May | 2016 | Steve Tilford

I raced The Growler MTB race in Gunnison yesterday. I don’t have enough energy to recap that right now, so I thought I would post about the promoter, Dave Wiens.

The race was a blast. I decided the last minute to do this event. Vincent was doing it, so I texted my friend, Dave Wiens, who I knew would know about the race. It turns out that Dave is pretty much the race. At least the go-to guy. I know races like The Growler takes a huge group effort.

I think I first met Dave back in 1990. That was the first year that I kind of really raced MTB professionally. I think Dave was riding already for Diamondback. I went to Race in the Sage and I distinctly remember Dave racing in high black socks, on the road. He should be credited for breaking the trend of white socks only. Plus the sock height. He never wavered on this, even though it took cycling nearly a decade to catch up with him.

At the criterium, he was all over the place. I’m not sure that he had ever raced a criterium. I couldn’t understand how a guy that was so good handling a MTB could be so green on a road bike. Most everyone else in the race had raced on the road before coming to MTB racing. It was peculiar that he started off-road. At least it was then.

Dave was, and still is, a true-born mountain bike racer. He lives the lifestyle and is beyond passionate. He is the nicest guy with always something positive to say.

I remember the World Championships in Italy one year. I had no idea how I had finished and found the results and was super surprised that I finished in the top 20. I had started dead last, 150 guys back, because of flatting twice in the qualifying race. I never knew I had passed enough guys to get an okay result.

Looking at the results, Dave was way back, like in the 60’s maybe 80’s. I believe he was US National Champion that year. I saw him and asked him what happened. He said he just had a bad day. I asked him why he didn’t just quit and he said something that I practiced, but had never articulated. He said that he kicks these guys asses all year, all over the world, and that it wouldn’t be fair if he just quit. He said that the other riders deserved to beat him when he was having a bad day.

That is true. My mantra is I don’t quit a race unless I’m sick or hurt. KInd of the same thought, but he said it way better.

Dave won Leadville 5 times or so. We were inaugurated into the MTB Hall of Fame together in 2000. We didn’t know that we had to do acceptance speeches. Ned was introducing me and Daryl Price was doing it for Dave. They told us about 20 minutes before the event that all four of us had to speak in front of all our peers. Daryl amazingly scored a bottle wine that we shared, to take the edge off.

Anyway, in my speech, I used Dave as an example of what a MTB racer is. A guy that appreciates everything involved in the sport. I told a story of the first time I raced Chequamegon. Dave came and was then flying to the World Championships right after. Marty Jemison, who was riding for the USPS, dropped all of us pretty early. I hung with him the longest, but eventually got popped.

I was riding on Phipps Fire Lane and Dave comes riding up. He says something about how crazy strong Jemison is. Then proceeds to kill me. RIding on the first section of Birkie Trail, I could barely stay on. After OO, we were told that we were only 40 seconds back. When we got on Bodecker, we could see Marty behind the motorcycle. I started pulling we were going hard.

There was a steep sandy descent that went down to the lakes. It has since been removed. We were hauling down this, nearly, singletrack descent and next thing I know, Dave’s rear wheel is pretty much in my face.

He was going over the bars and I was plowing into him from behind. I hit him and flipped over and tumbled down the hill. I was maybe ten meters below Dave and couldn’t really see anything because I had so much sand in my eyes. I looked up and Dave was on his hands and knees, gasping for air. He had landed on his back and all the air got knocked out of his lungs. I got up and went back up to help him.

Eventually he got breathing normally and I went down and got my bike and found my sunglasses. Dave was messing with something I told him I was going to get going. He said he’d catch up and that he was fine.

I started riding along, pretty slowly, not really able to breath. My upper back was killing me. I just kept riding slow and Dave never came. I was a mile or so up the trail and thought that I should turn back around and go see if Dave was okay. I figured someone else had came upon him, but still was worried.

Eventually Dave came riding up, all happy. I asked him why it took him so long and he said that he started off and then realized that he didn’t have the stick that had flipped into his front wheel to cause the crash. He said that he had a little shrine or something in his basement that he kept the important memories of his adventures and that the stick had a place there. I thought it was nuts.

Dave just went back to the front and started pulling again. We were still racing for 2nd. When we got to the Seeley Fire Tower climb, the last real place to make a selection, I was hoping that Dave was going to just ride away from me. I was feeling badly that I was going to beat him when he pulled virtually the whole race. He didn’t and I started stressing.

Luckily for me, I flatted on the last section of the Birkie Trail. It really was a relief. I would have hated out sprinting him under those circumstances.

I ended up breaking 3 ribs. The next day, I went over to the Sunday fun day events at Telemark and Dave was there. He had already done the bike orienteering event, the log pull and all the other events that no other serious bike racer would have even considered. He was digging it. Remember, he was flying over to Europe to race the World Championships the next day. I remember envying him, thinking about how different our mentalities were at that time. I would have already moved onto the Worlds and he was living in the moment then.

Dave finished super good at the Worlds that year. I’m not exactly sure, but maybe 12th or so. I think he was the best American rider. Drugs had already infiltrated the MTB scene, so 12th would have been an incredible result.

Anyway, I was stoked to see Dave this weekend. He was out on the course, at a feed station on my 2nd lap, then at the finish. I talked to him a little after the race and he is the same passionate guy. Just as passionate about putting on a super race that supports local trail development as he was racing.

The sport could use a lot more Dave Wiens. The world, in general, could use more guys like him.

Dave and I after the race yesterday.

Dave all bandaged up on the podium after the race.

Tucker and Nikola play tug-of-war all day now.

It seems like The Growler was a long time ago, even though it was just Sunday. I have to say, honestly, I’d never heard of the race before. I have been pretty removed from MTB racing on all levels, even though I did win Lutzsen 100 last year, rode Leadville, plus Chequamegon and Berryman. The scene is so disjointed now that unless you are living the life, it is difficult to know exactly what is happening on a National level.

The Growler is two loops of approximately 32 miles. The two loops are a little different, but the terrain is the same. You ride up to a plateau and then ride undulating singletrack forever. Mainly you are riding smooth singletrack through sagebrush, but every so often, like every mile or two the trail heads to a rock outcropping and it is pretty technical. Not technical like Lake Wilson, large granite boulders with multiple lines to choose from. Not knowing the correct lines is a big disadvantage. But, for me, it didn’t really matter.

The race starts up a 5 minute, steep climb after a neutral 4 mile roll out on pavement. No one was really charging early because the climb loomed ahead. This is where the race was over for me. I was hoping that I was going to be like last year and be okay at altitude. I did alright in Winterpark and the GoPro games in Vail without being here. That wasn’t the case on Saturday.

As I predicted, I crawled up the climb. VIncent passed me about half way up and distanced himself from me. As did nearly everyone else. I was bad. The problem was that after another mile or so, we turned into a very long singletrack area. And a few guys ahead of me were pretty lousy at riding singletrack. The front group of guys, like the first 1/3 of the field, disappeared into the distance.

So, I decided I was just going to enjoy. I did a pretty good job of this. The open singletrack flowed wonderfully. It was a blast getting back the skills needed to go fast. The technical rock sections were a challenge in the masses. Lots of walking, where it should have been riding.

Somewhere about half way through the first lap, I was walking in line, up a narrow rocky section. A guy tried to ride a high line by us and screwed up above me. He fell over into my bike, which jammed my pedal into my left shin. I looked down a blood was streaming down into my sock.

I hate those shinbone hits. They hurt like crazy and knot up. I got on my bike a little bit later and my leg was still hurtin’. Pretty soon I shook it off, but it took a while.

Just a while later, I thought I spotted Vincent up ahead. He was way far away. It took me a while, but it was Vincent. I couldn’t believe that he could be blown at only 2 hours in. I caught up with him and it turned out his fork on his new Scalpel was blown and was locked down. So his front end of his bike is 4 inches low, with no shock. That would have been nearly impossible to negotiate. It turned out to be.

Here’s how bad I was. Kalan Beisel, who beat me last weekend by around 2 minutes in Lake Wilson in 2 :15, was 9 minutes ahead after 1:20. At 2:30 he was 15 minutes ahead. By the end I was nearly 40 minutes back. Kalan finished 2nd again, less than a minute out of winning.

The next lap was hard. I would have been happy stopping at one lap. It was already over 2:30 hours and I was pretty worked. My lower back and back of my arms were sore. But, it was another lap.

At the top of the start climb, Vincent was standing at the top with a bottle. He’d stopped to try to pump up his shock, with no luck, so he took a shortcut to feed me. The lap was super fun. I never got any worse and as the mile ticked off, actually felt a little better. There was really no one to catch. I passed a couple guys in the first half of the lap and then there was no one.

I thought I was riding the technical section better, I was, but towards the end, I started screwing up. I think it was because I was tired. I stopped at a couple feed stations and refilled my water bottle. I never do that, but didn’t really have any reason not to.

So, that was it. I finished 16th place. I’m not sure how many people started. There is a 350 riders limit each day, Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday, it is only one lap. Then on Sunday, it is the Full Growler, which is two laps, and then the overflow from the 1/2 Growler.

The trail system around Gunnison is super. Super maintained and extensive. It is a MTB destination for sure.

The race finishes out of town and then you just ride back to the start/expo area on your own. It looked like it was going to start raining, so I figured I should ride back quick. But, VIncent had driven the van over and I went over and wiped off. I then realized that my shin scrape was a deep gouge. Like stitchable.

So, VIncent drove to Walgreens and got some stuff to wash it out and I rode back. The expo was small, but super fun. Free beer to the finishers. They actually hand you a $10 bill to go and buy food from the vendors there. They had super burritos, and lot of other great choices.

I was planning on staying for the awards ceremony, but Trudi and just flown in from Winston-Salem and I was thinking I should address the cut. So we started driving.

The drive back was good. A little hail and sleet, then just scenic Colorado. The drive from Gunnison back to Denver goes through a bunch of Colorado that a lot of people don’t see that much. No destinations there, but small towns that face harsh conditions in the winter. I like it.

Brian and Michelle Jensen were at Vincent’s too, along with Trudi. They are shopping for a house to buy. Brian is starting a new job on Monday, after the Dirty Kanza next week. They are a little stressed by the prices, which I understand.

We went out and rode North Table Mesa yesterday. First Vincent and Trudi rode on a tandem, then we all went out and rode our own bikes. Brian, Vincent and I rode a little further and faster. I ended up with over 3 hours again. Not exactly rest.

We are heading back to Kansas today. Trudi has to fly to Belgium tomorrow from Kansas City. Then get in a car and drive from Belgium to Southern France. Man, her schedule is crazy this year.

These guys were ripping it up at the front. Bryon Dillon, Ergon in front, won, just ahead of Kalan Beisel. Kalan’s wife, Amy, won the woment’s race, just a few minutes behind me.

There were tons of places like this.

And narrow sections you had to snake through.

Typical Gunnison.

NO one has ever given me lunch money after finishing a race.

My chainstay at the finish.

Ouch.

I had most this stuff with me.

I hadn’t done this in a long time. Actually, since I use to race MTB full time. Outside magazine did an article about me stitching myself up once. It isn’t that hard. Tying the knots is the hardest part.