The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Riders hitting their stride
Local bike racing team, Team Alpine Orthopaedics Cycling, is coming off strong two weeks of racing and looks to close the Mountain States Cup series on fire this weekend in Breckenridge.
The team’s top pro rider, Travis Scheefer, continues his climb to the podium reaching the second spot in his cross-country race in Winter Park last weekend.
The course combined gradual dirt road climbing with singletrack downhills free of any serious technical aspects.
“It was more of a roadie power course,” says Scheefer. “You’re just pushing a big gear, nothing too technical. Not my favorite thing.”
Scheefer worked his way into the top five on the first of two laps before his chain popped off and tangled up in his derailleur on the first descent.
Scheefer pulled off to the side to remedy his situation while a majority of the pro field passed him by.
Despite the set back, Scheefer managed to reel in the entire field but one on the second lap to take second place.
“I felt pretty good on the second lap and rode as fast as I did on the first lap,” says Scheefer.
Scheefer is currently in second place in the overall endurance race series standings and looks to seal the top spot this weekend in Breckenridge. Breckenridge closes the series with a bang as riders have three races over two days.
It opens with a circuit race and hill climb on the first day and finishes with a cross-country race on the second day.
“I’m looking to have some good races there,” says Scheefer. “It’s going to be tough for sure.”
Teammate and pro women’s rider Laura Anderson continues to peak as the final race of the series draws near.
After taking second place in the cross-country race in Telluride the weekend of August 20-22, Anderson placed fourth in Winter Park and sits in sixth place in the overall series standings.
Team Alpine rider and junior cycling team coach Tim Curry is looking at an overall title in the CAT I class ages 19-29.
Curry took second place in the short track and fifth in the cross-country in Winter Park and is in first place in the series points standings heading into Breckenridge.
Gunnison resident and former pro racer Jon Brown jumped back into the Mountain States Cup series fray as well shedding the unnecessary weight of gears to race single speed.
Brown won the single speed category in both Telluride and Winter Park catapulting him from behind his desk at the Go To Guide to fifth place in the overall single speed series standings.
Following the Breckenridge event, the team will return home to share in the pain of the CB Classic on Saturday, September 25.
