Ear to the ground

“I went to a retreat for menopausal women. Are you sorry you asked?”

– A Durango woman after being asked what she did for her weekend

Cross season

The season of mud, sweat and gears takes off this Sunday at Durango Mountain Resort. The local ski area and Durango racers Todd and Troy Wells will inaugurate the cyclocross season with the first annual “Wells Bros. CX Race at Purgatory.”

Cyclocross races fill cycling’s fall and winter shoulder seasons with precarious courses negotiated on skinny but knobby tires. Barriers and obstacles are also thrown into the mix, forcing riders out of the saddle and adding a running component to the two-wheeled discipline.

Todd Wells will be on hand to host and race the event on Sunday, which benefits Get Out!, one of Durango’s training programs for young athletes. The race will begin with a mass start at 10 a.m., and is open to men or women racers in A or B categories. The course is spectator-friendly, and Purg will have food, beer and spectacular fall foliage on tap for the event. Entry into the event is only $15 and online registration is available at www.ridepurg.com/ wellsbros.

Immediately following the race, a ceremony to acknowledge DMR’s partners in the new Durango Coca-Cola Bike Park – Coca-Cola of Durango and Trails 2000 – will be held. The reborn 1990 World’s Course and the new short track were designed, constructed and rebuilt this summer by Trails 2000. Providing more than 300 hours in labor, Trails 2000 worked with DMR, various service groups and local volunteers to create a world-class trail system at the resort. “The potential is endless for connecting those trails and making DMR a mountain biking destination,” said Mary Monroe, director of Trails 2000.

The great divide

Durangoans have a chance to partake in the world’s longest mountain bike race, but from the comfort of a cushy seat inside the Abbey Theatre. “Ride The Divide,” a film chronicling the 2,711-mile Tour Divide race, plays at 6 & 8 p.m. on Tues., Oct. 5. The showing is a fund-raiser for Durango DEVO.

This film is being hailed as an “instant classic” and a “real cycling movie.” “Ride The Divide” follows the stories of three racers as they attempt to pedal the Continental Divide from Banff, Canada, to a small, dusty crossing on the Mexican border. Over the course of a few weeks, they attempt to survive the backbone of the Rocky Mountains and 200,000 vertical feet of climbing, all with no support and often in total isolation.

Ride The Divide made its debut at the Vail Film Festival and was named the best adventure film at the event. Outside Magazine proclaimed that “The toughest bike race in the world is not in France,” after reviewing the film.

For more information, visit www.ridethedividemovie.com.