Leg 5 of 7 · All legs

Road Cycling

Leg 5 of 7. You link the land and the lake. Ride to the lake, tag your paddleboarder, ride the road course on open roads, and hand the timing bracelet to your paddler. Route plate and distance: /events/durango/maps.

Venue names are the 2025 locations, expected again. 2027 locations are confirmed after permits. Exchanges

Bracelet

Timing bracelet. You take it from your mountain biker and hand it to your paddler. You also start the lake bracelet on its way with a tag at the lake.

The hand-off

Your mountain biker finishes at Santa Rita Whitewater Park and hands you the timing bracelet. You then ride a short transit to the lake. The transit is not part of your own leg time, but it is part of the team's total time, so don't dawdle. New for 2027: you must ride the transit. At Lake Nighthorse Swim Beach you physically tag your paddleboarder, who starts on the lake bracelet. You finish at Oxbow Park on the Animas River and hand the timing bracelet to your paddler. The boat must still be on shore when you hand off. Only the athletes and race officials go in the hand-off box. Exchange locations and parking: /events/durango/exchanges.

Full vs Sprint

Full: after the lake tag you keep going, straight away, on the clock. Your road cycle runs at the same time as the paddleboard and the swim. Sprint: after the lake tag you wait at the lake until your swimmer finishes and tags you, then you start the timed road cycle.

Minimum age

14 on race day. Provisional: these ages are under review by our counsel and insurer; if they change, every registered captain will be told directly. Any team with an athlete under 18 must have a captain who is 18 or over, and each athlete under 18 needs guardian consent and a named supervising adult present for their leg.

What to bring

  • Bib, worn where it can be seen.
  • Timing bracelet, worn by you for the whole leg.
  • Helmet, worn and fastened, the same rule as the Mountain Bike: worn and securely fastened at all times while in possession of the bicycle, from the moment it is taken at the exchange to the moment it is racked. Certification standard: to be published.
  • Lighting and reflective gear: rule to be published.

Leg rules

  • No helmet means an immediate stop and disqualification.
  • E-bikes and any motor- or pedal-assisted cycle are prohibited.
  • Drafting a non-competing vehicle or rider is prohibited.
  • Repairs or exchanges may happen at any safe, non-obstructing location off the roadway. Mechanical help can come from anyone.
  • The roads stay open to traffic. Obey officials, law enforcement, fire, EMS and venue staff immediately.
  • Ride right, pass left. Travel on the right and move left only to complete a pass.
  • No crossing the centreline on open-road segments. Which segments, and how, is published in the Athlete Guide.
  • No devices covering both ears on this leg. Bone-conduction and single-ear devices are fine.
  • No vehicle may follow an athlete along an open road. Wingmates obey all traffic law, and a Wingmate or vehicle violation counts against the team.
  • Hazard: open-road traffic.

Rules on every leg

  • Stay on the marked course. No shortcuts and no cutting corners, including when passing. (VLK-05.01)
  • Help anyone in danger. Athletes must assist, or summon assistance for, any person in danger on the course. Time lost giving genuine assistance is credited on application to the Race Director. (VLK-05.04)
  • Audio. Devices covering both ears are prohibited on the Road Cycling and Road Run legs and at every road crossing. Bone-conduction and single-ear devices are permitted everywhere. (VLK-05.07)
  • Ride right, pass left. On any shared or open-road segment, travel on the right and move left only to complete a pass. (VLK-05.08)
  • Centreline. On open-road segments, athletes may not cross the centreline. Details by segment are in the Athlete Guide. (VLK-05.09)
  • Outside help, one rule for all seven legs. Help from anyone not on your roster, like food, drink, gear or moving your equipment, is allowed only inside a published support zone. Mechanical help (a pump, a tool, a spare part, a hand with a repair) can come from anyone, anywhere it is safe and does not block the course. No pacing. No towing, pushing or drafting behind a non-competing vehicle, rider or craft. Help from an official or safety staff is always allowed and is recorded. (VLK-05.10)
  • Report a withdrawal. If you stop, report it to an official, at a transition, or to Race Command. An unreported withdrawal starts a missing-athlete response and is a violation. (VLK-22.04)
  • Carry your mandatory gear for your whole leg. Broken mandatory gear must be replaced before you go beyond the next transition. (VLK-24.01, VLK-24.02)

Penalties. Penalties are a documented warning, a 15-minute time penalty added to official time, or disqualification (VLK-25.04). The graded outcomes run warning, then 15 minutes, then Unranked, then disqualification, and each rule's repeat consequence is set in the penalty table. Some breaks are an immediate stop and disqualification, including no PFD, no helmet, a missed water check-in, dangerous road conduct or refusing an official (PEN-12). Deliberate course-cutting is a disqualification (PEN-08). A Wingmate or vehicle violation counts against the team (PEN-14). Time penalties are shown separately in results (VLK-16.07), and Race Command may stop any participant immediately for safety (VLK-25.02). The values are reviewed with counsel before the rule freeze, and any change goes out as a bulletin. The full penalty table is in the Race Bible at /rules.

Cutoffs. Cutoffs come from the moment an authority takes the course back, such as a road reopening or a venue closing, minus a clearance buffer for the sweep. They are never set from a guess at athlete pace (VLK-22.01). If an athlete has not reached the exchange by the hard cutoff, they stop and follow the sweep. The next leg starts under a cutoff override and, where the team can still safely complete the remaining legs, it continues as Unranked: recorded as a finisher, listed below the ranked teams, and not eligible for awards (VLK-22.02, VLK-23.02). Officials can also release a leg early for safety, venue or permit reasons. That is a safety override: no penalty, and the team stays ranked (VLK-23.02). An override start is not a penalty and is not protestable (VLK-23.04). Cutoff and override times are published later, with the course hours.

The full rules: the Race Bible.

Published later

Coming before race day, and emailed to every captain: course hours, cutoffs, helmet certification standard, centreline details by segment, exchange maps and diagrams, race briefing, course conditions, lighting and reflective gear rule.