The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Looking for a southwest start…
The USA Pro Cycling event finished with great fanfare and rave reviews in the valley last August. Now it is prep time to try to get the race back in the area next summer.
Proposals from interested communities are due to the race organizers on Monday, October 31 and the Local Organizing Committees (LOCs) are gathering all the elements for a new application. The Gunnison County commissioners and Mt. Crested Butte council wrote letters of support to bring the race back the valley in 2012.
On Tuesday, October 18, Crested Butte Mayor Leah Williams, future Crested Butte Mayor Aaron Huckstep, Mt. Crested Butte Mayor William Buck and Gunnison Mayor Jonathan Houke all attended a USA Pro Cycling Challenge press conference. That event touted the race as an economic driver in Colorado. Organizers claim that the race “attracted more than 1 million spectators from around the state, the country and the world, and the Colorado economy was the beneficiary of $83.5 million in economic impact,” according to a press release on the event.
“The crowds were big, they were enthusiastic, they spent money in every host city, and just as important, they traveled to Colorado especially to see this race,” said Shawn Hunter, CEO and co-chairman of the USA Pro Cycling Challenge. ”More than 22 percent of the 1,000,000-plus spectators at our race visited us from outside Colorado. And with 94 percent reporting they will return next year, that’s a tremendous benefit for the state of Colorado in 2011 and in the future.”
“The entire team of the organizing committee is coming back,” said LOC chair Huckstep. “We are gathering everything now and trying to figure out how best to improve it. Right now we are focusing on how to figure out potential stage routes that benefit us.”
Huckstep said it was his understanding that Durango, Grand Junction and Colorado Springs are all vying to be the start of the 2012 event.
“We are looking to see how to bring the race through here if it starts in Junction or Durango. We’ve talked to their representatives,” said Huck. “A start in GJ or Durango probably gives us a better chance. A southwest start bodes well for us.”
About the only major change in the request for proposals compared to last year is that the Medalist Group, the race’s primary organizer, wants to shift responsibility for all hotel rooms to the local communities. Last year, they helped defray some of the cost. For example, Crested Butte Mountain Resort set aside 470 hotel rooms for the 2011 event and, while CBMR donated many rooms, the cost of others were split between Medalist and the LOC. For next year, Medalist is asking for 450 rooms to be provided by each host community.
“We paid for the lion’s share of rooms last year but it will be bumped up next year,” said Huckstep. “We’ll just have to raise a bit more money or sell some more beer at the beer garden.
“Probably the biggest advantage we have is that the organizers were all here and loved the event,” continued Huckstep. “We’re dealing with the same people and they loved the footprint of the finish in Mt. Crested Butte. There’s no doubt we are trying to get a finish.”
Huckstep said the LOC is soliciting support and will be approaching all the area governmental agencies again for financial and in-kind support.
“I think we are all willing to welcome the racers back to town. It went great last summer,” summarized Huckstep. “I haven’t heard anything negative about the event from anyone.”
Huckstep, Karl Trujillo, Dave Ochs and the other LOC members will be working diligently over the next two weeks to compile a complete proposal for next summer’s event.
The Gunnison LOC is also submitting a proposal to host the race and appeared before the Board of County Commissioners on October 18 to request a letter of support. The commissioners drafted their letter in support of the entire valley, specifying Gunnison, Crested Butte and Mt. Crested Butte as potential host cities.
The 2012 USA Pro Cycling Challenge—recently upgraded to a 2.HC ranking, the highest registration level short of the World Tour—will take place in Colorado August 20-26, 2012.
