Locals have an affinity for riding cruisers, mountain bikes and road bikes and hosting all sorts of cycling events from May through September. New for this are the Gore-Tex Grand Traverse Mountain Run & Bike from Crested Butte to Aspen and the five-day Crested Butte Ultra Enduro.
Crested Butte Bike Week, June 26 – 29
Crested Butte and Mt. Crested Butte are the proud hosts of the world’s oldest mountain bike festival, which now also includes options for those who enjoy cruiser bikes and bikes without chains. Highlights for the 34th Annual Crested Butte Bike Week, scheduled for June 26 – 29, include the Chainless World Championships down Kebler Pass and into downtown on June 27, the Fat Tire 40 mountain bike race on June 28, and Central States Cup downhill and cross country bike races on June 28 – 29. KEEN Rippin Chix mountain bike camps for women are scheduled for June 26 and 27 and guided mountain bike rides and free shuttles to premiere trails are available throughout the festival. For those who like a mellower ride, the Adaptive Sports Center’s annual Bridges of the Butte townie tour is a 24-hour ride for individuals and teams on June 28 – 29.
Mountain Biking
Since the 1970s, when locals started retrofitting old Schwinn paperboy bikes with multiple gears, Crested Butte has become known as one of the birthplaces of mountain biking. But the first spot in the valley that bikers flock to in the spring is the 8,000-acre Hartman Rocks Recreation Area in Gunnison, offering 40 miles of high desert single track and 33 miles of road open to biking.
Events
The official kickoff of the mountain biking season is the Original Growler, including the Half-Growler (32 miles) and Full-Growler (64 miles) held on May 24 and 25 and organized by local mountain biking legend Dave Wiens to benefit Gunnison Trails. The races start downtown before heading out to Hartman Rocks. Post-race parties will be held downtown for athletes and the public to enjoy.
Free Friday Nights at Crested Butte Mountain Resort (CBMR) means free uphill transportation on the Red Lady chairlift from June 29 through Aug. 29 (except July 4) for those who want to experience trails and Evolution Bike Park. CBMR’s Pinnacle Bike Race Series is on five Wednesday nights from July 9 – Aug. 6 and held in conjunction with free Live! From Mountain Crested Butte concerts at the ski area base. The free recreational racing series is for beginner to expert riders and consists of varying lengths of difficulty level, plus there is a kids’ race for ages 6 and under.
New this year is the Gore-Tex Grand Traverse Mountain Run & Bike, which is the summer version of the legendary Gore-Tex Grand Traverse backcountry ski race from Crested Butte to Aspen, a winter favorite for the last 17 years. The summer Grand Traverse is very similar to the winter route, approximately 40 miles with similar elevation gain/loss, however it starts downtown on Elk Avenue and continues on to Death Pass (Trail 400), Star Pass, Taylor Pass and Richmond Ridge before finishing at the base of Aspen Mountain. The ultimate vision is to establish a Grand Traverse Triple Crown, holding the run and bike events on separate dates and allowing an individual athlete to compete in all three endurance discipline. The Grand Traverse benefits Crested Butte Nordic.
Gunnison’s Hartman Rocks is the backdrop for the 12th Annual 24 Hours in the Sage, a 24-hour bike race where individual entrants and teams ride a 13-mile loop continuously from noon Saturday, Aug. 23 to noon Sunday, Aug. 24. The race starts and finishes at the nearby Gunnison KOA Kampground, and the person/team in each category with the most laps wins. A 12-hour race that starts at noon on Aug. 24 and finishes and finishes at midnight also is offered. Additional highlights for the weekend include live entertainment, World Townie Championships (same format) and more.
The inaugural Crested Butte Ultra Enduro on Sept. 3 – 7 is not for the faint of heart and requires expert-level bike handling skills. Four of the five days bring racers deep in the backcountry with starts beginning at around 9,000 feet and climbing and topping out above 12,500 feet. The final day of racing takes place at Evolution Bike Park, where awards and festivities will culminate. Participants can look forward to riding some of the most challenging and scenic trails in North America (several ranked in the top 10 in the United States) and expect an average of 20 to 25 miles per day with 4,000 – 5,000+ feet of climbing/descending. This is the first biking event of its kind in North America.
The 38th Annual Pearl Pass Mountain Bike Tour on Sept. 13 – 14 is the oldest mountain bike event in the world and takes riders from Crested Butte to Aspen via Pearl Pass. In 1976, the first group of 15 or 20 cyclists from Crested Butte rode one-speed town bikes over the 12,705-foot Pearl Pass to Aspen in response to a group of Aspenites riding motorcycles over the same route, parking them in downtown Crested Butte and setting out to meet local women. The Crested Butte rowdies pulled up in downtown Aspen in front of the historic Hotel Jerome. By the early 1980s, the expert ride had grown and become a weeklong festival known as Fat Tire Bike Week. Today, Crested Butte Bike Week is held in June and the Pearl Pass Mountain Bike Tour is in September. For information, call (970) 349-6817.
Road Biking
Bicyclists on skinny tires also are common sites in the valley. See local racing teams heading out in packs as well as locals and visitors enjoying vista-filled routes. The Gunnison-Crested Butte Valley is a regular stop on long-distance road rides in the state, with day three of the seven-day Colorado Rocky Mountain Bicycle Tour ending in Crested Butte this year. An overnight camp will be set up in Gunnison with riders heading to Almont on day four to ride over Cottonwood Pass to Buena Vista.
Gunnison, Crested Butte and Mt. Crested Butte have hosted stages of the USA Pro Challenge three times since the race launched four years ago. Stage 2 of the 550-mile race starts in Aspen, climbs the 8,700-foot McClure Pass before a short descent to Gunnison County Road 12, which is a 20-mile rollercoaster that constantly changes from pavement to dirt and back again while topping out at 9,900 feet over Kebler Pass. A technical descent into Crested Butte results in a sprint through downtown and a steep finish climb up to the resort village of Mt. Crested Butte. Stage 3 starts in Gunnison and heads east for 35 miles before tackling the 11,300-foot Monarch Pass, descending for two 9-mile loops through the Salida area and returning for 20 miles of climbing to a mountaintop finish at Monarch Mountain Ski Area.
There will be many local activities for the public to enjoy in the Gunnison-Crested Butte Valley leading up to and during the race such as a Girls Night Out Skills Clinic on Aug. 2 and 3. Bike skills will be practiced in the mornings with beautiful rides in the afternoon, serving as great preparation for the Girls Night Out Criterium on Aug. 17. Participants ride a .66-mile flat loop in Gunnison, with Category 4 racing for 40 minutes and Categories 1 – 3 racing for one hour. The Girls Night Out Time Trial on Aug. 18 features a 17.5-mile route from Almont to Crested Butte that encompasses 1,306 feet of climbing. At 4 p.m., there will be a sprint race up Elk Avenue in Crested Butte just for kids.
In tandem with Labor Day weekend, Western State Colorado University’s Mountain Sports Team is sponsoring the third annual Dave Wiens West Elk Bicycle Classic on Aug. 31. The challenging 134-mile ride is not a race but a timed tour that climbs nearly 9,300 feet from Gunnison to Crested Butte, circumnavigating the West Elk Mountains. From Gunnison, the route proceeds along the north rim of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison to Crawford and Paonia before beginning a 5,000-foot climb up Kebler Pass to Crested Butte.
Townie Tours & Races
For those who want to take part in the Gunnison Growler Weekend but prefer cruiser bikes over mountain bikes , Gunnison Country Partners’ Townie Takeover on May 25 is the answer. Ride a townie on a 1.5-mile course that goes from downtown Gunnison’s IOOF Park and around Western State Colorado University’s campus as many times as possible from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. (or just casually for a portion of the time). Costumes are encouraged, and families and kids are welcome to participate.
The 10th annual Bridges of the Butte 24-hour townie tour helps wrap up Crested Butte Bike Week in true Crested Butte style with many riders in costume. This one-of-a-kind ride benefitting Adaptive Sports Center starts on the afternoon of June 28 and ends the afternoon of June 29, looping through downtown and meandering across the town’s bridges. Participants can sign up solo or as a team.
It’s also possible to race cruisers during World Townie Championships at 24 Hours in the Sage on Aug. 23 – 24 at Hartman Rocks in Gunnison.
