{gallery}07_09_09/bicycle{/gallery} Powell residents Luke Robertson (left) and Waleryan Wisniewski travel to Laramie this weekend to begin the six-day Tour de Wyoming bike ride. This year's course takes riders from Laramie into Colorado and over four mountain passes before returning them to the starting point. Tribune photo by Randal Horobik Powell P.E. teachers heading for Tour de WyomingLuke Robertson and Waleryan Wisniewski attended the University of Wyoming together. They graduated together and, as fate would have it, they both got their first jobs teaching physical education in Powell.

Next week, the pair will return to Laramie to take part in the 2009 Tour de Wyoming.

“This will be my third time doing it,” Robertson said of the annual event. “My father and mother got me started. They did it just about every year and were really responsible for getting me interested in biking.”

Robertson's father will once again be taking part in the Tour de Wyoming. Robertson, in turn, talked Wisniewski into acompanying him on this year's trek.

“He was on board from the beginning,” said Robertson. “I think he was looking for something new to do to stay in shape over the summer. Plus it gives us both a chance to go back to our familiar college stomping ground since it starts and ends in Laramie.”

The route for the Tour de Wyoming varies from year to year as organizers strive to move the event throughout the state. The 2009 version might best be described as a Tour de Wyoming and Colorado as riders will spend a considerable portion of time in the Rocky Mountain state.

Organizers are jokingly refering to it as the quadruple bypass Tour, due to the four mountain passes riders will cross during the week.

Riders depart Laramie on July 12 and travel 65 miles, finishing south of the border in Walden, Colo. They'll spend all of July 13 outside the state as well, pedaling 60 miles from Walden to Steamboat Springs.

Bikers return to Wyoming on July 14 with the longest ride of the Tour, an 83-mile stretch that brings the riders to Baggs. Day 4 features nearly a vertical mile of climbs as riders go from Baggs to Saratoga in a 76-mile segment. If that doesn't tire them out, the July 16 stretch from Saratoga to Centennial, a 48-mile route that results in nearly 1,600 feet of elevation gain mght.

The 2009 Tour concludes with a leisurely 32-mile home stretch from Centennial back to Laramie on July 17.

“The great thing about biking is that, when you're out there, you just have your thoughts to yourself,” said Robertson, who has trained for the event by biking anywhere from 25 to 60 miles a day for the last six weeks. “I try to get between 150 and 200 miles in during the week. I hit the hills whenever I can and bike up into the Big Horn Mountains.”

Biking also has a secondary appeal to Robertson, who also describes himself as an avid runner.

“I've run marathons in the past,” Robertson said, noting he's previously qualified to compete in the Boston Marathon. “I wasn't able to run in it because I had some troubles with my knee. Biking gives me a chance to stay in shape, but it doesn't put the same stress on my knee. My goal is definitely to re-qualify (for the Boston Marathon) and run in it one day.”

Between 300 and 350 riders are expected to take part in the 2009 Tour de Wyoming.