On Father's Day, dad and son win Sand Creek race
- Details
- Created on Monday, 20 June 2011 01:11
- Written by Evan Thomas
By Emily Bayci, The Gazette
During the mountain bike race at Cheyenne Mountain State Park on Sunday morning, Paul von Boeck, wore a pin with the words “Behind every great dad is a great kid, or two.”
The writing proved true for the von Boeck family of Colorado Springs as both father and son Trevor took first in their divisions; single speed men and 14-and-under boys, respectively; during the final leg of the Sand Creek Sports Ascent Cycling Series.
Paul, who took first in the series, hadn’t planned on racing. It was going to be only Trevor, who got sick before the first race of the series. They had already paid, so Paul took his place. After making friends among the racers, he ended up participating in the entire series.
Photo gallery 1 ... photo gallery 2
Next year, Trevor knows he wants to be back.
“I like how well marked the courses are, it’s impossible to take a wrong turn,” he said. But Paul will play it by ear.
In the pro-men division, Kalan Beisel won in 2 hours, 2 minutes and 45 seconds. J.J. Clark, who won the division of the series for the fourth straight year, was second at 2:05:57.
“The race went good, J.J. was leading in the first lap but then I attacked,” Beisel said. “It was hard to know where he was, but the attack stuck.”
For the pro-women’s division, Tracy Thelen won in 2:36:54. Stephanie Ward finished third, which was enough to win the series.
The final course was the longest run in the series, having a 2 mile loop and then an 8 mile loop, with riders either doing one, two or three laps; depending on their division.
“This series is fun because there’s such a great vibe,” said 36-year-old Stacy Gery of Colorado Springs. “People were cheering for you everywhere, it was such a supportive race.”
She called it one of the most difficult and fun courses of the series.
Race director Andy Bohlmann, who spent hours mapping out the course with venue director Matt Benassi, said the series finale was meant to be tough.
“We throw a lot of stuff at them,” Bohlmann said. “We have to consider the number of riders, the trail conditions and possibility of medical evacuation.”
The toughest part for most of the riders was the Medicine Wheel trail portion, which is a technical trail filled with rocks and turns.
Many of the riders had to stop and walk their bikes for the area and Beisel just put his bike over his shoulder and ran.
Two riders, Gery and 55-year-old Vivian McDuffie of Colorado Springs, actually met and became friends riding the Medicine Wheel last year.
“It just shows how cycling really brings people together,” Gery said.
