The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
B. Dills and Jenny Smith take titles
by Than Acuff
Five Gunnison Valley athletes took up 10 of the available podium spots at the Fat Tire 40 on Saturday, June 27. Three local men finished in the money with team Griggs Orthopedics (Team gO) rider Bryan Dillon in first, Team gO teammate Zach Guy in third and Team gO rider and former Fat Tire 40 champion Brian Smith in fifth place.
On the women’s side of things, Stan’s Notubes Elite racing team member and local rider Jenny Smith returned to Fat Tire 40 action. She hadn’t been in the race since 2012 but picked up right where she left off racking up another Fat Tire 40 title. Team gO rider Janae Pritchett joined her on the podium in third and, in the end, five Gunnison Valley riders took up 10 of the podium spots available.
It was another mind-blowing, pedal mashing effort. Granted, the winners typically finish in the three and a half hour range but it still amazes me.
Dillon crushed the course to win in three hours and 28 minutes. After coming so close the past couple of years, finishing in second and third place, he finally took the win. And the timing couldn’t have been better as this year there was prize money up for grabs. $5,000, to be exact, divided among the top five men and women, compliments of the Gunnison Crested Butte Tourism Association.
“It’s always kind of cool to win something you’ve been doing for a while,” says Dillon.
The race provided the peak of the annual Crested Butte Bike Week put on by the Crested Butte/Mt. Crested Butte Chamber of Commerce as 110 racers were met with bluebird skies and buff singletrack.
“I thought the trails were in great condition,” says Smith.
In fact, Mother Nature put on her best dress for the entire festival, from the opening day clinics to the closing day of downhill racing.
The festival had something for everyone with the two main races, the Chainless World Championships on Friday and the Fat Tire 40 on Saturday, really opening the doors to bike racing for riders of all types and abilities.
Saturday would be the toughest test for everyone involved. Chamber Director and race organizer Dave Ochs tweaked the course once again for this year’s event to offer up a start/finish area in town and a neutral start “parade of athletes” down Elk Avenue. From there, they headed out on the usual course that includes Upper Upper Loop, Strand, Deer Creek, Meander, West Side, Upper Upper and Tony’s Trail with a healthy dose of road miles as well. The race took riders on a 40+-mile tour when all was said and done.
The beauty of this specific cross-country bike race is that it hearkens back to the days of old (to see the days of old check out “Fat Tire Journal Crested Butte” on YouTube. Mullets, mustaches and bar ends galore). That is, a mountain bike race on mountain bike trails rather than a series of laps on a ski area course. It just so happens, those are the kind of races Dillon prefers.
“They are the kind of races I enjoy doing,” says Dillon. “The ones that get you out on the trails.”
The Fat Tire 40 is not all about pinning it from start to finish because that can end one’s shot at the podium sooner rather than later. The first section of trail is the Upper Upper Loop, which is no cruise through the trees by any stretch of the imagination.
“Upper Upper Loop is kind of dangerous,” explains Dillon. “My goal for that is to just stay upright. I like to take my time but not lose any time.”
That very section doomed one of the Fat Tire title contenders as he flatted there, cutting the lead pack down to five riders when they headed out Brush Creek and up Strand Hill. Dillon’s plan was to either make his move on Strand or Deer Creek depending how things were shaking out. He held off on Strand and then made his move on the road and singletrack climb up Deer Creek.
Smith’s experience in the opening section of Upper Upper Loop wasn’t quite as smooth. Smith took the women’s lead into Upper Upper with Gretchen Reeves hot on her rear wheel. While Smith had a smooth ride on the very same trail weeks ago, this time turned out a little different.
“I had cleaned it earlier this season and that was good but on race day I crashed really hard,” says Smith.
Despite the miscue, Smith remained in the lead, well aware that Reeves wasn’t far behind and always in the hunt, catching glimpses of her on Upper Upper Loop as well as on the climb up Strand Hill.
“I didn’t expect her to be very far behind and she wasn’t,” says Smith.
Both Dillon and Smith then made their moves during the Deer Creek portion of the race.
“Once we started up the Deer Creek road and then turned onto the singletrack, I took the lead,” says Dillon. “I put in a little gap there and then just tried to maintain that. I felt pretty comfortable but I was pushing it pretty good. It hurt, but I wasn’t cramping and I felt good climbing.”
“Gretchen caught me as we climbed up the road, which was good actually because it was kind of motivating,” says Smith. “I was feeling good so I wasn’t too bothered.”
The road from Gothic to the trails on Crested Butte Mountain Resort can be a little disconcerting for anyone alone in the lead. Chances are if there’s a pack of riders behind the leader, they can work together to reel the leader in. Dillon was clear of that threat as he came out of Deer Creek with around a three-minute lead and held the gap as he turned onto the Meander Trail.
Meander provides one final test for all riders, both those gunning for the podium and those just looking to finish. While not steep, it lives up to its name as it meanders slowly up, providing a bit of a physical and mental challenge.
“It hurts because it’s close to the end,” says Dillon. “I think that’s the hardest part of the course. The climb isn’t steep but it can definitely break you.”
Paced by “lots of water, electrolyte drink, chews, GUs, coke and little dill pickles,” Dillon’s only cramping came on the final section of Upper Loop before he turned onto Tony’s Trail and cruised into town for the title. Two and a half minutes later Bryan Alders crossed with Team gO rider Zach Guy on his heels in third place. Nick Gould finished in fourth place and Team gO athlete Brian Smith rounded out the men’s podium and finished in the money in fifth place. All told, the top five men finished within five minutes of each other.
For Smith, once she established her lead on Deer Creek, she too had a relatively smooth ride to the win, finishing in a time of four hours, one minute and 49 seconds, barring one last crash on the West Side Trail.
“I like Meander and I felt really good at the end,” says Smith. “My front wheel hit a rock and drove me into the rocks on West Side and that was the one bummer coming back.”
Dillon, Smith and a handful of other Gunnison Valley riders will now head to Breckenridge for the Firecracker 50 on Saturday, July 4.
