Experienced riders, beginners share mountain bike trail for Fort Carson race
- Details
- Created on Saturday, 16 April 2011 22:09
- Written by Nathan
By Nathan Van Dyne, OutThereColorado.com
Davis McElwain doesn't consider himself a mountain bike racer.
In fact, he estimates that before Saturday his bike hadn't been off pavement in about 15 years. Despite no training on the trails -- "I just pull my kids to the park in the bike trailer," he said -- McElwain lined up at Cheyenne Mountain State Park for his first race.
McElwain, who's stationed at Peterson Air Force Base and calls Lawrence, Kan., home, was one of about 50 riders who came out on a sun-splashed morning for the first event of the Mountain Post Challenge Hero Series organized by Fort Carson's morale, welfare and recreation department. The mountain bike event was open to military personnel and civilians and featured beginner and intermediate races.
Photo gallery from the race!
"Our MWR people do a great job setting this stuff up," said McElwain, who finished third in the beginner race, which measured approximately 7 miles and was won by David Meyer. "It takes a lot of infrastructure to run something like this."
Cammy Lore tested her skills in the intermediate race, a hilly, somewhat technical course of between 11 and 12 miles. Lore, whose husband is a soldier at Fort Carson, said she couldn't pass up the opportunity to race.
"It's a good outlet," Lore said of mountain biking. "Especially when my husband is away, I tend to ride more because it just helps keep me in check.
"I love Cheyenne Mountain. It's great having it so close, especially if you have any business to do on post. It's nice and convenient to pop across the street."
Convenience was a major factor for several riders, including a strong contingent of Front Rangers in the intermediate race. In the end, a pair of familiar rivals dueled to a sprint finish with Shad Schreiner edging Cameron Chambers at the line.
"He made one try in the real rocky section -- tried to hop some stuff -- and I just barely stayed ahead of him," Schreiner said. "It was just too tight for him to come around, luckily."
Chambers, the reigning 24-hour singlespeed national champion, knew from past experience -- the two grew up in Kansas and have been racing each other for years -- that getting past Schreiner wouldn't be easy.
"It's a situation I've been in a lot, following his wheel," Chambers said after cruising through the course on his singlespeed. "I kind of had it planned out where I was going to try to make a pass up here -- it was kind of my one shot -- and he shut her down pretty good.
"I knew if I didn't get him up there in the rocks, I was pretty much just relying on him to bobble at that point."
Schreiner didn't bobble, but Chambers relished the challenge of his second straight weekend of racing at Cheyenne Mountain State Park.
"Any race that's going on in my backyard, I want to get out and support it," he said. "There's nothing better than driving 10 minutes and racing your bike."
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