The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Jenny Smith takes first, Scheefer fifth
The Mountain States Cup endurance racing series closed with the Fall Classic, a three-event stage race in Breckenridge Saturday and Sunday, September 12-13.
The Fall Classic involves three races over two days, opening with a double header circuit race on Saturday, followed by a hill climb and concluding on Sunday with a 28-mile cross-country race.
Gunnison resident and Trek Racing Co-Op pro rider Jenny Smith took first place overall, winning all three events to beat her closest competitor by a combined time of 32 minutes.
Brick Oven/Crested Butte Builders rider Travis Scheefer closed his inaugural year racing pro with a fifth-place overall finish.
Scheefer started the weekend with a fourth place in the circuit race, a frantic five-lap dash around a 2.25-mile loop.
“It’s definitely fast,” says Scheefer. “You’re going all out the whole time.”
Later that day, riders then shuttled across town for the uphill race, on a course that climbed 1,000 vertical feet in three and a half miles.
While 1,000 feet may not seem like a lot, it is with a stacked pro field and fresh off a circuit race.
“I was definitely kind of fried,” says Scheefer. “It was hard to start the hill climb. The first 10 minutes hurt for sure.”
Scheefer fought through the first 10 minutes to cover the course in just over 23 minutes and finish third among some of bike racing’s giants.
The cross-country race was the final ingredient to the Fall Classic suffer stew, as riders were treated to a 26-mile loop of technical single track that started with a 45-minute climb straight out of the gate.
Scheefer held the lead pack in sight through the opening climb but missed a crucial turn at the top and descended the wrong way down a road.
Once Scheefer realized his mistake, the lead group was well out of reach so he battled to maintain his place, finishing in sixth for the day and fifth overall.
Scheefer will close out his 2009 season of racing on the competition fringe as he heads to Durango this weekend for the single-speed World Championships and then returns home to take a stab at the CB Classic title.
