Saddle up for Crested Butte Bike Week

Chainless, Clif Bar Shock Top 40, Super D and Downhill

The 32nd Annual Crested Butte Bike Week, formerly known as Fat Tire Bike Week, is just a week away and promises an amalgam of events for self-propelled two-wheel enthusiasts.
It seems like only yesterday when people were hanging out in the empty lot next to the Talk of the Town and watching fat tire enthusiasts roll through town. I specifically remember some goofball and his girl who always showed up with their cow-painted tandem mountain bike.
It was also an opportunity to check out the latest and often dubious bike technology on the national circuit. Who can forget the advent of the Slingshot, biopace cranks (“It’s like walking on water” was one guy’s line to me), the Fisher Mt. Tam and Hoo Koo E Koo and Kleins with their Technicolor paint jobs.
The criteria included a tour of the coal piles around what is now Big Mine Ice Arena, a downhill off the Bench and flying by Kochevars.
While the routes, races and overall events have changed, Crested Butte Bike Week remains one of the premier celebrations of mountain biking, both recreational and competitive, and is the oldest running mountain bike festival in the nation.

Thursday, June 21: Tours and history
The week kicks off on Thursday, June 21 with guided rides during the day for beginner, intermediate and advanced riders as well as a Rippin Chix Downhill clinic. A grand ole welcoming party will be held that evening at the Crested Butte Mountain Heritage Museum at the corner of Fourth Street and Elk Avenue from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
Within the hallowed walls of the Mountain Heritage Museum, you can find an incredible history of mountain biking that stretches beyond the valley, rife with photos, articles, and some of the greatest developments in the history of mountain biking, as well as the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame.
The night is also an opportunity to sign up for the infamous Chainless World Championships on Friday, June 22.
Friday, June 22: the Chainless
While the day offers another full schedule of guided rides of the local singletrack as well as another Rippin’ Chix clinic, the highlight, without a doubt, will be the Chainless World Championships on Kebler Pass.
If you missed Thursday’s registration, a “day of” registration will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the bike expo behind the chamber of commerce. The buses start loading next to the chamber of commerce building at 3 p.m., with the race slated to start from the top of Kebler Pass at 4 p.m.
The Chainless World Championships has moved from a local cult activity known simply as “rolling” to the spectator highlight of the Fat Tire Festival. Years ago three locals “rolled” from the top of Paradise Divide to the town of Pittsburg on an Andy Bamberg masterpiece.
Rolling soon caught fire and turned into the official Chainless World Championships, peaking last year with more than 300 participants.
Two-time Chainless World Champion Roman Kolodziej found success through the accurate application of “density.” Rides for the Chainless Race vary drastically from serious steeze to sh**show. Kolodziej kept it simple.
“I use Logan’s Huffy, pump those things [tires] up to 70 and that’s it,” says Kolodziej.
The Chainless Race finishes with the harrowing turn off Old Kebler Pass at the end of Elk Avenue as riders negotiate the switch from gravel to asphalt, and “officially” finishes at First and Elk with the after-party at the chamber of commerce parking lot. All riders, or rollers as they used to be known, get free post-race liquid equalizers.
“We’re promising four and hoping to provide more,” says Crested Butte Mountain Bike Association president John Chandler.
Don’t forget your helmet.

Saturday, June 23: Sufferfest
Day three of the week is action-packed with a slew of guided ride opportunities for the masses and the start of the Wildflower Rush, the third stop of the regional Mountain States Cup race series.
The Rush kicks off with the Clif Bar Shock Top 40 cross-country race. The course blurs the lines between resort riding and backcountry singletrack for 40 miles starting and finishing at the base area of Crested Butte Mountain Resort.
Those who do not wish to participate in the official Mountain States Cup race should sign up for the Wildcat 40—same course but without the point-hungry racers chomping at your rear wheel.
Racers take off at 8 a.m. and are treated to an opening section of road before turning onto the singletrack on the mountain, including a tour of the West Side before exiting resort boundaries.
“It’s in great shape,” says Evolution Bike Park manager Christian Robertson. “It’s good mountain biking—rough and rocky in parts and fast in sections.”
From there the backcountry tour begins with the Upper Loop and Upper Upper Loop.
“The first 10 miles definitely put the beating on you,” says Crested Butte Bike Week stokester/co-organizer Dave Ochs. “It’s upper body physically and mentally debilitating, good times.”
Thanks to local rancher Michele Veltri, the road up to the Strand Hill singletrack will be open for racers. Just when you’ve replenished the stoke with the Strand Hill downhill, the pain kicks back in as the course takes riders out West Brush Creek to hit 10 miles of singletrack on the Deer Creek Trail.
“Deer Creek is riding better than it has in years,” says Ochs.
Racers will head out of the town of Gothic back to the resort and finish with one last gut-punch: a climb up the Prospector trail.
“If you don’t have anything in the tank, it’s gonna be super-hard,” admits Ochs.
It all ends with a fast descent down Columbine to the finish line back at the base area.
“It should be a great finish,” says Robertson. “It’s all bermed, smooth and fast.”
The top racers are expected to complete the course in a time of three and a half hours with the rest of the field trickling in over the next three hours.
Ochs offers some advice for Clif Bar Shock Top and Wildcat 40 riders.
“Settle in, take your time and don’t get caught up in the frenzy at the start,” says Ochs. “Save it for Strand and Deer Creek.”
Done with that, you can head back to town and join in the eighth annual Bridges of the Butte 24-hour Townie Tour start at 3 p.m. The event is a fundraiser for the Adaptive Sports Center and runs through the night until 3 p.m. on Sunday.
Saturday evening is the kick-off for the gravity junkies with the first of two Super D racers scheduled to start at 5:30 p.m.

Sunday, June 24 GRAVITY
The gravity fest continues Sunday morning with the second Super D race starting at 9 a.m. The two races will have two different feels to them, with a different course set for Saturday evening and Sunday morning.
“Saturday’s race will be more gravity-oriented Super D while Sunday will be more pedally, cross-country-type Super D,” says Robertson.
The Crested Butte Bike Week and Wildflower Rush come to a climactic finish on Sunday with the Downhill. Robertson expects around 300 down hillers to sign up for the Downhill race and the Evolution Bike Park workers have been working on the Avery downhill track to get it race ready.
“We’re up there making a few tweaks to it and offering something fresh for the riders,” says Robertson.
Qualifying runs will start at 10:15 a.m. with the finals runs slated to start at 11:30 a.m. The pro riders start dropping at 1:30 p.m.
For more information, scheduling and sign-up, check out www.ftbw.com.