Brick Oven/CB Builders team opens season with Fruita race

Local riders back in action with a  growing team 

The local bike team Team Brick Oven/Crested Butte Builders (BO/CBB), opened the 2008 racing season at the opening race of the Mountain States Cup series, the Rabbit Valley Rally in Fruita, Saturday and Sunday, April 12-13.

The Mountain States Cup is a series of 10 mountain bike races held throughout Colorado and New Mexico, including the Wildflower Rush here in Mt. Crested Butte June 20-22.
The team continues to build its arsenal of talented riders, adding Dawson Stucki from Gunnison, pro women’s rider Laura Anderson and Andrew Feeney from Louisville to its roster in the off-season.
The team now has more than 30 riders signed on for the 2008 season.
“We’re reaching out to Gunnison and beyond,” says Director Sportif and rider for BO/CBB Ben Preston. “We’re trying to help everyone out a little bit.”
While training for the first race of the season is virtually non-existent for the local team riders, they managed to represent themselves well among numerous teams from throughout the Southwest.
The Rabbit Valley Rally opened on Saturday with a time trial race as riders competed against the clock on a five to six mile course of desert double and single track.
Preston led the charge, posting the fastest time of 17:10 for the team to take 15th in the men’s pro class.
Dave Ochs and Will Curry stepped up to the podium for BO/CBB in their race classes. Ochs took third place in the time trial in expert men class ages 30-39 with a time of 18:37; Curry finished third as well in the Junior X class with a time of 18:18.
Anderson stood out for the women’s side of the team with a 13th-place finish racing pro with a time of 21:02.
Curry carried his momentum into the second day of racing, finishing fourth in the cross-country race in his class.
“That’s huge this early in the season,” says Preston of Curry’s performance.
Feeney took fifth place in the semi-pro category, Preston finished in 22nd among pro men and Gunnison rider Brian Smith, who rides for Trek VW, was the top local finisher, taking fourth place in the men’s pro class.
Ochs pushed his way into fifth place in the men’s expert class ages 30-34.
Anderson finished in 15th place among the pro women and Michele Zembal won the women’s single speed class.
“Coming from a place with 10 feet of snow on our trails and our non-shaved legs, we’re pretty happy with the results,” says Preston.