ESTES PARK, Colo. – Of the 4 million visitors who arrive in this resort town from Memorial Day to Labor Day, this is an opportunity to take in the scenery and enjoy some recuperation.

There was no relaxing for John Douch. He was on a business trip and at work for another day in consecutive days. While America celebrated the Fourth of July over the weekend, he was north of the border celebrating his own holiday: The Calgary Stampede.

It was a valuable business trip. He roped $17,500 in Alberta cash, winning one round and placing in two others to win his set. Oh, but he wasn’t done. He went back to work right away, embarking on a 16-hour venture to Estes Park for Rooftop Rodeo.

He made it pay off during Monday’s third performance, roping and tying his calf in 8.6 seconds to take the tie-down roping lead with three days remaining in this year’s festivities.

“It was a good run,” said Douch, 28, a three-time National Finals Rodeo qualifier from Huntsville, Texas. “I’ve been traveling all day and night to be here, and now I’m winning it before slack; hopefully it lasts.”

The bulk of the contestants have yet to run, so there are a lot of opportunities to unseat the Texan. Still, it’s a good chance for Douch to add to his season salary. Twenty-five cowboys have roped so far, but 62 are scheduled. Most of those will compete Wednesday morning in an overflow session called “slack.”

Still, his time stand a great chance to catch some big money at Rooftop Rodeo, which has increased its purse this year. Douch is third in the world standings with more than $100,000 in earnings.

“Down in my part of the country, we rope a lot of calves,” he said. “We have a lot of fast setups like this one and a lot of good calves, so when you get a good calf, you should know what to do.

“It’s kind of mind over matter. We’re roping a good set of calves here. I just want to go out there and do my job.”

He does his job well, but there’s no down time. That’s OK. He understands that’s what it means to be a rodeo cowboy.

“There ain’t necessarily cooling off,” Douch said. “(Tuesday) I’m up in Colorado Springs, then again the next day. The day after that I’m up to Sheridan (Wyoming) and back to the Springs for the short round, then back to Calgary.

“There’s no cooling off; it’s time to go.”

Rooftop Rodeo
July 5-10
Bareback riding: 1. Andy Gingerich, 80.5 points on Cervi Brothers’ Monkey Mistress; 2. Colt Eck, 80; 3. Bodee Lammers, 76.5; 4. Jade Taton, 71; 5. Colton Farrow, 67; 6. Drake Amundson, 58; no other qualified rides.

Steer wrestling: 1. Hadley Jackson, 4.9 seconds; 2. Logan Kenline, 5.2; 3. Nick Guy, 6.0; 4. Marc Joiner, 7.1; 5. Seth Peterson, 7.2; 6. Jacob Sterkel, 7.8; 7. Emmett Edler, 8.4; 8. Mark McGill, 9.5.

Team roping: 1. Jake Clay/Tanner Braden, 4.4 seconds; 2. Tanner Tomlinson/Travis Graves, 4.6; 3. Laramie Allen/Kelby Frizzell, 4.9; 4. Slade Wood/Cashton Weidenbener, 5.1; 5. Mason Stueve/Kingston Chang, 5.7; 6. Cam Jensen/Clayton Symons, 14.2; no other qualified runs.

Saddle bronc riding: 1. Ryder Wright, 87 points on Cervi Brothers’ Promiscuous Girl; 2. Shea Fournier, 85; 3. Mitchell Story, 83.5; 3. Clint Reed, 80; 4. (tie) Leon Fountain, Stetson Wright and Tanner Hayes, 78; 6. Tate Kelly, 76; 7. Reed Neely, 76; 8. Sawyer Eirikson, 75.5.

Breakaway roping: 1. Kassandra Shoemaker, 2.7 seconds; 2. (tie) Sutton Mang and Suzanne Williams, 2.9; 4. Kaydin Finan, 3.3; 5. (tie) Abby Farris and Rickie Fanning, 3.7; 7. (tie) Haleigh Grant and Timber Allenbrand, 3.8; 9. (tie) Ari Norcutt, 3.9; 10. Kassidy Dennison, 12.1.

Tie-down roping: 1. John Douch, 8.6 seconds; 2. Carter Andreson, 8.7; 3. Roan Hudson, 9.1; 4. Cole Teirney, 9.3; 5. Cory Bomhoff, 9.4; 6. (tie) Bernard Girard, Austin Lawrence and Cash Fuesz, 9.5.

Barrel racing: 1. Austyn Tobey, 16.42 seconds; 2. Kylie Wells, 16.48; 3. Dina Allred, 16.63; 4. Karson Bradley Burger, 16.64; 5. Madison McCaffity, 16.66; 6. Andrea Busby, 16.68; 7. Christy Hefley, 16.75;

8. Blake Molle, 16.82; 9. Morgan Addison, 16.85; 10. Chloe Gray, 16.91.

Bull riding: 1. Stetson Wright, 91 points on Cervi Championship Rodeo’s Dialed In; 2. Sage Vance, 82; no other qualified rides.