The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Five days of full-throttle mountain bike racing
It may be January but bike racing enthusiasts take note: The Big Mountain Enduro (BME) series is returning to Crested Butte September 3-7 with an expanded five-day format slated to include some of the local trails in addition to the Evolution Bike Park on Crested Butte Mountain Resort. Online registration opens for the event on Wednesday, January 15.
Enduros have been all the rage in Europe but just made the jump across the pond in the last five years and are starting to take hold in North America. Enduro blurs the lines between cross-country and downhill riding, forcing athletes to have a fitness level high enough for a modicum of uphill travel, while having the skills and fitness to ride long technical downhills, at high speeds.
Brandon Ontiveros started the Oregon Enduro Series five years ago and brought the energy here to the Rocky Mountains two years ago, starting the Big Mountain Enduro circuit. Last year, he included Crested Butte as one of the stops and it received a lot of attention from Enduro enthusiasts.
This fall he’s taking it to another level. The Crested Butte five-day Enduro is not for the faint of heart. Repeat, not for the faint of heart. You must be in great physical condition and have expert-level bike handling skills. Riders will be challenged with five days of racing, four of those days deep in the backcountry, with big climbing transitions that will take you to the top of the world overlooking majestic peaks. The fifth and final day of racing will be held at Evolution Bike Park, also where awards and festivities will culminate.
This special gem of a place tucked deep in the Rockies and surrounded by wilderness holds the longest-running bike festival in the country and is a true mountain town with more miles of singletrack than any other location in the United States. Legend has it that Crested Butte is the birthplace of mountain biking and organizers are going to take you back to the roots of riding big mountains at high elevations around Crested Butte.
The five-day inaugural event will blend high altitude backcountry adventures mixed with the biggest descents in the area. Expect to ride some of the most challenging and scenic trails in North America, several of them often ranked as top ten trails in the United States. Most backcountry stages will start around 9,000 feet, some days climbing and topping out above 12,400 feet, so get your lungs (and cameras) ready.
Expect more than 20,000 total feet of descending over the course of five days. Expect to climb a good portion of that vertical, and plan for full days on the bike where you’ll need to be relatively self-supported and capable of navigating maps in remote areas. This event will encompass a heavy pro field and the largest cash payout of any 2014 BME event.
It’s the first of its kind in North America, so get ready for the 2014 Crested Butte Ultra Enduro.
For more information or to register go to www.bigmountainenduro.com.
