Crested Butte Bike Week rolls next week

by Stan Cola

It’s that time of year once again, the sun is shining bright and the trails are opening up just in time for the 36th annual Crested Butte Bike Week, Thursday through Sunday, June 23-26.

The week is always highlighted by the Chainless World Championships but there’s way more to the festival than people dressing up and cruising downhill. The week also includes a film festival, a concert, the infamous Fat Tire 40 cross-country race, clinics for all ages and abilities, the Bridges of the Butte Townie Tour, downhill racing in the Evolution Bike Park at Crested Butte Mountain Resort and the Crested Butte Junior Wildflower Classic cross-country race for the kids. Let’s not forget good beer and a great party all week long.

For information, registration and a complete schedule of events, go to www.cbchamber.com/events/cb-bike-week/. Below is a brief synopsis of what is going on during Crested Butte Bike Week, the longest running mountain bike festival in the world.

Film Festival/Concert

New this year, Crested Butte Bike Week is partnering with Crested Butte Mountain Bike Association (CBMBA) to host the first Amateur Film Fest during Bike Week.

Join us the evening of Thursday, June 23 to see films about mountain biking. The event will be held in the Crested Butte Museum located at 331 Elk Ave. Doors open at 6:30 p.m., the lights go down at 7 p.m. Tickets are $10 per person. The event will include an evening of mountain bike videos brought to you by locals and visitors alike.

In addition, Crested Butte Bike Week will be partnering with the Crested Butte Music Festival to present Trout Steak Revival on Saturday, June 25 at 7:30 p.m. Trout Steak Revival has earned a place in the mountain state’s bluegrass scene, performing to sold-out audiences, winning the 2014 Telluride Bluegrass Festival Band Competition, placing in the 2012 Rockygrass Band Competition, and even winning an Emmy Award for a soundtrack with Rocky Mountain PBS.

Register for the Fat Tire 40 and enjoy the concert for free!

Clinics

Crested Butte Bike Week has partnered with the Griggs Orthopedics gO Ride team, Crested Butte Devo, the Backcountry Bike Academy and Rippin Chix to offer clinics for riders of all abilities throughout the week.

All groups will meet at the Chamber of Commerce in the town of Crested Butte. Some clinics are free, some are just a nominal charge and all of them will help improve your riding and, therefore, bring an even bigger smile to your face while you ride.

Races

Crested Butte Bike Week is the great granddaddy of mountain biking festivals and no mountain biking festival is complete without a race or two and in Crested Butte, we go big. Chainless World Championships, Fat Tire 40, Downhill—we’ve got it all.

Chainless World Championships, June 24

Friday, June 24, is all about the Chainless. Only in Crested Butte would we come up with a gravity-fed race like this. Bigger bikes. Bigger costumes. More ridiculous antics. Do whatever it takes to get you here in time for the Chainless. It’s probably the best time you can have for $25.

What is the Chainless? Racers weigh down their bikes, put on ridiculous costumes, and remove their chains (or just zip-tie them). Bikes are loaded into trailers and delivered to the starting line. We take you to the top of Kebler Pass, seven miles of dirt road from the finish line in downtown Crested Butte. At 4:20 p.m. sharp, racers sprint for their bikes and jump on to cruise down the road. The one who stays off their brakes the most wins. Well, actually, everybody wins—even the spectators hanging out at the end of Elk to watch the carnage on the final corner.

Important details:

10 a.m. to 12 p.m.: Registration and bike drop-off at the Chamber of Commerce in the town of Crested Butte. All bikes must be dropped off by 12 p.m.

2:30 to 3:30 p.m.: Participant shuttle to the top of Kebler Pass leaves from the chamber of commerce in the town of Crested Butte. Don’t miss it.

4:20 p.m.: Race starts. Sprint for your bike and coast the seven miles down to town. The after-party livens up Elk Avenue. All 21+ racers get two beer tickets.

Bridges of the Butte, Saturday-Sunday, June 25-26:

The Twelfth Annual Bridges of the Butte 24-Hour Bike Tour, presented by Bank of the West, loops through downtown Crested Butte, meandering across the town’s bridges. Sign up solo and brave the bike seat for all 24 hours, or put together a team of your friends and tour the town in shifts as day turns to night. Tune up your townie bicycle and find a fabulous costume, because this is one townie takeover you don’t want to miss.

Three hundred riders participate in the annual tour held the last weekend of June. Proceeds from the event go to the Adaptive Sports Center. The tour starts in the Crested Butte Town Park at high noon on Saturday, June 25 and finishes at high noon on Sunday, June 26. The cost for adults (solo or team) is $24, and youths 17 and under pay their age. Adults or youth who pledge to raise $100 or more by June 22 ride for free. Volunteers (age 18+) are always needed; help out for one shift and ride for free. Late registration (after Friday June 24, 5 p.m.) doubles—adults pay $48 and youths 17 and under pay double their age.

Fat Tire 40, Saturday, June 25 

The Fat Tire 40 is a serious mountain bike race. The start/finish area is in the town of Crested Butte and racers roll out at 8 a.m. for a 40-mile tour. The course is almost all on single-track linking local classic trails such as Upper Loop, Strand and Deer Creek trails with the trails in the Evolution Bike Park. This is the signature event of Bike Week, on Saturday morning, and there are plenty of good spots for watching and cheering on the racers. The $75 fee includes the race, dinner, beer, and a free ticket to the Trout Steak Revival show hosted by the Crested Butte Music Festival. There are men’s and women’s categories, both with Open/Pro and Recreational Divisions. Age group divisions: U-21, 21-39, 40-49, 50+. Registration will close Monday, June 20.

Crested Butte Junior Wildflower Classic, June 26

The Crested Butte Devo team will host its first-ever race during Crested Butte Bike Week: the Crested Butte Junior Wildflower Classic. Racing starts at 9 a.m.

All races will have neutral start and finish on dirt at Peanut Lake Road for safety. The award ceremony will be at the Crested Butte Chamber of Commerce parking lot at noon. There will be prizes for top three boys and girls in three separate age groups: 10 and under, 14 and under and 18 and under. Each age group is capped at 25 participants. Schedule of race starts below:

9 a.m.: Crested Butte Junior Wildflower Classic XC Race $30/athlete includes ice cream at pre-race meeting (75 participants). Sponsored by: Clif Bar and MTBhome.com.

18 and under (15-18) course (9 a.m. start): Approximately 12 miles, 1,500 ft. climbing; red bibs with red course markings.

14 and under (11-14) course (9:05 a.m. start): Approximately 10 miles, 1,000 ft. climbing; blue bibs with blue course markings.

10 and under course (9:10 a.m. start): Approximately 8 miles, 800 ft. climbing; green bibs with green course markings.

Gravity Slave Downhill Race, June 26 

The week comes to a thrilling close with high-speed downhill racing. The Evolution Bike Park will be the venue for the Gravity Slave hosted by Crested Butte Mountain Resort on the Captain Jack trail. The open category and each age class will vie for a chance to win a commemorative Evolution Bike Park belt buckle. The $25 in advance event registration includes a race day lift ticket, Evolution Bike Park swag, and a complimentary Odell beer at Butte 66. Day-of registration costs $30. Closed course practice will run on Saturday, June 25 and the competition will culminate on Sunday, June 26. Check in on race day is 8 to 10 a.m.; the race starts at 11:15 a.m.

Online registration is open through June 24 at 3 p.m.: https://www.bikereg.com/gravity-slave-downhill-race. This event is part of the Rocky Mountain Gravity Series.