Beth Coats leads the criterium.
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By Tom Horrocks
CRESTED BUTTE - More than 850 racers participated in the re-birth of Crested Butte's 16th Annual Fat Tire Bike Week June 27-29. When promoter Kay Peterson-Cook announced that the 15th Annual event would be the last, Reese Brown and his company Lowrider Promotions, which promotes the Nike ACG New England Race Series, stepped in to keep the longest running mountain bike race in the country alive.
"It was a huge learning experience for sure," Brown said during the post-event awards party. "We learned a lot and familiarized ourselves with the way things are done out here ... and we're excited for next year - we're in it for the long haul."
The three-day racing festival included the second race in the Paul Mitchell sponsored Colorado Downhill Series, and the fourth stop for cross country racers on the Colorado Off-Road Points Series. Carbondale's Rishi Grewal (Klein) and Breckenridge's Beth Coats (Shimano/Ventana) won their respective pro divisions in the cross country stage races.
In the 4.2-mile Silver Queen Downhill, Durango's Girard Malanror (3D) and Boulder's Robin Bass posted the fastest pro times. Craig Korbel (Big Crank) of Golden and Paige Baltue (Santa Cruz) of Denver posted the fastest Expert times.
With the usual summer ski area construction at the base of the mountain, Brown was forced to move the start/finish area down the hill, which provided racers with a grueling uphill grind from the start of both the cross country and circuit races and the slalom-like finish for the downhill. However, the rest of the courses remained the same from last year, including the 37-mile Upper, Upper Loop and Deer Creek point-to-point course that the Pro/Semi Pro and Expert races used. "We don't get a chance to race on many courses like that," commented Dave Weins (Kona), who lives in nearby Gunnison. "So it's always nice to be able to come up here and enjoy all the great single-track."