of wanted to try and win it, but dropped back to make sure everyone was making the right turns,” said Carelock. “It was a lot of fun. One highlight was a herd of wild horses running across the road in front of us near Hovenweep.”
She said more than $5,000 was raised for the Montelores Cancer fund from this year’s race. The fund provides grants to local cancer patients to help cover costs of care, including for travel and lodging.
Osprey Packs and other biking gear was given away to race participants at the taco-bar finish party prepared by Southwest Memorial food service staff.
jmimiaga@the-journal.com