The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Celebrate Hartman Rocks in the saddle
The first annual Original Growler, the Half Growler and the Shortcut Fun Ride will take riders on challenging 64- and 32-mile mountain bike races presented by Gunnison
Gunnison Trails is dedicated to maintaining and expanding the single track experience in the Gunnison area.
The entry fee is $25. There is no late fee; register right up until the starting gun fires. All proceeds benefit the local trails.
The course is a well-marked 32-mile lap at the Hartman Rocks area on BLM public lands. The route contains heaps of classic Gunnison single track: trails like Skull Pass, Top of the World, Rattlesnake and Joshos. Each lap climbs around 4,000 vertical feet.
There will be neutral feed zones at mile 16, mile 18, mile 32 (start/finish area), mile 48 and mile 50. Riders can arrange for and accept hand-ups anywhere on the course as well.
Everyone will get going with a mass start at 7 a.m. sharp. They won’t even smell single track for the first 2.5 miles, so by the time it goes single file, they’ll have found their people.
Those not big on racing will line up at the back, start casually and tour the course. They still need to be an official entrant but can choose to be left off of the race results. They’ll still have a great ride and the entry fee will help the trails.
Particularly this first year, the Growler is an old-school event, which means there is no online registration. The entry fee is a reasonable $25 and there won’t be a lot of fluff. The primary goal is to offer an amazing mountain biking experience in an authentic Colorado environment with lots of great people and accurate timely results.
This event is independently insured so no racing license is required.
Registration is Friday, June 6 from 6 to 10 p.m. at IOOF Park in downtown Gunnison, 200 N. Main; Saturday, June 7 from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., IOOF Park; Sunday 5:30 a.m. to start and slightly beyond at the start/finish of the race.
The start/finish race venue is at Hartman Rocks base area. More information is at www.gunnisontrails.com.
