The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
“They’ve been training and are ready to throw down”
by Than Acuff
It’s been six years since the last off-road handcycling world championships came to town. Back then there were 10 handcyclists vying for the title and there was really only one off-road handcycle option available, the One-Off handcycle designed by Mike Augspurger.
Interest in off-road handcycling waned for a couple of years but now, thanks to the resurgence of mountain biking and the efforts of the Adaptive Sports Center (ASC) and Jake O’Connor and ReActive Adaptations, the world championships are back in Crested Butte this weekend, Friday and Saturday, August 21-22.
“Over the past five years it’s picked up a notch so we’re bringing it back,” says ASC program supervisor Pat Addabbo. “Adaptive and ReActive Adaptations are the driving forces bringing it back.”
According to Addabbo, there has always been a calendar of handcycling events throughout the west but the world championships have been somewhat non-existent recently. This year, ASC added a stop in Crested Butte to the schedule and took it up a notch.
“There are a half-dozen events throughout the west but none were competition-based,” explains Addabbo. “We added this to the calendar with a competition spin on it. The level of riding has gone up a lot and people are riding them harder, farther and faster than ever before.”
The world championships are part of a four-day handcycling program hosted by the ASC, dubbed the Crested Butte Off-Road Handcycling Summit. While the event includes the ASC-led training for other organizations looking to provide off-road handcycling as well as a day of backcountry rides for handcyclists, the highlight is the two-day world championships.
Addabbo expects 15 or 16 top-end athletes to compete, with three races planned.
“There will definitely be some elite athletes,” says Addabbo. “They’ve been training and are ready to throw down.”
The world championships open on Friday, August 21 with a hill climb, as handcyclists will climb from the base area to the top of the Red Lady lift via service roads. Addabbo expects the top riders to finish the climb in just under an hour.
They return to the trails on Saturday for the cross-country race at 10 a.m. The course starts at the five-way intersection in the Evolution Bike Park below the Painter Boy lift and takes handcyclists on a six-mile tour, including sections of the West Side trail, Primer, Painter Boy and Awakening.
“It’s a good mix,” says Addabbo. “There are some sufferfest climbs, true singletrack and fast descents.”
The world championships will close with a downhill, with handcyclists bombing down Avery from top to bottom, finishing at the top of Warming House Hill.
“These guys ride as fast as intermediate-to-advanced downhillers on mountain bikes,” says Addabbo.
“The awards ceremony will follow at Butte 66 with recognition going to the top handcyclist in each race as well as the fastest overall champion,” says Addabbo. “It’s unique in that it’s the only event of its kind on the planet.”
