High school bike team gains speed

Finish regular season with strong results

The Crested Butte high school mountain bike team continues to gain speed, posting some of their best results in the final race of the regular season.
Coaches Jason Stubbe and Dale Kramer, whose energy continues to inspire the team, took nine riders to Elbert last Sunday to race in the Peaceful Valley Invitational. After previewing the course in the freezing rain on Saturday, bikers were met with perfect weather on race day and were treated to a phenomenal course.
“It was the best mountain bike course all year,” says coach Jason Stubbe.
Senior Josh Gallen has been in the saddle since May, rubbing shoulders with the top riders in the Gunnison Valley all summer long, including a 17th-place finish in the Alpine Odyssey, before turning to the high school season. He closed the regular season placing ninth in the extremely competitive boys varsity race.
Senior Lizzie Curvin stepped into the fray this year and has been taking the competition by storm in her race class as she learns the subtle nuances of mountain bike racing.
With two races under her belt so far this season, Curvin has picked up a few tricks to enhance her natural abilities.
“Some people got game on game day,” says Stubbe. “On game day, that girl brings it.”
Curvin moved into second place almost immediately in her race and was in the process of tracking down the leader, poised to make her move on the final descent.
Unfortunately, she ran out of downhill but still managed to finish in second place just 15 seconds off the leader.
“She rode terrific and learned what it’s like to ride up front,” says Stubbe.
Christo Church is another race newbie making his way up the ranks each time he puts on the race plate. Church took 13th place out of 57 riders in Elbert and could crack top 10 by the time he’s done at the state championships in two weeks.
Sophomores Oz Scott and Emerson Wohlers have developed into a solid one-two punch in their class. The two riders consistently crack the top 10 and this past weekend was no different as Scott placed fifth and Wohlers eighth in their class.
Colton Schnaitter joined his teammates on course to finish 31st.
“That was quite the race,” says Stubbe.
The same is true for freshmen Patrick Curvin and Kai Sherman as they placed fourth and seventh, respectively, with Liam Rose taking 28th place. The fourth-place finish was Patrick’s top result of the season and has another Crested Butte rider poised to make one last move in the championships.
“We had a pretty good weekend,” says Stubbe. “We had several people that scored team points and that’s the first time for that. I think we’re hitting our stride.”
The team has two more weeks of workouts before they close the season at the North Fruita Desert Classic State Championships on Sunday, October 21.