The Race to Be Kind

Ovando

During the 2015 Tour Divide Mountain Bike Race, word went out that a rider was exhausted and struggling. Before long, folks in this tiny town of just 71 residents were ready to welcome her with blankets, a sandwich, and a bed. “Hey, that felt good! What else can we do?” Kathy Schoendoerfer, who runs a local flyfishing shop, remembers thinking. The town began stocking bike parts, set up the old jail as a bunkhouse, and became famous in cycling circles for welcoming the weary.