Biking tourists will have new route this year
Event starts at Santa Fe Community College and will include an off-road ride
There’s a competitive edge slowly growing within the state’s largest annual bike event, but try as organizers might to turn it into a bona fide race, there’s no getting past the fact that the Santa Fe Century is an event for the biking tourist and not the aspiring Tour de France warriors.
“We’re getting to the point where, if you’re a competitive person, the Century is starting to offer something for you,” event organizer and Santa Fe Century committee president Mike McCalla said. “But, really, we offer such a wide array of opportunities that this is more of an event for the people. Literally anyone and everyone who wants to hop on a bike can do this.”
With roots dating to 1985, the Santa Fe Century usually attracts about 2,500 bicyclists from all over the country to take part in a series of rides ranging from 25 to 100 miles.
What’s new for this year’s event, which will be May 20, are three major elements. For one, rather than starting and finishing at Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center on St. Michael’s Drive, the event is now anchored at the Santa Fe Community College on the other side of town.
“For traffic purposes, it’s a good move,” McCalla said. “It’s a bigger venue, which is good for us.”
Second is a route change to the 100-mile ride for which the Century is named. Road construction along the Turquoise Trail will put entrants on a course that heads through the villages of Madrid and Golden and loop back through Los Cerrillos toward Galisteo and Lamy, eventually connecting with Old Las Vegas Highway outside Eldorado before winding up at the college.
It still offers the sweeping views and challenging terrain, and McCalla said it’s not much different than any of the previous 33 Century rides.
The third major shift is the addition of a 20-mile dirt trail ride that follows a path that is closed to motorized vehicles and is perfectly suited for beginners and families.
“This is a cleaner, safer way for people who don’t have road bikes to come out and give this a try,” McCalla said. “It’s a simple out-and-back trail that doesn’t have a lot of climbs and is perfect for even the most basic rider.”
All told, there are six categories ranging in entry fees from $25 to $55. There are a pair of competitive events that are chip-timed and offer small cash purses to the top three in each category. The 100-, 50- and 25-mile events are, as always, on a sliding scale for start times while the dirt course, called the Rail Trail ride, is a three-hour untimed event.
As of Friday, early registration numbers suggested this could be a solid year for the Century. The record total is about 2,900 riders but, as McCalla is keenly aware, the final turnout is almost always affected by the weather.
Last year’s Century was threatened by nasty and wet conditions in the days before the event, yet on the day of the ride, it was a perfectly brisk and sunny spring day.
“We’ve never had, that I’m aware of, snow on our day,” McCalla said. “The wind can definitely kick up, but that’s just spring in New Mexico.”
Planning for the Century is no small task. The organization’s leadership committee convenes every September to start the process for the following spring; the event is always held the Sunday before Memorial Day.
“A lot goes into it,” McCalla said with a laugh. “A lot. There is so much planning and work that goes into this.”
More than 130 volunteers help keep things running, be it through one of the event’s five food stations, the start/finish command center or by manning traffic out on the course.
As a nonprofit entity, the Century is benefiting the community college this year but, as McCalla said, much of the focus is on the riders themselves.
“The people who climb onto a bike and do this every year for us, they are the real beneficiaries,” he said.
Helping to get the word out are small grants from the state and local governments. Billed as a fun, all-inclusive event for bicycle enthusiasts of all skill levels, the Century is marketed more and more to people outside Santa Fe County, and those grants allow organizers to advertise the event to people far and wide.
McCalla said roughly 40 percent of Century riders hail from outside the state. Most of those are from Colorado, although last year’s event drew from more than 20 states from coast to coast. He said the more aggressive marketing campaign might boost those numbers.
“I think the Century strikes a pretty good balance,” he said. “You have people of all skill levels and from pretty much all over. Some are taking it more seriously, and most of them are the riders who train a little on the side and do this for fun, and that’s what we’re looking for. We want people to have fun.”