USA Pro Challenge tackling Kebler Pass

“It will be like riding from Rivendell to the Shire!”

The second stage of the USA Pro Challenge bike race will zip through Crested Butte and end in Mt. Crested Butte on Tuesday, August 19 and will include a twist from the 2011 and 2012 stages that ended in the north end of the valley. This year the racers will be coming from Aspen and dropping into Crested Butte from Kebler Pass Road. Racers will take a left on Second Street and a right on Elk Avenue before heading up to the ski area.

The official routes were announced Tuesday and the Aspen to Mt. Crested Butte stage encompasses 105 miles, with 20 miles on dirt. According to the announcement, “After passing through the Roaring Fork Valley, through the sprint towns of Basalt and Carbondale, the race will tackle the 8,700-foot McClure Pass. A short descent will bring the race to Gunnison County Road 12, a 20-mile roller coaster that changes between pavement and dirt, and tops out at 9,900 feet on Kebler Pass. A technical descent into Crested Butte will bring the race back to familiar terrain. As in 2011 and 2012, the race will finish with a sprint through downtown Crested Butte and the steep finishing climb up to Mount Crested Butte.
“On August 20, stage 3 will start in Gunnison and head east for 35 miles before tackling the 11,300-foot Monarch Pass,” the announcement continued. “The riders will then descend the eastern slope of the pass and complete two, nine-mile loops through Salida and the surrounding countryside. Then they will ascend 20 miles back toward Monarch Pass to the finish at the 10,800-foot Monarch Mountain ski area.”
Local organizers couldn’t be happier with the new route. LOC chairs Aaron Huckstep and Dave Ochs expect this part of the race to be a standout.
“This is incredibly exciting. It will be an epic stage,” said Ochs. “I think it’s what we dream of here in Crested Butte. Road riders here only have one road so we sometimes have to take to the dirt. It’s really cool to see the Pro Peloton take it on too.”
The different perspective of the route will benefit both riders and spectators, according to Ochs. “There won’t be the Paradise Divide view blaring in the riders’ eyes and cameras’ lenses but the entire 33 miles of Kebler will create an even better image of the mountains surrounding Crested Butte, as the helicopter will be flying right through them instead of right at them.”
“The motorcycle images chasing and leading the peloton are going to make it look like Grand Prix Moto Racing. They will provide an entry into Crested Butte like you’re riding from Rivendell to the Shire! Crested Butte will be the pot at the end of the rainbow,” promised Ochs.
An enthusiastic Ochs feels that given all the pluses of this route, this stage of the overall race should be considered the Queen Stage of the seven-day event.
“This whole stage features mountains and incredible scenery,” he explained. “Other USPC stages have had their share of flat stretches and some rather less scenic portions between mountainous areas. This one is in the meat of the Rockies all day long. It will provide the best coverage, hardly has a straight piece of road in it, is up and down all the way, and after McClure and 80 miles, Kebler is a beast! Then the uphill finish…it may not look like it on paper, but it’s going to hurt like a Queen Stage should!”
As excited as he is with the route selection, Ochs was also a bit surprised by the bold move. “We’ve proposed it to them, the Medalist Technical crew has driven it, and I think they have heeded our advice that it will make for stellar bike riding. Originally dirt was declared out, but they’ve come a long way with the Pro Peloton in the USPC,” he said. “If the county buffs out Kebler like they have Cottonwood, then not only are they providing the opportunity for a world-class race, but it will allow a lot more local road bikers and visiting road bikers alike the chance to ride that stellar road in all its glory. It’s another reason to come to Crested Butte.
“It’s technical road riding, and won’t suit a rider with lousy bike skills,” Ochs continued. “Sharp, blind turns, quick ups and downs into corners, surrounded by the largest aspen grove this side of Siberia and the West Elks, and on dirt. It’s so befitting of Crested Butte and will showcase something never seen before in the history of road riding.”
As for the local events to celebrate the stage coming to Crested Butte, Huckstep said some new things are in the works. “We’re working with Andy Albershardt and the Gunnison LOC to host the finish of the ‘Girls Night Out’ time trial on Monday, August 18 in downtown Crested Butte,” he said. “We have had preliminary talks with the Center for the Arts to host an Alpenglow event on August 18 in downtown Crested Butte. Also, these events will hopefully come together as the basis for the block party, which should be a ton of fun for locals and visitors alike on the night before the finish.
“The Townie Crit will once again go off on the morning of Tuesday, August 19,” Huckstep added. “That course will be a little tighter and the action more intense and spectator-friendly. So get your costumes ready.”
Given the route change, Highway 135 won’t have to be shut down for the event. The next day’s stage start in Gunnison will give spectators a chance to head to Monarch and see the bike racers heading to Salida and finishing at the ski area. “That will be crazy cool. We can see them twice on Monarch. That’s a good place for a party,” concluded Ochs.