Jennifer Buntz will roll up to the start line of the Gila Monster Gran Fondo Saturday. She has participated in races and rides organized by Tour of the Gila more times than she can count. So, while pinning on a number in Silver City isn’t new to her, she still treasures the chance to do it. “I’ve had an amazing 40 plus year run being able to ride my bike around. I’m still inspired by being able to go places and see things on my own power,” Buntz says.

The CNM biology instructor raced the Tour of the Gila in the mid 90s and beyond. Buntz last remembers racing Tour of the Gila in about 2007, but her name is on the 2010 roster.

“I did the Tour of the Gila race multiple times in all its different iterations for the women. It’s grown and changed a lot,” she says. “I was always just a pack filler. It got a lot harder when it went from 1, 2, 3 to 1,2 when there were not as many people to draft.”

One year there wasn’t a women’s race, she remembers. “I did, I think, the men’s 3 race. It was fun because it was a much bigger pack and when I got dropped, I wasn’t by myself.”

Cyclists like Buntz appreciate Tour of the Gila for the top-notch climbing its courses offer. “It’s just an amazing race. It’s hard to find good stage races. Most of the ones I used to do don’t happen anymore,” she says.

Besides, race gets unmatched support from the global sports community as well as from local volunteers and small businesses. “That’s what makes it such an awesome event: the people behind Tour of the Gila.”

Host housing is “another cool thing” about Tour of the Gila. “I stayed all over the place,” Buntz says.

And even when she stopped racing, Buntz would visit Silver City to watch cycling’s top athletes at Tour of the Gila. Today, she visits just to ride her bike in southwest New Mexico. “It’s calmer. I love coming down there because it’s different, and there aren’t going to be as many vehicles,” Buntz says. “It’s spectacular.”

A few years back, Buntz signed up for the Gila Monster Gran Fondo because she wanted to ride the full stage 5 race course that the pro men ride on their final day. “I wanted to do the Gila Monster. It was pretty epic,” she says.

This year, Buntz anticipates that the 80-mile ride will be enough for her. “I had hip replacement surgery in December last year. A lot of last year was lost,” she says. “As soon as I got the OK from the surgeon to get back on the bike, it’s pretty much all I’ve been doing.”

She signed up for the Gila Monster Gran Fondo as soon as she could. “This is an awesome event to hopefully have a good ride,” Buntz says.

When the Gila Monster Gran Fondo is in the rearview, Buntz hopes to plan a backpacking trip in the Gila National Forest. “New Mexico has a lot going. You’d be hard pressed to find a better place in the country for the kinds of outdoor activities that we love to do,” she says.

ADVOCATE

A founder of the Duke City Wheelmen, Buntz installs ghost bikes for people who’ve died while riding and promotes safe practices for people who ride and who drive where others are riding bikes. “I don’t find it to be that bad on the road myself. But I know I have developed habits like waving and interacting with motorists to claim my space a bit,” she says. “They often don’t see us. If you do something different, it breaks that blank stare or whatever they’ve got going while they’re driving.”

Buntz has noticed that, often, people wave back at her. “It really smooths the waters,” she says.

She’s also cognizant of the fact that some people haven’t experienced what it’s like to be on a bicycle on the road and so don’t realize how scary it feels to get passed closely. “If you haven’t done it, how would you know?” she says. “I get passed with more room when I’ve been able to hear a car coming up behind me and wave before it passes me.”