Dave Wiens

2009 Original Growler

I started this little race as a fund raiser for Gunnison Trails last year but it actually has its roots in a trail running race called the Sage Burner. The organizers of that event approached me during the winter of 2008 asking if I’d be willing to take care of the details of a 50k course highlighting our backyard singletrack at the Hartman Rocks area on BLM Public Lands. Gunni Trails would be a beneficiary but even without that, I was happy to help. However, once I started to plot it out in my mind, the amount of work to get a course like this prepared for a race was daunting. So, to make it palatable, I decided we should race bikes on it, too.

Saturday June 7, 2008 was the inaugural Sage Burner and the first Original Growler would take place the next day. The course would vary just a bit and while runners might like to count their mileage in “k’s,” mountain bikers generally prefer to ride miles. I’d had an idea for a race out at Hartmans - as we locals call it - that would be 64 miles and called the Growler.

The story behind the name goes like this: I had never heard of a growler until a few years back when I was educated about it by a new friend, neighbor and avid mountain biker, also named Dave, who is no longer among us. He kept this huge bottle of beer in his fridge that he’d get filled every so often at our local watering hole, the Gunnison Brewery, with whatever brew of theirs he had a hankering for on a given day. He called it a growler.

According to the dictionary my mom bought me before I left home for Western State College in 1982, a growler is: 1. a person or thing that growls. 2. Informal. a pitcher, pail or other container brought by a customer for beer.

The Gunnison Brewery sells them and they are 64oz brown glass bottles with the little loopy handle just below the spout. Let’s see, a bad-ass 64-mile mountain bike race with a good bit of technical singletrack called The Original Growler. Sounded pretty good to me.

Combine that with the fact that Hartmans is also the final resting place of many a mountain biker’s dog, (a good few with trails named after them, too, like Josies, Joshos and Boobies) and the Growler becomes a hauntingly fitting name for this bike race.

That first Original Growler in 2008 was super low-key as we only decided it was a go about three weeks out. Word got around MTBR and the ultra-low entry fee of $25 hooked 106 intrepid souls. Actually, you don’t have to be too intrepid; since the Growler is a two-lap race, you can choose to enter the one-lap race called the Half Growler, still an epic XC race by any standards. Since we offer the Half, people started calling the two-lap 64-mile version the Full.

The Full Growler and the Half both start at once so there can be the requisite confusion you’d expect, but we do what we can to mark the Half riders so as not to confuse. Of course, it doesn’t always work. This year, old stallion, Travis Brown, chased young stallion, Travis Scheefer, all the way around the first lap only to see Sheefdog pull up in full victory “V” as he crossed the 32-mile lap line as winner of the Half. This did give TBrown a sizable cushion on second place to ride his second lap with, though.

Last year’s softish, dry course yielded to this year’s conditions, which were an array, from the best traction and surface possible, to just a bit wetter than you’d like. Luckily, we don’t have the clay content out there so none of that, “The bike wouldn’t roll but it was too heavy to carry,” that you can get into on some trails in Colorado.

I was the final sweep so I had a pretty good idea of what most riders went through: A little wet and muddy; Ahh, just right: a blue groove in the high desert!; Uhm…those clouds look kind of foreboding….rain…cold… now the blue groove is the wet, muddy grove; it stopped….ah! the blue groove is back! Warm again. Good times! Repeat, repeat, repeat.

The Growler is a busy course with lots of punchy little climbs and technical singletrack. Nothing is over the top hard; the entire course is “cleanable” by fit, proficient riders that know the lines. Nobody complained about not enough singletrack. Said Travis Brown after winning the overall men’s title for the second straight year in a time of 5:40:35, “The quality and amount of singletrack makes this one of the best cross country races I have done. There are very few events that can put together a 32-mile lap with so much diverse singletrack.”

Ladies overall champion, Eszter Horanyi of Boulder, who’s time was 6:50:41, seemed to agree, “It was incredibly refreshing to race on an actual mountain bike course. Every time I hit a mental or physical tough spot, a piece of singletrack would open up that very simply made me giggle. It’s hard to not enjoy yourself when you’re giggling and, generally, if I’m having fun, I’m riding fast.”

All proceeds from the Original Growler benefit the Colorado charitable organization Gunnison Trails. Gunnison Trails is focused on self-powered singletrack trails on the vast public lands around Gunnison.

The 2009 Original Growler would not have happened without the generous support of our Title Partner, Ergon. Oakley was also huge as they provided sweet watches for the winners and heaps of schwag for our hearty volunteers. PowerBar had a huge impact on both the Growler and the Sage Burner as there was no shortage of bars, gels and Endurance Beverage at aid stations around the courses. New Belgium Brewing was on hand at our after race hoedown in downtown Gunni with four barrels of recovery beverage. Also, Mavic Neutral Services, SmartWool and Kenda Tires were key supporters of the 2009 Growler.

Also,

Special thanks to the Sage Burner crew of Scott Drum, Jake Jones, Christina Buchanan and Chris Martinez and WSC. Without the Sage Burner, the Growler doesn’t even exist.

The same goes for our local BLM office and Arden Anderson and Sally Thode. Without our Hartman Rocks public lands and the support from the BLM, we have nothing.

The City of Gunnison played a major role in supporting the Growler and contributed greatly. IOOF Park, the Hartman Rocks base area, the assistance in starting the race downtown, the clerk’s office, public works, this list goes on and on. Special thanks to Ken Coleman, Dan Ampietro, John Messner, Keith Robinson and the entire police department. Gunnison County and the Colorado State Patrol were both key players, as well. CSP Captain Clark Bates and Sergeant John Ehmsen were instrumental in our use of Highway 50 as the race rolled safely out to Hartman Rocks.

Steve Mabry , Chris Hanna and Brian Riepe from Crested Butte Printers and the Mountain Flyer Magazine: These guys have been a part of Gunnison Trails and the Growler from day one and have contributed thousands of dollars of in- kind hours and materials to our organization. Nearly everything visual that is Gunnison Trails or the Growler has come out of CB Printers.

Chris, Stephen, Will, Matty and the rest of the crew at the Gunnison Country Times are also above and beyond supporters of Gunnison Trails and the Growler and pretty much everything that makes us love living in this valley.

Mary Burt lead our downtown operations and was the point person with local businesses. Mary is awesome and put in more time than anyone leading up to and through the event.

Ricky Garcia from the Tune Up once again headed up our far-flung Skull Pass Aid station with his primary crew of Clint Nichols and Joe Staub.

Cathie Pagano was thrown into the fire and executed beautifully our key Hartman Base Area operations, along with the help of her sidekick, Dan Crean. Dan also offered up the resources of Mavic, setting up neutral support services and vehicles for race support.

WSC Search and Rescue headed up by Matt Willis and his crew of Hannah Cotter , Ron Edwards and Scott Krankkala were covering the “safety bases” for us.

Other volunteer medical specialists who endured the entire day on various parts of the course and thankfully, had very little to do: Krista Powers, Erin Rogers, Colie Campbell Talbert, Matt Cotter, and Susan Calcaterra.

Our crew of course marshals who spent the entire day out in the wilds and elements of Hartman Rocks: Jefe Branham, Rory Piontkowski, Heather McDowell, Amelia Jervey, Todd Eggebraten, Jay Hunt, Bryan Wickenhauser, Drew Nelson, Marjorie Scarpella , Tom Verry, Phil Lambert, Jon Brown, Dave Kozlowski and Thornton Mount.

Our timing volunteers, Greg Morin and Ann Michel, who assisted Mitch Fedak and Tracy Rock with those important, day-long duties.

Key race day volunteers also included Heather O’Brien, John Nelson, Amber Prentiss, Steve Westbay Nikki  Randt, Carly and Dana Morgan,  Leia Morrison, Mary Jo Marvel, Kathryn Peacock, Shawna Campos, Allison MacAllister, Lisa Holland, Lane Nelson, Kate Magnus, Casey Davis,  Eric Sullivan, Bob Blackett, and Elena Oster.

Lori Alexander and the Gunnison Brewery had their handprints all over the downtown festivities, while Matt and Charlotte Burke from Sugah’s Café put on the best post-race feed of all time.

KOA Dave Taylor provided, set up and tore down the highly appreciated and well-used giant tents in the park. He also BBQ’d meat on a stick at the finish line for hungry racers, volunteers and spectators. Free showers for racers at the KOA, too.

Kudos to Lisa Cramton and Travis Underwood from The Alpineer for donating great prizes and lending a wealth of experience in race promotion,and to Bill O’Rourke and Susan Teal at Tomichi Cycles for setting up a surprise feed zone on Josie’s trail as well as donating great raffle prizes.

Seth Weiner and Chad from Sun Sports Unlimited transported racer bags to and from downtown and then were all over the course on a quad providing assistance and connectivity.

Ted Harter and Tracy Hildreth of Moncrief Ranches held off turning their cattle onto the BLM lands for a couple of extra days to accommodate the Sage Burner and the Growler. This was a huge gesture and is greatly appreciated by all.

Bruce Ost from Safeway; Dave Ochs, our MC Specialist; Mochas Coffee House; the Old Miner Steakhouse; Tee’z Me Screen Printing; The Firebrand and The Steaming Bean; Gunnison Valley Hospital EMS; Greg Brunson and Craven’s Coffee; Jean Steelman and City Market; CJ Miller and the Pioneer Society; and the crew at Pat’s Screen Printing.

Also, numerous trail users helped picked up course markings and remnants of the race. The course was completely cleaned by late Monday afternoon. If you’re out there and do find an errant sign of the Growler, please help us by picking it up and disposing of it in an appropriate manner. Toward our goal of leaving the Hartman Rocks area in better condition after the race than it was in before, additional non-race garbage was also picked up.

And if I missed you, and I’m sure I did miss a few, please let me know so I can add you to the list of those responsible for a successful 2009 Original Growler!