The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Captain Jack debuts
Regional downhill bike racing returns to the Evolution Bike Park at Crested Butte Mountain Resort as the Central States Cup brings its second stop of the regional series to town Friday through Sunday, June 27-29.
The Central States Cup (CSC) replaces the Mountain States Cup and keeps it simple in its first year, offering what everyone really wants:, downhill racing action.
“We at Central States Cup are proud to offer the second stop of the CSC series at Crested Butte’s Evolution Bike Park. We have been working closely with Crested Butte Mountain Resort staff to bring you one of the finest downhill races around. I’m excited to see the turnout and finally see a new series available in our region,” said Nicholas Whittemore, the co-director of the CSC.
Crested Butte Mountain Resort and its Evolution Bike Park crew will use the occasion to debut its newest downhill track, dubbed Captain Jack.
“It’s an old pirate trail that we had to decommission years ago but are now bringing it back,” says Evolution Bike Park manager Christian Robertson. “We named it Captain Jack because of its ‘pirate’ history and to honor Jack Hannan, who was one of the first riders to bring big travel bikes to town.”
Robertson, the bike park crew and the ski patrol summer crew started work on the track last week and hope to have it open on Friday prior to the races this weekend. It drops over 1,000 vertical feet and is approximately 1.3 miles long and ups the ante for downhill enthusiasts.
“It’s a pretty raw, naturally steep track,” says Robertson. “Definitely more rowdy. The middle of the track is pretty sustained and a good change from what we normally have in the bike park.”
Robertson believes that while the course is manageable for the lower level downhill competitive racers, i.e. Cat 3, the trail is designed in such a way that will challenge the pros as well.
“I think we’ve done an alignment that gets harder and harder the faster you go,” says Robertson.
There will be closed course practice on Friday, category time blocks for practice on Saturday and pro-seeding and race day on Sunday. The racing is slated to start at 11 a.m. on Sunday, with the pros dropping in around 1 p.m.
Registration is available online at www.athletepath.com/centralstates-cup-presents-crested-butte-evolution/2014-06-29.
“We hope to get a good turnout for the event. It’s a very worthy track for sure,” says Robertson.
