Bishop and Tittensor Take Home The Win And Set New Course Records At The First Annual Kokopelli 100

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Moab, UT (September 14, 2017) – 2017 Kokopelli 100 MTB & Relay presented by Groove Life Rings, race recap.

With ideal weather conditions the small 17 participant racing field started the first annual Kokopelli 100 at 6:33 AM on Saturday, September 9, 2017. With pros consisting of Nicole Tittensor (pro woman) of Axtell, UT; Stefano Barberi of Newbury Park, CA; Bryan Dillon of Gunnison, CO and the current NUE leaders tied for first place, Jeremiah Bishop of Harrisonburg, VA and Dylan Johnson of McLean, VA. Also participating in the field was James Lawrence, aka - the Iron Cowboy. Lawrence rocked the endurance community in 2015 by completing 50 full Ironman's in 50 consecutive days in all 50 US states. Lawrence has recently taken to mountain biking and in May successfully became the first person to summit Mount Kilimanjaro via mountain bike.

With the sun just starting to peak over the high desert horizon and a Robinson R44 Helicopter from Pinnicle Helicopter 70 feet overhead, the race began at the Westwater Airstrip, just a few miles from the Colorado/Utah border. The five pros immediately went to the front to push the pace while the rest of the field fell in behind to create a pace line pushing 28 miles per hour that traveled down the first few miles of BLM road to access the Kokopelli Trail.

Bishop, Johnson, Dillon, Barberi, and Nate Ginzton, an expert rider from Boise Idaho, all stayed within seconds of each other through aid station 1 clocking 55 minutes and change for the first 20.6 miles averaging just over 21 mph. The Iron Cowboy was 9 minutes behind the lead pack with a time of 1:04:34.

Nicole Tittensor, the race's only women's racer came through aid station 1 approximately 10 minutes behind the lead pack in 1:05:55 averaging 18.2 mph. Tittensor, who is the reigning Intermountain Cup Champion, and has two top 5 pro XCT UCI race finishes was disappointed that Topeak Ergon pro rider Karen Jarchow was a no show to the race but none the less was excited to test her abilities on the world famous Kokopelli Trail.

On to aid station 2 and the Dewey Bridge, the four pros would continue to race together while Jeremiah Bishop conducted interviews of the lead pack with his handlebar mounted video camera. (Who else does this?) The race course from aid station 1 to aid station 2 typically contains a good amount of very fine red sand that we like to call "red baby powder". This sandy powder can bring racers to a dead stop and suck the energy out of the best rider. Luckily the night before saw some light precipitation which packed the powder down and provided for slightly better traction at times. Again, all four pros came through aid station 2 (mile marker 38.8, averaging just over 17 miles per hour) together with Bryan Dillon in the lead at 2:15:50 followed by Dylan Johnson at 2:15:53, Jeremiah Bishop in third with 2:15:55 and Stefano Barberi in fourth at 2:15:56.

Ginzton from Boise continued to ride very consistently and can came through aid station 2 at 2:22:48, just seven minutes back from the leaders. Tittensor came through looking confident at 2:47:17 while the Iron Cowboy was feeling the burn of the red baby powder. Lawrence came through at 3:08:9. About 7 miles later Lawrence would drop out of the race due to exhaustion. The Iron Cowboy had recently returned from a two-week speaking tour in India where he was not able to train. Lawrence said, “This is a humbling course. It is unlike anything I have ever done. It is amazingly beautiful and amazingly difficult. This is no Leadville. In my life I have an extremely short list of unfinished business. The Kokopelli 100 is now on that list. I will be back in 2018 to complete my unfinished business with the Kokopelli 100!”

After crossing the aid station 2 and the Dewey Bridge, racers would begin the arduous journey up the Rose Garden Hill which consists of multiple 12% and 14% inclines and aid station 3 at mile marker 56.7.

Stefano Barberi was next to pull out of the race. After two flats and exhaustion on the hills, he called it a day at aid station 3 clocking 4:59:41 at that aid station. Jeremiah Bishop would now begin to pull away from Topeak Ergon Teammate Bryan Dillon and NUE competitor Dylan Johnson. At aid station 3 Bishop would come through with a time of 4:01:13, followed by teammate Bryan Dillon at 4:08:22 and then Dylan Johnson at 4:12:09. Dylan was suffering from dehydration on the accent to aid station 3. Non-pro rider Nate Ginzton continued to look fresh as he came through aid station 3 at 4:29:14.

Pro woman racer Nicole Tittensor would come through aid station 3 at 5:25:38. The Kokopelli was starting to take its toll on all of the riders but Tittensor was still optimistic.

Now with the race more than half way over the racers headed on to the final aid station and the 8562 feet peak of the course located at mile 74.4 of the course. In total the Kokopelli 100 racers would climb just over 10,749 feet in this race in what many believe to be one of the most technical and difficult mountain bike routes on the planet.

It is said that if you don’t like the rough, sandy or technical nature of the Kokopelli 100, just ride for 30 more seconds and it will change. The next section would provide yet another drastic change in scenery as the racers worked their way into the La Sal mountains. Once past the largest climb of the day at 8,588 the racers are rewarded with a 2,000 foot drop to aid station 4. Bishop would increase his lead over Dillon and Johnson to 14 total minutes. Meanwhile Johnson picked up the pace to close the gap between 2nd and 3rd to come in just seconds behind Dillon. Dillon would see aid station at 6:14:04 and Johnson at 6:14:07. Nate Ginzton, still looking as fresh as when he started came through at 6:49:36.

Tittensor would keep pushing her personal limits to come through aid station 4 at 8:21:27 with some of the hard-core age groupers following behind like 53-year-old Mike Driver from Fruita, CO at 8:22:27 and Blake Romine from Branson, MO at 8:41:06.

Next the racers would face one last accent of almost 1,700 feet and then on to the finish line with an almost 4,000 feet very fast decent to the finish line.

Jeremiah Bishop would extend his lead over his other two competitors and finish first with a new Kokopelli 100 course record and an incredible time of 7:16:56. Bishop would actually ride so fast that in several very technical spots of the course our very accomplished motorcyclist and lead race marshal had difficulty keeping pace with him.

Dylan Johnson would pass Bryan Dillon for second place and cross the finish line at 7:34:25.

Bryan Dillon would take third place with a time of 7:44:41.

Bishop, Johnson and Dillon would all concur that, “The Kokopelli 100 is one of the most difficult mountain bike races ever and demands your respect.”

Nicole Tittensor would set a new Kokopelli 100 Women’s course record in 10:19:25. Exhausted but ecstatic her waiting family was a warm welcome at the finish line.

Nate Ginzton, the non-pro racer from Boise, that actually looked like he was out for a Sunday ride the entire time finished in 8:23:09.

Mike Driver, the 53-year-old from Fruita, CO came in at 10:00:32. Mike had 4 electronic gps devices on his bike handlebars. Definitely one of our favorite photos. Mike set the course record for the Kokopelli 100 Men’s 50+ age group.

Blake Romine from Branson, MO would set the Men’s 18-29 age group record at 10:40:51.

Ted Clausen from Minneapolis, MN would take the Adventure division record at 11:35:12.

And in spite of dealing with exhaustion and sever GI issues at aid station 2, Jason Jaussi and Tap Gorman, both from Lehi, UT would pull through to finish at 12:39:21 and 12:39:22 respectively. Picking up the Men’s 40-49 age group win and Kokopelli 100 age group course record.

Finally, there is one other story we would like to tell from the Kokopelli 100 MTB & Relay. It is of the relay and our first record setting men’s team - Missy’s Piranha. With a finishing time of 10:36:07, Kevin Dewlen, Mike Broggi and Bobby Mosiman, all from Fort Collins, CO would not just cover the 100 miles of the Kokopelli 100 but rather almost 150 miles. The fourth teammate of Missy’s Piranha, Travis Schmidt was not able to participate in this year’s Kokopelli 100. Travis’s father lives in Florida and was affected by Hurricane Irma. Travis sat this year’s Kokopelli 100 out in order to help his father prepare for the storm. Travis, we wish you, your father and everyone else affected by this devastating storm our best. You are in our thoughts and prayers. As for the remaining three teammates of Missy’s Piranha, Bobby and Mike decided to ride two legs instead of one so that all three of them (Kevin rode the leg three which is twice as long as legs 1,2 and 4) would get in similar mileage. The Kokopelli 100 Relay provides “normal” people, people without legs of steel like Jeremiah Bishop and Nicole Tittensor the opportunity to experience this iconic and very challenging trail. Missy’s Piranha showed us that even in our relay, Kokopelli racers go above and beyond. Kokopelli racers take the more difficult path in life and enjoy doing it.

In the end 8 new course records were set on Saturday at the Kokopelli 100 MTB & Relay. And while the $100,000 prize purse was not reached there were 13 new individuals that suffered through the impossible to do and become something that only a handful will recognize in this lifetime, become Kokopelli 100 Finishers. All 13 finishers had three similar things to say as they crossed the finish line at the 2017 Kokopelli 100, “1. The Kokopelli 100 is one of the most difficult things I have every done in my life! 2. The Kokopelli 100 was one of the most beautiful courses I have ever seen! 3. I will be back to race the Kokopelli next year!”

2018 will bring many new faces and stories to the Kokopelli 100 as a new 140 mile mountain bike and ultra marathon running race, two day ride and run and mtb and running relay will be added.

The Kokopelli 100 & 140 will also join the NUE Series (National Ultra Endurance Series), the largest mountain series of it’s kind in the world.

To learn more about the 2018 Kokopelli 100 & 140 go to www.kokopelli100.com. Media inquiries may contact Mark Jensen at mark@kokopelli100.com.