First round of photos from Saturday's Dirty Duathlon at Ute Valley Park. Pro mountain bike racer Fernando Riveros won the men's race, while Sharon McDowell-Larsen, a former cyclist who has switched her focus to mountain running, won the women's race.
Racers in the Dirty Du began with a 5K run on Ute Valley's challenging singletrack, then pedaled a 9-mile bike leg, and finished with another 5K.
Riveros won the Dirty Du in 2012, but was in recovery mode for this edition. He recently placed 12th in the brutal, three-stage 180-mile La Ruta De Los Conquistedores mountain bike race in Costa Rica..
"Running is not my forte," Riveros said. " That was difficult, but I had to defend from last year," he said.
McDowell-Larsen pedaled a mountain bike for years, but has taken up mountain running and is focused on training for the Leaville 100.
"My husband did Leadville and it inspired me," she said. "I couldn't let him one-up me."
The Dirty Du was produced by Jayson Middlemiss, owner of Colorado Endurance Sports. The event is a fundraiser for Ute Valley Park.