Brady Kappius of Boulder had never raced 60 miles on a mountain bike, but with about six remaining in the Rocky Mountain State Games 100K race Sunday at the Air Force Academy, he found the strength for one last push.
After battling with Kalan Beisel for most of the day, Kappius' moment came on one of the last climbs.
"I managed to open up a 10 or 15-second gap, then hung on ... barely," Kappius said.
He cruised home in 4 hours, 55 minutes, 50 seconds to capture the top spot in the men's pro race.
Beisel rolled in 40 seconds later.
"He got me when I was hurting," Beisel said. "I knew there was going to be an attack on the last lap, and Brady won the attack."
PikesPeakSports.us members Rocio Close and Jon Zanone contributed photos and a blog to the Falcon 100K coverage.
Check out Close's photos here: http://pikespeaksports.us/photo/albums/falcon-100-km-rocky-mountain
Zanone's blog is here: http://pikespeaksports.us/profiles/blogs/slow-ride-take-it-easy