Mountain bike racing national champions Heather Irmiger (left) and husband Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (right) of the Subaru-Trek team raced at Andy Bohlmann's Ascent Cycling Series race Sunday in Palmer Park.

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Andy Bohlmann picked up the phone at his house on Saturday and received a nice surprise.

Subaru-Trek rider Heather Irmiger, the 2009 world single speed champion, was calling from Boulder. She wanted to race against the pro men riders in Bohlmann's Ascent Cycling series opener at Palmer Park on Sunday, and she also promised to drag along her husband, 10-time national champion Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski.

"That was a call I didn't expect to get," Bohlmann said. "Of course, I told her she could race against the men."
Irmiger and "JHK" needed a workout at race pace to prepare for next week's World Cup event in England. They got all they wanted from the fast - and sometimes technical - single track.
"Oh yeah, the riding here is great," Horgan-Kobelski said. "We don't get to do very many local races because we're gone so much. We travel almost every weekend between March and September. Actually, it's kind of a bummer cause we don't get to race in Colorado that much. But we had a free weekend and needed a little tuneup before the world Cup."

About 100 riders braved some cold, wet weather to race. The kickoff for the Ascent Cycling Series has become a favorite of the mountain bike racing community, from beginning racers to the pros.

"To get that many riders on a day like today is pretty good," said race director Andy Bohlmann.

Cam Chambers, the 2010 24-Hour national singlespeed mountain bike champion, said he couldn't wait for the race.

"I've been waiting for this one since last year's race," he said. "This is just a great time."

The season - and life as husband and wife for JHK and Irmiger - is about to get crazy. Training schedules, travel, racing, sponsorship commitments, more training. It's not easy, but they swear they love their lifestyle.
"It's actually really awesome because we do all the same events and travel to the same places," Irmiger said. "If we were on the equivalent of a road team, we wouldn't ever see each other. I think that would be pretty difficult. It definitely has it's challenges, but we wouldn't have it any other way. It has been a really cool thing."
They admit that the countless hours of pedaling, and the world travel is exhausting. It's easy to grind on each others' nerves.
"Oh yeah, part of the thing is you live with the other person's mood," Horgan-Kobelski said. "But it's good because, with both of us being professional athletes, you know what the other person is going through. That makes it easier sometimes - and hard sometimes."
They met at the University of Colorado. Both raced on CU's cycling team. Irmiger said she remembers seeing JHK at parties. She admits she was a little bit of a groupie. They've been together for 12 years, married for five.
As a rider for Tokyo Joe's, Irmiger won her first national championship, then received pro team offers from Luna and Subaru-Trek. The chance to race on the same team as JHK was too tempting to pass up.
"I'm really happy that I chose Subaru Trek," she said.
On hard training days, they go separate ways. But they do find time spin a few miles and enjoy the other's company.
"We don't do any of our training days together because it's pretty different," Horgan-Kobelski said.  "But we do ride together. It's a fun thing, so we'll always do that."
Off-season months are filled with back-country skiing and riding motorcycles. They've hung out in New Zealand and soaked in the mellow vibe of down time.
So what does the future hold for mountain bike racing's famous couple?
Irmiger said she is focused on cycling and hasn't thought about the future. She just wants to race her bike. JHK, who has an engineering degree from CU, said he is taking it one year at a time and has a "few irons in the fire" with architectural projects in the Boulder area.
But for now they're healthy and riding fast. Their jobs are to race mountain bikes.
"Basically, it's all cycling for me in the foreseeable future," JHK said.
"This sport has a lot of longevity," Irmiger said. "People do it for a pretty long time. And right now, could be prime years coming up."

RESULTS (unofficial)

Pro and Cat 1 Men 19-29: 1.  Jeremy Horgan-Kobelsi   2:01.22, 2.  Kalan Beisel  2:08.34, 3.  J.J. Clark  2:10.11, 4.  Mark Legg Compton 2:17.49,  5.  Doug Ryden 2:22.14, 6.  Jurgen Bergeron 2:23.28, 7.  Cameron Chambers 2:24.14, 8.  Rob Sousa  2:27.46, 9.  Doug Johnson  2:29.16, 10. Damon Gilbert  2:32.40, 11. Heather Irmiger  2:32.58, Darian Founds  DNF, Ashley Goodwin DNF.

Pro and Cat 1 Women: 1. Mary Hoyle, WMBA

Single Speed women: 1. Hillary Hienton, WMBA

Cat 2 Men 19-29: 1. Daniel Byrd

Cat 2 Men 20-39: 1. Todd Shaffer

Cat 2 Men 40-49: 1. Patrick Cross

Cat 2 Women 19-29: 1. Lindsay Watson

Cat 3 Men: 19-29: 1. John Combellick

Cat 3 Men 30-39: 1. James Bailey

Cat 3 Men 40-49: 1. William Houth

Cat 3 Men 50+: Michael West

Clydesdale: Drew Norkol

Cat 3 Women 30+: Emily Wsocki, WMBA

Jr. Women 15-18: 1. Laurel Rathbun

Jr. Men Cat 3: 1. Brady Smith

Jr. Women 14U: 1. Isabel Marbaka

Jr. Men 14U: 1. Neil Oppedal