On Saturday and Sunday last weekend, college teams from around Colorado and the Rocky Mountains gathered at Crested Butte Mountain Resort to race XC, Short-track XC, Dual Slalom, and Downhill. When a collegiate race coincides with the infamous harvest festival of Vinotok, you might as well name it the Pagan Pedal. Western, a Division 2 cycling school, was able to keep the temptations of the festival at bay to nab a handful of podiums in both the Overall and D2 categories.
Photo: Kiera Classen
Justin Barr approaching the finish. Photo: Kiera Classen
According to Ben Jackson, the Western cycling president, Western continued it’s strong downhilling results by grabbing the top 2 overall spots. Riding their home course, Owen Tulip and Colin Pickett took first and second respectively in both the D2 and overall spots. Last year, Tulip and Pickett, took 2nd and 3rd overall at Collegiate Nationals, hopefully these results will lay the groundwork for a similar run in the spring of 2013.
On the XC side, Graham Ruhmann and Ben Jackson took 2nd and 3rd, respectively, in the CAT 1 D2. Ruhmann, an up-and-coming sophomore rider for Western, carried that momentum into the short-track XC by winning the CAT 1 D2. The short-track course was half-mile course that went up a dirt road and down the Dual Slalom course where the rider who completed the most laps in 25 minutes won.
Graham Ruhmann on his way to the podium. Photo: Kiera Classen
Jackson explained in an interview with West Elk Project that having home-field advantage definitely has its benefits. While especially evident on CBMR’s downhill course, Avery, both XC and downhill racers alike were able to train for weeks on their respective courses. Jackson explained, “It was a lot of hard work but working with our Director Dave Wiens and our coaches Jenny Smith and Ansel Schimpff was a pleasure.” He continued, “We didn’t see too many collegiate racers at Vinotok and luckily the ones that did show managed to stay out of trouble. Hosting the race over Vinotok didn’t seem to affect the racers as much as we thought it might. We figured Vinotok could only add to a fun weekend of racing so we decided to name our race the Pagan Pedal.”
A huge thanks goes out to Crested Butte Mountain Resort and the volunteers who helped make the race happen! All races valley-wide would not happen without the huge effort from volunteers. Next week, the WSCU cycling team heads to Granby. Stay tuned!
Ooops. Mike Huse getting rowdy. Photo: Sierra Halverson
The Rocky Mountain Collegiate Cycling Conference has not released the official results yet. When they do, you will find them here.
A CSU rider in a great photo. Photo: Sierra Halverson
Rocky Mountain Collegiate Cycling Conference Races from Crested Butte on Vimeo.
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