Colorado Triple Crown: 2016 Boulder Fearsome Five

Monday, May 30, 2016

2016 Boulder Fearsome Five

Brave-hearted RMCCers line up for the start of the Boulder Fearsome Five, which is perhaps
the world's most difficult century!

Twelve glutton-for-punishment members of the RMCC tackled the Boulder Fearsome Five on Saturday, May 28, 2016. The Fearsome Five, otherwise known as "Los Cinco Diablos," is perhaps the most difficult century in the world. The course features somewhere in the vicinity of 17,000 feet of climbing and 13 miles of dirt and gravel roads in 101 miles. This was the RMCC's first attempt at the Fearsome Five since the epic floods of 2013 that severely damaged large sections of James Canyon and Fourmile Canyon. Congratulations to all of the riders who attempted this extremely challenging course and kudos to everyone who completed the entire course!

Riders had 11 hours to complete as many climbs as possible within the time limit. The five major climbs of the Fearsome Five (and the five most devilish climbs) included:

Flagstaff Mountain (a.k.a, "the SuperFlag") (Cat 2)
James Canyon (a.k.a., "the SuperJames") (Cat 2)
Sunshine Canyon/Fourmile Canyon combo (HC Cat)
Sugarloaf Road (Cat 2)
Magnolia Road, Boulder County's steepest paved road (Cat 1)

The course also included several shorter "connector" climbs to bridge the major climbs. The connector climbs included:

Lee Hill (Cat 2)
W. Lee Hill/Deer trail (Cat 3)
Bow Mountain Rd/Linden/Wildhorse Circle (Cat 3)

Results are based on number of climbs completed, not finishing time. Congratulations to Ryan Franz, who completed the entire course in a blazing 7 hours, 58 minutes!

Complete results are posted here: 2016 Boulder Fearsome Five

Thanks to Caleb Carl and Mark Lowe who provided event support for this year's Boulder Fearsome Five.

Next up: Colorado High Country Double Century on 6/11/2016, the first Colorado Triple Crown event of 2016! Please make your travel plans now!