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18th Annual Mt. Taylor Winter Quadrathlon
Feb. 17, 2001
Grants, New Mexico

This four-event race started in Grants, New Mexico at an elevation of 6,500 feet, climbed to the spectacular 11,301-foot summit of Mt. Taylor and then returned to the finish line in Grants. Racers start with a thirteen-mile bike ride on paved road. The course winds through the streets of Grants and begins the 1,800-foot climb from desert cactus to ponderosa pine. At the end of the paved road, bikes are parked and racers must run the next five miles on gravel roads. The road started out dry but turned to snow pack. The run climbs 1,200 feet in elevation. Runners then turn to cross country skis to challenge the next 1,200-foot climb of the mountaineering ski course that covered two miles. During the final yards of this course is "Heart Break Hill" which is a straight up climb still on your cross-country skis. The remaining one-mile climb on snowshoes gains 600 feet to reach the 11,301-foot summit of Mt. Taylor where a person can see for over one hundred miles. Now the race is half over and you turn around to do everything in reverse.

Jan Bear

This was my 13th year at the Quad. IÕm not sure if I was better or worse, all the times were slower this year than last by about 20 minutes, including mine. The day was beautiful; at the top of Mt. Taylor, you could see the Sandia Mountains east of Albuquerque and the Sangre de Cristo mountains east of Santa Fe. The snow was wonderful, the last two years had been very dry and the snow was a welcome site even though it meant running on snow packed roads for 4 miles during the run portion of the race. As usual, the last bike portion of the race was into a mean headwind but when that close to the finish line it was tolerable. I finished 38th overall and 7th in my age group in a time of 4 hours and 42 minutes. As usual, I look forward to returning for my 14th Quad. The race is very well run with lots of volunteers and is always a great event.

Kim Bear

This was my second year to do the "Quad" as a soloist and my 12th year to compete there. My goal was to come in under 6 hours. The race began with perfect conditions. I rode on my Litespeed Classic road bike and enjoyed the climb up. Everyone was very friendly, socializing on the way. At the first transition, I switched to running, my least favorite venue. Friends would pass me commenting about how much I dislike running. Last year, to my horror, there was not enough snow so I also had to run the cross-country section. I felt good and George Broome helped me transition to cross country skis along with a Grants local and one of my teammates from years previous. I had forgotten how much I like the cross-country skiing. This was the venue I used to do in previous years for a womanÕs team. I actually passed many of those who had previously passed me. I knew it would be short lived. The next section was on my trusty Crescent Moon Snowshoes. There are so easy to put on and I just wore my cross-country ski boots. I was very comfortable both going up and down. The "boys" were all coming down as I was going up. I saw Jan, Ries, Don and Larry all pretty close together. When I reached the top, my mood immediately changed from irritable and disgruntled to euphoric and I looked forward to going down. It was a repeat of going up, and I got to see all my friends as they passed me on the run. It was very friendly; I ended up coming in at 5:55 and even got so lucky as to get a massage. I look forward to next year!

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This segment teammate, Slate Stern, trains for North Pole adventure