The first annual Fat Bike World Championships went off in Crested Butte, Colorado this past weekend with a looming snow storm knocking at the door. Luckily for racers and event organizer David Ochs, the snowpocalypse held off until sundown post race. As the snow began to fall on Crested Butte the event organizers breathed a deep sigh of relief as their months of hard work paid off.
The weekend kicked off with a relay race on Thursday under classic Colorado blue skies. With warmer temps the trail conditions worsened as the day progressed. Friday was the Fat Bike Summit hosted by Gary Sjoquist of Quality Bike Parts. But it was the main event on Saturday that really drew the crowds and racers. The field was stacked with heavy hitters like Travis Brown, Robbie Squire, Judy Freeman, Erin Huck, Amy Beisel and many more.
The day threatened to be a typical white-out snowstorm, but the fat bike gods were on the side of the racers and instead we got heavy cloud cover and flat light. Conditions held up fairly well, but after hundreds of laps, the surface began to make things more difficult. Downhills became treacherous, really testing riders skills and power to make it through the mash potato conditions. After five lightening fast laps, the Elite Men and Women were crowned the first ever Fat Bike World Champions.
1. Amy Beisel
2. Alexis Skarda
3. Judy Freeman
1. Robbie Squire
2. Taylor Shelden
3. Travis Brown
Full results can be found
here.
Photo and words by
Devon Balet.
MENTIONS:
@devonbalet
Fatbikers eyehump the sht out of eachothers bikes and pretend to not care about eachothers bikes. It's silly.
My roadie buddy that i ride with in the winter asked me on sunday if i look forward to fatbike season. I was like "hell no, gimme my skinny bike back" and he looked at me like i was crazy.
Busted out laughing.
Branding?
www.facebook.com/aaron.west.733450/videos/10153776071251138
www.facebook.com/art.oconnor/videos/10153876107487486
Clever intro, racing starts at 0:49.