CB Devo to introduce town race series for summer season

Short track action this summer

by Than Acuff

There was a time, a long time ago, during some of the early Fat Tire Bike Week festivals here in Crested Butte when the week included bike racing in town. Some races were geared toward the more competitive side of things and including a course that bombed down through coal piles by the Nordic Center and roared through the empty lot next to Kochevar’s and then other races focused more on fun, i.e. the townie crit.

Now, CB Devo is looking to bring a little bit of both back as they are hosting a series of short track races throughout the summer on a course built on the west corner of town.

“If you live in the valley and you like riding bikes, we have something for you,” says CB Devo executive director Will Frischkorn.

Mike and Amy Nolan started the non-profit CB Devo in 2015 with the primary intent of getting kids on bikes and having fun. Amy took on the role of executive director including bringing Junior Bike Week to Crested Butte, a multi-day summer event focused on kids on bikes from fun activities to racing.

Amy stepped down from her role two years ago but stayed on to run Junior Bike Week the summer of 2025. After much discussion, CB Devo decided to table Junior Bike Week for a summer but wanted to still offer a way for kids, as well as adults, to race at their level in the town of Crested Butte. As a result, they created the Crested Butte Community Short Track Races for this summer.

“We wanted to keep a low-key, fun, community race thing going,” says Frischkorn.

Frischkorn recognizes that bike racing can be intimidating for both kids and adults, some of which can be attributed to mountain bike racecourses that typically include a tough climb, some technical sections as well as high speed descending. As a result, CB Devo went with a Short Track format building a 3/4 -mile course that starts and finishes by the Crested Butte Nordic Center building and includes a short climb up the road behind Big Mine Ice Arena, the ditch trail along the Bench as well as some track over on the 100 block of Belleview before returning to the Nordic Center.

“The goal with this is that it’s still fun to ride,” says Frischkorn. “For a lot of kids, racing is intimidating. This way, if you want to dabble in it, whether you’re an adult or six years old, this is a way to get in it. Being downtown is super easy access and to do it, you can just roll over with your buddies.”

There are four races on tap and will be held Wednesday evenings starting on Wednesday, June 24. Each evening kicks off at 4:45 p.m. with a Strider/Push Bike category followed by U8/U10 and U12 races, men’s and women’s A and B categories and then finishing off with a Townies and Costumes one lap throwdown. No podiums, no awards just a raffle every week with everyone who races that evening in the raffle mix.

Races, depending on the age group, will be anywhere from one to three laps and registration for the races will be held each evening onsite 15 minutes before the start of each race. The cost is free for the Strider class, $5 for the youngsters, $15 for the adults and one American dollar for the Townie/Costume race.

There will be food onsite from Rolling Kaz, Mikey’s Pizza and Chillberg to keep the festive atmosphere and Frischkorn hopes to see anywhere from 50-75 participants and building to as many as 150 each week if all goes well. The race schedule and additional information can be found at cbshorttrack.com.

“In every big bike culture town, Short Track is huge,” says Frischkorn. “Ideally we keep this going, have a spring series next year in Gunnison, a couple races by the Umbrella Bar on the mountain and bring back a new version of Junior Bike Week.”