Locals open racing season in Mesa Verde

Team Brick Oven/Crested Butte Builders step up to podium

Fueled by Avery Brewing Company, members of local bike racing team Brick Oven/Crested Butte Builders (BO/CBB) dominated a field 420 riders strong at the 12 Hours of Mesa Verde. Several of the team riders stepped up to the top of the podium when all was said and done.
The 12 Hours of Mesa Verde racecourse was 16.5 miles of single track including a section of hard pack whup-dees.
“It was ear to ear grinning single-track,” says Jon Brown who with Travis Scheefer won the men’s duo category. “The whole 16 miles was pure bliss.”
Riders were treated to summer conditions as they lined up at 7 a.m. on Saturday, May 9.
“It was hot, we were all thawing out,” says BO/CBB Directeur Sportif and team rider Ben Preston.
Several Gunnison Valley residents made the trip to the southwest for the race competing as solo racers, duo teams and a four-person coed crew.
BO/CBB rider Aaron Huckstep had the top finish for the team in the solo division finishing in second place with a total of eight laps, or just over 131 miles.
While it was Huckstep’s first 12-hour race he had a sense of what lay ahead of him and was on a quest for the podium.
“I wanted to finish strong and finish top three,” says Huckstep. “I figured I had to do at least eight laps.”
Huckstep opted to ramp up his pace midway through the day making his move into second place.
“The first half of the race I held a steady pace and then started picking up the pace and picking people off,” explains Huckstep.
News of his place after seven laps then pushed him through his final lap to a second place finish.
“The seventh lap was tough, your muscles start cracking,” explains Huckstep. “I drank a coke and got a jolt and found out I was in second place and that helped.”
Scheefer and Brown, riding under the umbrella of BO/CBB, scorched the course firing off the most laps of any team and/or individual at the event in the least amount of time
Trading off laps in the saddle Scheefer and Brown completed nine laps in 11 hours and 40 minutes, a total of 148 miles, to take first place in the men’s duo race.
After battling with one other team early on, Scheefer and Brown maintained their pace each lap to eventually pull away from their closest rival.
“The first few laps there was another duo team but after the fourth lap we never saw them again,” says Brown. “Our laps were all super consistent. We averaged an hour 16 minutes the whole race.”
And finally, a local four-pack of Ben and Michele Preston, Dan Loftus and Dodson Harper rode to the coed four-person crown.
The team took the lead on the opening lap and carried it the entire race without much trouble finishing with nine laps total in just over 12 hours.
In addition, the BO/CBB team kept in step with the Hula theme for the event as Loftus shared some of his inflatable decorations and the team shared its’ keg of beer from team sponsor Avery Brewing Company with fellow riders and support crews.
Preston and the team, as well as numerous other local riders, now have their collective sights set on the upcoming Growler races at Hartman Rocks on Sunday, May 24. The event includes two races, the 64-mile Original Growler (two laps) and the 32-mile Half Growler (one-lap). The races are presented by Gunnison Trails, a Colorado non-profit organization. Gunnison Trails is dedicated to maintaining and expanding the single-track experience in the Gunnison area. All proceeds from the Growler benefit Gunnison Trails.
The race starts at 7 a.m. sharp.