CB Devo high school bike team continues to roll

Finn Veit and Temple Robertson points leaders in their class

By Than Acuff

The Crested Butte Devo high school bike team continued their winning ways as they won their second race of the season when they took the Division III team title at the Spring Valley Scramble in Glenwood Springs on Sunday, September 10. Not only that, but for the first time ever, the Crested Butte team has two riders as the overall points leaders in their respective classes.

The course in Glenwood Springs was somewhat familiar territory for the CB Devo riders as several of them had raced there in the state championships last year. That said, they were thrown a bit of a curveball with regards to course conditions.

“It was really dry and really dusty,” says team spokesperson Rosie Geisler. “Riders came across the finish line at the end of the races with raccoon faces.”

The top five riders for Crested Butte scored points to help pace the team to the overall title that day led by varsity rider Finn Veit. Veit finished 22 seconds ahead of the rider in second place to win his second race in a row this season and remain the overall points leader.

Varsity class teammate Lance Lakoski placed sixth to continue racking up team points for the squad, and freshman rider Temple Robertson won his race after placing second in the first race of the season and took over as the overall points leader. 

“That’s the first time we’ve had two riders do that which is huge,” says Geisler. 

Freshman Brie Bender tacked on more team points with a third place finish in her race bringing the podium total to three for CB Devo. Ethan Armbrecht stole the show though with his sixth place effort in the JV race to round out the team scoring. Armbrecht suffered a mechanical issue on his bike prior to the race so he jumped on one of the coach’s bikes to line up for his race. Then, as he was approaching the final stretch, the rear axle on the borrowed bike broke so he hopped off and sprinted to the finish line pushing his bike.

Sam and Kenney Bullock both placed top 30 in the varsity race while Ebbet Weinberg was less than 30 seconds back coming in 37th place. Ben Geisler remained consistent with his effort to place 16th in the sophomore race for the second race in a row.

Cy Davis placed 38th in the JV race and Connor Knight made up for a lost opportunity in the first race of the season. Knight suffered a mechanical setback in the first race but still gritted his way to finish it. This time, Knight seized the opportunity to ride his way to a 41st place finish, mechanical issue free.

“He had an agenda for this race,” says Geisler. “He rode really hard and did really well.”

The team will now get back to more training and preparations for their third race of the season when they head to Leadville for the Cloud City Challenge on Saturday, September 23.

“We’re riding strong,” says Geisler.