The Mt. Evans Hillclimb was run for the first time in 1962. The race has been held 41 times with only three years cancelled, twice due to snow and once when the Race Director was working in Atlanta at the 1996 Summer Games.

The race was renamed in 1981 in honor of five-time race winner Bob Cook, who died of cancer at the age of 23. The race is a climber's delight and the scenery cannot be beat by any other place in the world. Riders meet all kinds of indiginous Colorado animals including Mountain Goats and sheep as well as an occasionaly marmot along the climb as well as run into all kinds of weather.

The event has been sponsored by The Denver Spoke and The Handlebar and Grill Restaurant for the past several years. Riders come from all over the United States and in the past the race has had riders from France, Switzerland, Germany, and Australia compete. The age range of the participants is from 9 to 85 years of age. The race is also supported by any individuals in the Colorado cycling community who help marshal, drive support, officiate and work the picnic. The race includes categories for all levels of racing and encourages riders who are not racers to try their hand at challenging the highest paved road in the United States.

The race starts at 7,540 feet in front of the Clear Creek Middle School and proceeds to Echo Lake where the race turns and climbs to the summit (14,264 feet.). An average of 600-1,000 riders compete each year.

Bob Cook held the course record from 1975-1980. The first three years he held the record he was a junior. The present record holder is Tom Danielson, set in 2004 with a time of 1:41:20. The Senior Women's course record is held by Jeannie Longo from France with a time of 1:59.19. The climb is 28 miles in length.

WEB SITES
There are two web sites that give information about the HillClimb: American Cycling Association at http://www.americancycling.org and The Bob Cook Memorial/Mt. Evans site at http://www.bicyclerace.com.

RACE HEADQUARTERS
The phone number for the race is 303-322-3420 Box 2. Mailing address is 7781 E. Jarvis Place, Denver, CO. 80237.

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