Team Alpine Orthopaedics spends Fourth in the saddle

Battle nations best at
Firecracker 50

While a majority of America woke up on Monday, the Fourth of July, focused on eating and drinking their way through the day to celebrate their freedom, 750 bike racers lined up in downtown Breckenridge, Colo. for the Firecracker 50. Among the throngs of pedal mashers was a contingent from Gunnison Valley cycling team, Team Alpine Orthopaedics (Team AO).
The Firecracker 50 is now part of the newly formed USA Cycling Pro Ultra Endurance Tour and attracts some of the top endurance bike racers in the nation, with $2,500 in cash prizes up for grabs.
“It was big, it was thick and it will rip your head off,” says Team Alpine Orthopaedics (Team AO) directeur sportif/rider Dave Ochs of the competition level.
“You can always expect there will be some really strong riders,” adds Team AO rider Brian Smith. “It’s got quite a following and brings in all of these random road racing pros.”
In fact, one rider in attendance this year was rumored to have taken 15th place in a stage of the recent Giro d’Italia and broke loose at the start, only to get reeled in once the course turned technical.
Add in a course that’s 54 miles long with over 10,000 vertical feet of climbing and that makes for one bona fide sufferfest.
Furthermore, sections of the course are notorious for chewing up tires; racers always consider themselves lucky to make it through the race without a flat.
This year, the race had an added element of suffering as snow in the high country forced organizers to shovel sections of the course out of the deep snow pack.
“We were riding in mud in places through trenches in the snow four to five feet deep,” says Smith.
Jennifer Smith led the Team AO charge in Breckenridge, taking second place among pro women. Jennifer took second at the Fat Tire 40 finishing the race one minute out of first place just a week prior, gaining momentum heading into the Firecracker 50.
“I was feeling a lot better on the bike and it gave me confidence,” says Jennifer.
With the pro men and pro women all starting at the same time, Jennifer found herself off the lead pack of all the riders at the start of the race.
“I was kind of in no man’s land at the start,” says Jennifer.
She got a scare fairly early in the race when she crashed, pulling her front brake lever/shifter out of place for the remainder of the race.
While it was still functional, it was far from perfect and Jennifer was forced to hold off a little bit on the descents.
“It’s a burly course for sure,” says Jennifer. “I was a little conscious of crashing with my front brake lever out of place. I just jammed it on my handlebars and it held.”
Jennifer got a boost from a friend/competitor during the first lap and was battling back and forth with her for second place for most of the race.
“We had our own race within a race,” explains Jennifer. “It was awesome, I know her and I like her.”
Jennifer built enough of a gap on the second lap to take the final technical downhill cautiously, crossing the finish line in second place with a time of 4:49:00.
She now has her sights set on the Leadville 100, both the qualifier here in Crested Butte and the race in Leadville.
“That’s why I did these two races,” says Jennifer. “I thought it was really good training.”
With the help of Dr. Rhett Griggs of Alpine Orthopaedics, Jennifer is following a specific training regimen for the Leadville events.
“I’m excited,” says Jennifer. “Leadville is a new goal.”
Brian crushed the field to win the Growler earlier this summer and placed second at the Fat Tire 40 a week ago. After riding with the lead pack for the first 45 minutes at the Firecracker, he eventually had to drop off and finished fourth.
“After 45 minutes of racing, I raced by myself for three hours and 25 minutes, which is tough,” says Smith. “I was only a minute ten down out of third so I was psyched on that. My legs just felt a little flatter than I wanted them to.”
Smith finished in a time of four hours, five minutes with Team AO teammate Travis Scheefer eight minutes behind him in seventh place.
Another Team AO rider, Troy Hiatt, represented the Gunnison Valley team taking fourth place in the Cat I men age 30-39 class with a time of 4:48:14.
Smith touts his team support for his success thus far this season and sees the AO team rubbing shoulders with the bigger pro teams.
“It’s really cool to be part of the AO group,” says Smith. “I wouldn’t be where I am without them.”
With his biking in solid form, Brian is spending time swimming in Blue Mesa to prepare for an Xterra race in Beaver Creek in two weeks.