Gunnison Trails Big Saturday

  

From Gunnison Trails:

Saturday October 22 – Gunnison Trails Big Saturday!

• 10am – the first annual Pummeler’s Butt 10-mile  (10-mile course map, click here), 5-mile (5-mile course map, click here), and 3-mile (3-mile course map, click here) trail running (hiking, slogging, crawling!) races at Hartman Rocks. Also, 2-mile and 1-mile distances for kids, and kids run and ride for free! The Pummeler’s Butt is a burly trail race that will start directly up V-Drop, then onto Ring Dike, Rattlesnake, Tech Becks, etc., etc. This is no pansy trail race. $15 entry fee. More details to come. Kids Races, too: After the start of the Pummeler’s Butt, we’ll have two kids races on a very spectator-friendly, one-mile long circuit at the base area. It has a hill in it – the climb up Lower Jacks – and the whee ones will get to try out their trail running skills. Depending on our numbers, we may run a one-lap and a two-lap race.
• 2pm – Growler Series Finals mountain bike race AKA, Two Weeks Before the Abyss (course map, click here. 20 and 10-mile courses). A classic, singletrack heavy off-road bicycling contest also at the Hartman Rocks area on BLM public lands. Categories will be: Long Course Expert, Long Course Sport (same course; around 20 miles), and Short Course (around 10 miles). Men’s and Ladies categories. $15 entry fee.  Kid’s races, too.
• Dual-Sport Contest! – Pummeler’s Butt and Growler Finals combined time for athletes with diverse skill sets.
• 4-8pm - Gunnison Trails Big Saturday! Dinner Party! at KOA Dave’s place – Just what it sounds like. Food and drink provided. This party is open to all Gunnison Trails supporters and anyone curious about what Gunnison Trails does. Dinner Party! is free. We will have a short program where Gunnison Trails’ mission, functions and projects will be outlined. Also, 2011 volunteers will be recognized. An inquiry about the availability of 9 Inch Nails to play at this party was submitted on their website. As of now, we have not heard back. More details to come.

Sunday October 23 – Rain (snow?) date for Gunnison Trails Big Saturday! Would that then be Big Sunday!?

WSC Mountain Bike Team hosts home race

Hosting a race in Gunnison in October is always risky business.  Fortunately for collegiate racers from around the state, Nature gave her blessings to the event and graced the four race (XC, ST, DH, and Air DH) event with sunny skies and mild temperatures.

Western State riders threw down in all the events throughout the weekend.  Highlights include the Women's B ST and XC where Angela Vitulli and Alexis Kelley lead the charge placing 2nd and 3rd in the ST and 3rd and 4th in the XC.  Madi Samblanet and Jenn Swift represented in the Women's A adding to the team's conference point tally.  Outstanding performances also came from Owen Tulip and Graham Ruhmann in the Men's B races with Tulip posting two 2nd place finishes, proving he's going to be a solid Omnium contender at Nationals later this month.  Brae Patten recovered from an ill-timed flat in the Men's A XC to finish a solid Top-10.

After racing on the newly opened flow track behind the WCS Campus on Saturday afternoon, gravity racers took to the Notch and Collarbone Alley on Sunday morning for more racing.  Colin Pickett put in the performance of the day with an impressive 2nd place and Tulip continued his string of fast races with a 6th in the Men's A.  The Men's B's saw total WSC domination with Cody Zelko, Travis Robl, and Spencer Plum sweeping the podium.

All the races were met with rave reviews from all with people telling organizer Ben Jackson to be sure to hold the race again next year because it was hands-down the best one on the RMCCC circuit.

Full results can be found here.

Racing continues in Grand Junction this weekend.

Hartman Rocks Trail Work

From Gunnison Trails:

Trail Work on Joshos Trail Thursday October 6th at 4pm

Gunnison Trails will be working on Joshos trail at Hartman Rocks beginning at 4pm this Thursday October 6th. We'll be shoring up and cleaning out drainage features and generally buffing out and winterizing this trail. Meet at the Joshos trailhead adjacent to Rattlesnake. 

Look for the silver Suburban or tan Explorer. Wear appropriate clothing for trail work including sturdy shoes, gloves and eye protection. Long sleeves and pants are recommended. Also bring water and additional clothing appropriate for the weather that day.

 

 

If you arrive late, sign in on the clipboard, grab a tool and head down Joshos trail and find us. We'll probably work until the cows come home or dark, whichever comes first. 

Growler Wrap Up

It's 64 miles of classic Hartman Rocks singletrack.  It's rocky, unrelenting, and has brought grown men to tears.  Yes, boys and girls, it's the Gunnison Growler.

When the dust settled on Sunday, many Gunnison athletes ended up standing on the podium collecting the amazing prizes that Dave Wiens assembled for the event while listening to DaveO talk about, well, whatever DaveO talks about when handed a microphone.  Hundreds gathered around hoping to grab many of the raffle prizes and other schwag that was tossed out into the crowd, with many pairs of socks ending up in the pond and a tee-shirt in a tree.  There might have been some additional motivation to stick around with the free food from Garlic Mikes and bottomless glasses and growlers (awarded to all 64-mile finishers) of New Belgium beer satiating the hunger and thirst of tired racers.

(Pictures stolen from Jenny Smith's Facebook page)

Results of note would be Team Alpine Ortho's Brian Smith dominating the mens' field winning by 20 minutes.  Team Alpine Ortho's women put in a strong showing with Jenny Smith second, Eszter Horanyi 4th, and Jari Kirkland 5th in the Full Growler.

I'll post race-reports from Rock 'N Roll Sports athletes here as they trickle in, but for now, check out the highlights video here and keep an eye on the Team Alpine Ortho blog for updates and photos.

Big thanks to Gunnison Trails for putting on such a spectacular event yet again!

Get Ready for the Growler

It's Memorial Day weekend yet again which means one thing for the Valley: It's time for the Original Growler mountain bike race and the Sage Burner 25k and 50k trail running races at Hartman Rocks.  The Sage Burner races will be contested on Saturday, May 28th and the Growler will be raced on Sunday, May 29.  The Growler sold out in 8 minutes this year but there are still spots available for the Sage Burner if two-footed travel is your preferred mode of transport.

Information on the Growler can be found here.
Information on the Sage Burner can be found here.


For those not familiar with Hartman Rocks riding, here's a nice little sample of Team Alpine Ortho rider Eszter Horanyi negotiating Top of the World.

Hope to see you all this weekend.  Happy trails.