Youth movement leads Titan bike team in Nathrop

“In a nutshell, the future of the Crested Butte bike team is really strong”

The Crested Butte high school bike team sponsored by Alpine Orthopaedics put their training to the test this past weekend, facing more than 360 high school bikers at the season-opening Chalk Creek Challenge race in Nathrop, Colo. on Sunday.
Coaches Jason Stubbe and Dale Kramer took 13 Titans. For some of them this was a return to action, while several of them got their first taste of the racing scene and race pace.
“Putting on a number plate and competing can be an eye-opening experience,” says Stubbe.
Senior Josh Gallen was the lone Titan rider to race in the varsity class and was looking solid until he lost his rear derailleur, forcing him out of the race.
“He was sitting right where he wanted to be until he had a major mechanical,” says Stubbe.
That left some new racers and the young riders to carry the torch for the Titans and they stepped up in a big way.
“The best performances of the week came from the sophomore class,” says Stubbe.
Emerson Wohlers led the charge, hitting the podium in his race with classmate Oz Scott one spot shy of the podium.
Freshmen Patrick Curvin and Kai Sherman both stepped up to the podium in their class and senior Lizzie Curvin made the most of her first race experience.
“She’s never put a plate [racing number] on and she was in the biggest class by far and took ninth,” says Stubbe. “If there were 60 riders, she started out in 61st place but she just started passing people, which was hard because a lot of the course was singletrack.”
Overall, the team had a number of “small victories” in addition to their podium finishes and Stubbe looks forward to the rest of the season and beyond.
“In a nutshell, the future of the Crested Butte bike team is really strong,” says Stubbe.
The team will head to Granby on Sunday, September 23 for their next race, the Snow Mountain Ranch Stampede.