Growler Bits 'n Pieces

As the sore muscles start to heal, it's time to start looking back at the fun and games that was the Growler.  Somehow the pain and suffering doesn't seem as bad when looked at through a camera lens...

Full results from the Growler are posted here.

Photos from Mountain Moon Photography here.

Photos from Braden Gunem here, including this one of the stalwart cheering crew of Rock 'N Roll shop masters Brian and Sam at the bottom of Skull Pass.

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.