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Fall Classic called off for this year

DEVON O'NEILsummit daily news

BRECKENRIDGE – Maverick Sports Promotions canceled this year’s Fall Classic mountain bike stage race early Wednesday evening, citing a lack of registrants for the long-running tradition that dates back to 1984 on the trails around Breckenridge.The promotion group posted a message to its website last week asking that a minimum of 100 riders sign up for the race by 6 p.m. Wednesday, or it would be called off for this year. It had been scheduled for Saturday and Sunday. Co-owner Jeff Westcott said he got about 40 paid registrants and between 20 and 30 verbal commitments, but it wasn’t enough.This would have been the fourth year the Fall Classic had been held since Westcott and his partner, Mike McCormack, revived it after a three-year hiatus. It drew 75 racers in 2002, 100 in 2003 and 125 in 2004.”The event needs 200 people to break even,” Westcott said. “We’ve been willing to do it and absorb the loss because we love the event. We just couldn’t go there this year.”Westcott said he and McCormack are considering tweaking the race’s format to make it more appealing in the future. Among the ideas they’re tossing around: making it part of the Summit Mountain Challenge series or another series, or turning it into a one-day race. It has been held as a two-day, three-stage race, combining a circuit stage with a hillclimb and cross country race in years past.”The event is not dead by any means,” Westcott said. “It’s just canceled for this year.”Devon O’Neil can be contacted at (970) 668-3998, ext. 231, or at doneil@summitdaily.com.


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