SAN DIEGO, CA (July 31, 2013)—ElliptiGO Inc, creator of the world’s first elliptical bicycle, today announced the winners of the 2013 ElliptiGO Double. After Saturday’s grueling 27-mile ascent at the Mt. Evans Hill Climb and Sunday’s 12-mile ascent at the Pikes Peak Hill Climb, it was elite Masters runner Rusty Snow who established a new record en route to capturing the win, completing the climbs in a combined time of 4:50:04. In the women’s race, Andrea McLarty knocked out a 6:25:53 for both climbs to secure her place in elliptical cycling history. In total, a dozen ElliptiGO riders showed up to take part in what event organizers were calling the “world’s highest and hardest cycling weekend.”
The 2013 ElliptiGO Double drew ElliptiGO competitors from Oregon, California, Florida and Colorado to take on two of the toughest hill climbing events in the world. The event is a stage-race, with the lowest combined time determining the winner. The first day’s race took place at Mt. Evans, where the competitors saw Snow, Jimi Gibson and Carl Yee get off to a quick start and never look back. They were followed by the chase group of Brian Brown, Chris Branson, Bryan Pate and Andrea McLarty, with a third group of Gary Hartrick, Keri Cleeremans and Bill Pinnell forming at the back. The competitors fought their way to the top with Snow winning the ElliptiGO event in 2:54:40, followed by Gibson in 3:06:53, and Yee in third with a 3:18:09. McLarty set the standard in the women’s race by summiting in 3:50:38.
After making the 90-minute descent from the top, the racers made their way to Manitou Springs to prepare for the next day’s climb up Pikes Peak. Twelve ElliptiGO riders lined up for the 6:00 AM start, including three-time Pikes Peak Ascent Champion Simon Gutierrez. The start was fast and unfolded like Mt. Evans except this time Snow, Gibson and Yee were joined by Gutierrez as a lead foursome. Unlike Mt. Evans, Pikes quickly becomes a relentless climb with a consistent grade ranging from 9-11%, which combined with the elevation and high winds to make every pedal stroke a real challenge for the riders.
Climbing together the entire time, Snow and Gibson tied for the win in 1:55:24, placing them 19th and 20th overall amongst the more than 200 cyclists who started in the 6:00 AM wave. Gutierrez took third in 2:04:46 while McLarty charged to the top in 2:35:14 to become the first woman to complete the ElliptiGO Double.
“Now in our fourth year, the racing side of elliptical cycling is really developing and attracting more competitors to challenging endurance events like the World Championships of Elliptical Cycling and the ElliptiGO Double,” said Bryan Pate, Co-Founder and Co-President of ElliptiGO. “Mt. Evans and Pikes Peak in Colorado are the two highest paved roads in the U.S., each ending at more than 14,000 feet of elevation, so we were pleasantly surprised with the number of folks who wanted to take them on in the same weekend. It bodes well for the future of the sport and we can’t wait to see what next year will bring.”