Alpine Odyssey is this weekend and you know who is coming

Keegan Swirbul!!!!!

Just kidding, I’m speaking of Lance Armstrong, of course. Keegan Swirbul is actually a 17-year-old who just beat Armstrong in the Power of Four bike race in Aspen two weeks ago.
Armstrong, who has never had a positive drug test, won the inaugural Alpine Odyssey last year (and some road bike race in France seven times in a row) and accepted an invitation from local organizers to defend his title this year on Saturday, September 15.
“The second we got the okay that he was coming, we were super excited about it,” says local race organizer Dave Ochs, who also has never had a positive drug test. “It’ll raise the caliber of riders for sure.”
Speaking of other riders, Travis Scheefer, who was shoulder-to-shoulder with Armstrong much of the race last year, is unable to make the race this year, but Ochs does have a list of names that could be up front.
“I’d love to see some locals duking it out at the front,” says Ochs. “If you want to try one of these races out this one is perfect. Besides riding with the stars, you get all that Crested Butte love along the course.”
Then, there’s Swirbul, 17 years young and gaining speed.
“Those punk kids don’t even know how fast they are—it’s crazy,” says Ochs.
The race starts at the Crested Butte Mountain Resort base area at 9 a.m. on Saturday and after a neutral start down Gothic Road, the riders will turn onto the Slate River Road and drop the hammer for two loops up and over Paradise Divide via the Slate d’Huez on loop one and Washington Gulch on loop two.
Both loops finish with a singletrack tour of the Evolution Bike Park on Crested Butte Mountain via Meander, Columbine and Warming House Hill with the finish line back at the base area.
Local race organizers are hoping to see the same energy that the Pro Cycling Challenge brought out from the Gunnison Valley bike fan base.
“We gotta hype this event big-time,” says Ochs. “I wanna see the Pink Taco and chicken suits out there cheering on Lance and the other riders.”
Ochs asks that fans headed to Paradise Divide to watch, get out on course before the 9 a.m. start. He suggests catching the leaders as they come up into Prospect after their second loop and watching them turn onto Meander. That’ll still give you time to then head to the base area to watch the finish.
While Armstrong won last year’s race in a time of four hours, 31 minutes, Ochs believes it could be even faster this year and encourages fans to pack the finish line starting around 1 p.m.
And while people are stepping up to help out, more volunteers are still needed.
“We got a great crew again but we could always use more,” says Ochs. “We’ll have free food and beer, a T-shirt and some schwag for volunteers.”
To volunteer contact Dave Ochs at 349-7324 or email [email protected]. To register for the race you can go online at leadvilleraceseries.com. Or you can register in person on Friday, September 14 from noon to 7 p.m. or the day of the race from 7 to 8:30 a.m. at the Elevation Hotel at the base area.