Local cycling legend ends the season in gold
Susanville cycling legend Frank Winters ended the 2025 season in gold. He took two golds, a sliver and a bronze at the World Senior Games in St. George, Utah.
Riding this year in the 65+ category, his finish in metal followed a win at LoToJa, the 202-mile race from Logan, Utah to Jackson Hole, Wyoming. He finished in an amazing nine hours and 50 minutes.
Frank Winters crosses the finish line at Jackson Hole, Wyoming, to win the 65+ category in the 202-mile LoToJa 2025. Winters’ group started the race almost an hour after the first group of cyclists took off. The race from Logan, Utah to Jackson Hole, Wyoming began in 1983 as a challenge between a Utah State college student and the owner of a Logan bicycle shop. More than 570 cyclists attempted the course in 2025. Photo by Shayla Ashmore“All that suffering you’ve done for years is finally worth it,” Winters, 69, said of his accomplishments this year.
He defined conditions as perfect for his season-ending gold medal effort involving 1,079 feet of climbing. More casual cyclists might call the 34-mile Enterprise Road Race challenging at 55 degrees with intermittent mist and wet pavement.
Winters did admit a “really fast corner” at the base of a hill “used every bit of me,” forcing him to the opposite edge of the road, where he unclipped his cleat from the pedal, prepared, but ultimately not forced, to put his foot down. He finished in an hour and 26 minutes.
Frank Winters stands atop the podium for his first place finish in the 65+ category at LoToJa 2025 on Sept. 6. Photo by Shayla AshmoreThe road race settled the back-and-forth challenge between Winters and competitor WB Wiggs, 67, of Palmdale, California, at the world’s largest multi-sport event for athletes over the age of 50.
“He beat me in the time trial,” Winters said of his bronze medal finish. “He has my number.”
Like most cyclists, the competitors are friendly and respect one another. Wiggs also won the Snow Canyon Hill climb. Winters described his silver medal 840-foot-elevation gain effort as “three miles uphill as fast as you can go.” He finished in 15 minutes 38 seconds.
Frank Winters celebrates a gold medal finish in the Enterprise Road Race at the Huntsman World Senior Games in St. George, Utah. WB Wiggs, left, sports a silver medal. Photo submitted.Winters also took gold in the 25-mile gravel race at Gunlock State Park, Utah. He won in just under an hour and 23 minutes, averaging 18 miles an hour over 1,600 feet of elevation gain.
After 12 appearances at the senior games in 19 years, Winters may face Wiggs again next year, but he’s not resting in the off-season.
After winning gold Oct. 10, Winters rode almost 50 miles from Susanville to Honey Lake and back on Oct. 13, almost 56 miles round trip to Lake Almanor on Oct. 15 and more than 100 miles for a Fall River Century on Thursday, Oct 16.
“Okay, I’m tired now,” he posted on the Strava cycling app.
