The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Brick Oven, Alpine Orthopaedics rally to multiple podium finishes
In case you had not heard, Lance Armstrong, who “has never had a positive drug test,” did show up to defend his 2011 Alpine Odyssey title but fell a bit shy of the repeat coming in fifth place overall.
Nevertheless, it was splitter weather with the Gothic Valley lit up and the local riders were out in force to defend their home trails.
Over 200 riders showed up for the 2012 Alpine Odyssey, a 63-mile tour of the roads of Paradise Divide and the trails on Crested Butte Mountain, a lot of whom were gunning for a qualifying spot in the 2013 Leadville 100.
Alpine Orthopaedics (AO) rider Brian Smith suffered a flat but still managed to place fourth overall for the top local finish among men.
Teammate Amy Beisel won the overall women’s title with AO athlete Eszter Horanyi in third and a gaggle of locals all stepped up to the podium in their respective classes.
Speaking of Alpine Orthopaedics, Dr. Rhett Griggs has been a big part of the mountain bike movement in the Gunnison Valley as of late sponsoring the Pinnacle Race Series, the local high school bike teams as well as the Alpine Orthopaedics team. The guy can ride too, placing eighth overall with a time of 4:27.54 to join Smith as the only two local top ten finishers among a stacked men’s field.
Meanwhile the Brick Oven bike team/club (fueled by Avery Brewing Company) had a stellar showing across the board. Rider Jafar Tabaian led the crew placing 11th overall, second in his class, with a time of 4:37.36. Pat Addabbo finished 20th overall, third in his class.
The Brick Oven women stole the show though with all three placing top 10 overall among the women. Brynn O’Connell mashed her pedals to a fourth place finish among women, second in her class, with a time of 5:27:12. Tina Kempin took sixth place among the women and Brick rider Heather McDowell joined her teammates in the top ten overall for women finishing in eighth place.
Local young gun and member of the Crested Butte high school mountain bike team Josh Gallen rode to a 17th place finish overall out of a total of 221 riders.
One rider commented to local organizers, “The Leadville 100 should be a qualifier for this.”
So, in a nutshell, the race was a success.
“I thought it was an awesome mix of out of town talent and a conglomerate of local talent,” says race director Dave Ochs.
Beisel had the top finish among the local contingent winning the overall women’s title, 22nd place overall, in a time of four hours, 52 minutes.
Beisel admits that a win, or even the podium, was not on her mind heading into the race.
“I wasn’t really thinking anything, I just wanted to finish,” says Beisel. “This was my first legit race this long. I was kind of scared I might bonk.”
In the end, Beisel “felt good the whole race.” Nevertheless, all of the road miles did wear on her a bit.
“Dirt roads are kind of difficult for me because I feel like I’m going so slow,” says Beisel.
Beisel made a point of latching onto the lead group from the start out the Slate River Valley and up the Slate d’Huez over Paradise Divide.
“From the start I just tried to keep up with the first peloton,” says Beisel. “It was a good warm up for sure and I think it was a good idea.”
She never did see another woman the rest of the race and was left to do some work among the boys on several sections of road.
“I was pulling 18 boys on Gothic Road,” says Beisel. “I was pulling a lot more than I thought I would be.”
Beisel did get pinched on the second loop climbing up Washington Gulch and back to Paradise Divide but suffered through it to the win.
“On that last steep part I wanted to cry it hurt so bad but I made it and didn’t get off my bike,” says Beisel.
Smith had a plan to use the Alpine Odyssey as a warm up for an Xterra race the following week but that plan changed as the heavy hitters started signing up.
“I just wanted to be competitive and get a training ride in and then Lance signed up, Keagan Swirbul was in and Cameron Chambers showed up,” explains Smith. “It was completely opposite of what I thought it would be.”
Smith had a gap on the field with the leader in his sights before a mechanical and a chance to ride with Armstrong had him taper off.
“I was able to dig pretty deep and stay away from most of the guys,” says Smith.
After the eventual winner, Cameron Chambers, put a gap on the field on the first climb up the Slate d’Huez, Smith started to reel him in. By the time Smith hit the top of Washington Gulch, he estimates he was about 90 seconds back and planning his attack.
Unfortunately, Smith suffered a major flat crossing a creek that dashed his shot at Chambers for good.
“I was bummed because Greg Krause was coming up and I figured between the two of us, we could reel Cameron in,” says Smith. “Cameron is strong for sure. He’s got some tremendous power.”
Smith lost two spots fixing his flat and when he turned around, he saw Armstrong coming up the road so he changed his game plan.
“I opted to let up a little bit and ride with Lance,” says Smith. “I probably got more publicity riding with him than winning the race.”
In the end, Ochs counts the race as a success all around with serious positive feedback from all riders.
“I heard a lot of love coming from a lot of the riders,” says Ochs. “It was a great day.”
Ochs and company now turn their attention to the CB Classic group ride on Saturday, September 22. While Beisel will miss it, Smith is in for sure as are a host of, once again, out of town talent and a conglomerate of local talent.
As for Armstrong, according to Smith he was pimping Lance about the Classic and Lance’s response was a pretty firm no.
