CB3P provides a carnival of athleticism

Ski, bike, boat, beverages

The pole, pedal, paddle race, dubbed the CB3P, on Sunday, April 28 was the brainchild of Tiff Simpson and quite possibly could be the best way to spend an off-season day getting the heart-rate up and the sudsy beverages down while taking a human-powered grand tour of the Gunnison Valley.
It all started with a randonnee race on Crested Butte Mountain with 1,500 feet of climbing, switched gears to a 27-mile bike race from the mountain to the outskirts of Gunnison and finished with a five-mile paddle on the Gunnison River.
An amalgam of local athletic prowess was on hand for the CB3P with a mix of aging stars (Milo), top-level athletes (Brian Smith), as well as a contingent of kooks (Mikey Shorts). Even the high schoolers got involved, with Patrick Curvin skiing, Josh Gallen biking and Kai Sherman paddling their way to a third-place finish among men’s teams and ninth overall.
The event drew athletes from outside the valley as well as the attention and eventually the participation of James Young, who had never climbed uphill on skis, nor paddled in a kayak. Nevertheless, he gave it a go and while he ended up swimming a small section of the river, he made it to the finish line in one piece for a well-deserved cold one.
The Englishman who went up a hill but came down drenched.
The mix of gear in all three disciplines was across the board.
When the athletes lined up their ski gear at the start of the ski portion there was everything from the latest and greatest in rando gear, to heavy metal telemark gear and even a splitboard.
Bikes ranged from road bikes in the thousands of dollars, to mountain bikes with slicks, to a townie and the boats and equipment in use were everything from cutting-edge downriver race kayaks, to creek boats, Grant Bremer’s custom plastic bag spray skirt held down by rope, duckies in need of mid-race inflation, a raft and a couple 1960s fiberglass relics compliments of BC.
A side note: those BC relics actually carried the men’s and coed team champions.
Clothing options also ran the gamut. Some went with speed wear, Lycra and such, while one competitor dressed to the nines including a hound’s-tooth coat, Japris (jeans with a Capri cut) and GU power food duct-taped to the leg.
That same hound’s-tooth-coated young man also proclaimed at the start that it was a “beer-in-hand day” and added, “We got a 30-pack and tequila so we’re good.”
Solo racer Zach Guy set the tone early, coming into the initial transition from skis to bikes in first place with Billy Laird of Team Green seven seconds back.
Brian Smith gave Team Green the overall lead for good, posting the fastest bike split of all competitors, covering the 27 miles in a time of 58 minutes—but the top bike performance went to Rhett Griggs.
When Griggs headed out on his bike as part of Team GO CBMG he was in 10th place. Griggs laid down the second fastest split of the day on the bike to move his team into second place when he tagged off to the final team member for the paddle section.
Success on the river was dependant largely upon boat selection. While most used standard kayaks and paddles, there were a handful of cutting-edge fiberglass boats built for speed. Shane Sigle out of Durango was one such competitor and used his equipment and talent to set the fastest time on the river.
Both Wynne and Scooter had their own side competition going, jumping into their respective BC specials. While Wynne was part of the winning men’s team and the overall winners, Scooter edged him out in the paddle section posting a faster split by a mere 13 seconds. Scooter’s effort passing several other boaters also sealed the coed win for Team Eldo with Flauschink King Pete Curvin setting the pace on skis and Leslie Miemietz continuing it on the bike to put Scooter in position for the coed win.