Town to host opening day of 2011 Ride the Rockies

A summer of bikers and runners coming up

It will be a summer of sport and spandex in Crested Butte and the valley.

First, Crested Butte and Mt. Crested Butte, along with Gunnison, were named hosts for the inaugural Quiznos Pro Challenge bike race traveling around the state in August.
And now, Crested Butte has been picked to be the kick-off town for June’s Ride the Rockies bicycle tour. That will mean three days of prep time in our mountain village for the start of the state’s premier bike tour.
In addition, the local Chamber of Commerce announced Monday that Crested Butte will be the final destination for a new Epic Rocky Mountain Relay (a running relay) that starts in Colorado Springs and ends in Crested Butte. That event will be here July 23.
Let’s start with Ride the Rockies. Two thousand registered cyclists and their entourages will begin a 412-mile tour in Crested Butte on Sunday, June 12. Registration is that Saturday, June 11. The riders will travel 76 miles to Buena Vista from here over Cottonwood Pass. The tour then heads to Edwards, Steamboat, and Granby and ends in Georgetown. It is the 26th year for the tour.
“Anytime we can land Ride the Rockies is great, and the early June timing should really help kick off the summer season in a big way,” said Crested Butte-Mt. Crested Butte Chamber of Commerce events director Scott Still.
Calling for community help, Still added, “It’ll be a community effort to host the start, so if you can help by being a volunteer, we’d really appreciate it. Just touch base with me at the Chamber.”
According to a Denver Post press release, more than 100 volunteers assist cyclists during the week of the tour. Host communities provide inexpensive local meals and entertainment.
Cyclists may register for the event only online at www.ridetherockies.com. Applications will be accepted February 6 to February 25.
Ride the Rockies is a non-competitive event, and riders are encouraged to ride at their own pace. However, training for the tour is strongly recommended. Riders on past Ride the Rockies tours have varied in age from seven to 85 years old and have represented all 50 states and 18 foreign countries.
Proceeds from Ride the Rockies benefit Denver Post Community and all funds raised are returned directly to the Greater Denver Metro-Area. In addition, Denver Post Community awards a $5,000 grant to a nonprofit organization in each host town.
Now on to the Epic Relay, a tour that has teams of 12 people running from Colorado Springs to Crested Butte. The 190 miles goes past four 14ers, over three alpine passes and through four national forests. Every runner is supposed to run three legs in a 24-hour period. There are 36 legs total and the legs range from three to eight miles.    
According to its website, Epic Relays last a day. Teams will be on the course anywhere from 22 to 36 hours. To keep all finish times as close together as possible, teams will start in waves every half hour to an hour, depending on the number of teams. The slower a team’s average pace, the earlier the team will start. All Epic Relays 24-hour relays begin on a Friday and end on a Saturday.
Still says the relay is a new event that is garnering a lot of attention. He said it would be great if a Crested Butte team got together to do the tour. “Epic Relays has said that this particular relay has drawn an inordinate amount of positive attention,” Still said. “It would be great to get a local team or two to compete, especially since there are so many really good runners in the valley. This event will require many community volunteers as well, so jump on board as a volunteer if you don’t feel like running over Monarch at 2 a.m.”
 And finally, a Quiznos update. This is a bike race with some of the world’s top professional bicyclists expected to participate. The race will take seven days and bring in 128 pro riders. It runs August 22-28. Gunnison County is in the process of determining how best to close the roads that the bike racers will use, including Cottonwood Pass and Highway 135. The town of Crested Butte will be shutting down a couple of its streets as well in order to get the tour to come through town before heading up the mountain to finish in Mt. Crested Butte. A “Townie Criterion” is in the works, complete with costumes and Crested Butte spirit.
Contract negotiations are currently under way to tighten up details between race organizers and all the host cities. This inaugural event is expected to provide extensive publicity for the towns hosting a start or finish in the race.
Still said that the summer season looks to be busy. “This is going to be one amazing summer—Ride the Rockies, Fat Tire Bike Week, July 4th, Epic Relays, the Quizno’s Pro Challenge. We’ve worked real hard over the last couple of years to bring more events to town, and it is absolutely fantastic to see that it helped. There will be a lot going on this summer season.”
Summer is only a few months away, so get out your spandex and start training.