CB Classic group riders endure valley-wide tour

Kelly Magelky finishes group ride first, for
third time

For the past 11 years, a collection of local and visiting mountain bike enthusiasts have joined together for the annual Crested Butte Classic. The Classic provides an opportunity for riders to truly enjoy what the trails at the north end of the valley have to offer in one very long day. One such mountain bike enthusiast, Honey Stinger/Bontrager/Trek pro rider Kelly Magelky, almost arranges his racing schedule around the Crested Butte Classic.
“I have a love affair with Crested Butte—the people, the location, the beauty—very special memories there,” explains Magelky. “I circle the date on my calendar and make sure I’m in shape for it.”
The group ride is the brainchild of Dave Ochs and Chad Oleson. When the ride started 11 years ago, it was held in July. A couple years into it, the date was moved back to September but this year, Ochs decided to move the date of the Classic back to July.
“The main reason was that ranchers have their livestock out on permitted land from July 20 until October and we wanted to avoid interfering with them,” explains Ochs. “And it’s peak wildflower season.”
The date change then led to a course change. Typically, the course involves a Strand and Deer Creek loop, a 403/401 loop and then finishes with the Dyke Trail. This year Ochs felt it was best to leave 403/401 alone with some snow still up high on 403. As a result, Ochs decided to replace the 403/401 loop with Reno/Flag/Bear/Deadman’s. And, with the reopening of Teocalli Ridge, Ochs added that back into the mix, replacing Stand/Deer Creek section with Strand/Teocalli Ridge/Canal trail as the first loop.
Magelky has two Crested Butte Classic titles to his name, one shared with Jeff Irwin, and returned this year going for a third, but with the new course came new goals.
“I try to finish in seven hours but when I looked at the new course, I had to re-prioritize,” explains Magelky. “I just wanted to finish strong, well-fed and get my name on the trophy.”
At 7 a.m. Saturday, 27 riders headed out from downtown Crested Butte for the annual group ride bound for the first loop before returning to town.
Magelky joined Ochs, Zach Guy and Rob Batey in front on the first loop putting down a blazing time of 2:49:25 when they returned to the check in station at the Brick Oven.
The next loop would prove the toughest as participants must ride Reno/Flag/Bear/Deadman’s from town and back for a total of almost 50 miles on the second loop alone.
As they headed up Cement Creek Road, Magelky pulled away.
“As soon as we hit the dirt on Cement Creek, he was gone,” says Ochs.
Magelky admits the ride from town to the top of Reno Divide was a bit unnerving but the ride back to town was a bit unraveling, especially with a headwind added in.
“It was really, really hard for me,” says Magelky. “There were some demons crawling into my head. At that point, you don’t know if you’re going fast or slow, you’re just suffering. I just put my head down and kept telling myself to keep moving.”
“The pain was horrific,” adds Ochs. “I think at that point people just cracked.”
Once they were done working their way east for the first two loops, participants then headed west for the third and final loop, riding the Dyke Trail, throwing in the Wagon Trail on the way back for a little more singletrack fun, from town.
Magelky headed up Kebler in the lead and onto the Dyke Trail and everything seemed perfectly normal until he turned back onto Kebler Pass road to climb back up and over to town.
“I had a major hamstring cramp and took five to 10 minutes to try to shake it out,” says Magelky. “I tried riding with just one leg and finally just stopped and dealt with it. That was major panic.”
After a brief recovery, Magelky climbed up the Wagon Trail over the top of Kebler Pass and cruised to the finish line with a time of eight hours, 51 minutes and four seconds. Zach Guy was the second rider to finish the group ride with a time of 9:12:12 and Rob Batey crossed in third just three seconds behind Guy.
On the women’s side of things, two started the race but only one finished—Tina Kempin. Kempin has a history with the Crested Butte Classic. After falling short of the finish line on her first attempt, Kempin completed the race in both 2011 and 2012. But this new course was a whole new beast.
“This one was more about just wanting to finish,” says Kempin. “I didn’t think much about time.”
Kempin experienced the same pain as most going up Reno Divide road but as she headed into the final loop, she caught a second wind.
“On the Dyke Trail I actually started feeling really good,” says Kempin.
Then the weather came and Kempin was forced to hide out as a massive storm rolled through.
“A crazy electrical storm came in and there was lightning everywhere and I had to hunker down for 45 minutes,” says Kempin. “Then I had to walk down most of the downhill because the trail was so wet and I didn’t want to ruin it.”
Kempin saddled back up for the climb up the backside of Kebler Pass on the Wagon Trail and back into Crested Butte, finishing with a time of 13:27:55.
While Magelky is an experienced distance rider, the Crested Butte Classic group ride course is right up there with some of the tougher races he competes in.
“I’ve never felt good enough for a beer and pizza within two hours after finishing. I just have to go find somewhere to lay down,” says Magelky.
“The race was 10 miles longer this year and, man, you could feel every bit of it,” adds Ochs.
Kempin echoes Ochs’ sentiment.
“It was definitely way harder,” says Kempin. “It’s the long road climbs that hurt. But it was a beautiful day and we’re pretty lucky.”
In the end, 15 of the 27 starters completed the group ride with the final two riders, including Brian Brothers who decided to ride it on a single speed fat bike, coming across the finish line in the dark 14 hours and 43 minutes after they started.
Ochs has “mad plans” for next year’s group ride, with a number of course options swirling around.
“I would always love to have 403/401 back in there because it’s classic,” says Ochs. “Or a 100-mile death march where you don’t come back to town until you’re finished.”