Taos Composite High School Team – Race 3 Report from Leadville
Thirteen athletes made the trip to Leadville, CO for race #3 in the Colorado High School Mountain Bike Race League. We were treated to a super fun course with changing Aspen leaves and cool fall temperatures. Despite a few riders missing due to other races , such as Gravel Nationals, Taos Composite battled its way into 4th place as a team in a very competitive Division 2. Photos below!
Jonah Gilroy started off the day for Taos in the Sophomore Boys race. Jonah has been steadily improving all year and finished super strong in 32nd place.
Eleanor Breier, competing in the JV Girls event, rode her way into 28th. Eleanor continues to get faster every year and shaved almost 7 minutes off of her time from the same course last year. In the Sophomore Girls race, Bernice O’Reilly and Abby Thornton enjoyed their front row start and continued to mix it up at the front of the race. Bernice was with the lead rider as they both approached a slower rider from the earlier start wave. The lead rider was able to make an assertive pass at that moment while Bernice got stuck for a moment before being able to also make the pass. That moment created the gap and Bernice was unable to close it back down and charged home in second place. Abby had a great start and was right at the front at the top of the opening climb. Abby continued to attack finishing in 6th place.
The JV Boys field is big (120 riders), very strong, and highly motivated. Ryan Edmonds had moved himself all the way up to 11th place after lap 1 and was poised to crack the top 10 before a front tire puncture ended his charge up through the field. He was finally able to get the tire repaired (with the help of additional air from a course marshal resulting in a 5-minute penalty) and limped home in 69th. Meanwhile, Silas Conn rode a powerful and consistent race to end up in 25th. Jack McCutcheon continues to pass tons of riders as his start positions continue to be impacted by having to miss the first race due to illness. In this race, he moved up from another back row start to finish in 39th. Rowan Higdon rode strong and consistently to finish 56th.
The Varsity Girls and Varsity Boys headed out on course and were greeted with a bit of hail and rain for the first lap of their race. Luke Rand has been stymied by a sore knee this season and hasn’t been able to train as much as he would like. Still, he cranked his way into 20th place in the fastest field. Isla Chavez battled her way to the line in 16th place in her final race on the fun Leadville course.
Lastly, the Freshman Boys took off to tackle the twisting course. Jaden Rand chased hard and garnered his best result of the season finishing in second place. Gray Shepherd was not far behind grabbing his best result in 11th and Olin O’Reilly, not wanting to be left out, secured his best result of the season in 29th, continuing to move up through the field.
Next up will be the Piedra Region’s Conference Championships in Nathrop, CO (aka “Nathrop Worlds”). The course in Nathrop is an athlete favorite as the course is very similar to some of our trails in Northern New Mexico. Athletes have coined the term “Nathrop Worlds” as this race is commonly the point in the season when everyone is reaching their peak fitness. We hope to have our entire team there for the race!
A very special thank you to Civic Tech Taos/Breier Family for sponsoring this race and for the amazing food provided by Lisa Edmonds, Carla Vigil, and Ralph Chavez.
In other team news, Rio and Lhotse Johnson and Keaton Verswijver missed the race due to Gravel Nationals in Minnesota. They all did great with Rio taking 6th in the 13-14 year old race, Lhotse taking 2nd in the 11-12 year old race, and Keaton taking 7th in the 17-18 year old race. Meanwhile, Jane English raced for her Sandia Prep team at the New Mexico League race at McGaffey and not only took the Varsity Girls win but also would have placed 3rd in the Varsity Boys division. Congratulations, all!
Make sure Ride the Rift is on your calendar for Sunday October 12 and please support our team. This fundraiser is the reason we can keep our team fees so low!
www.RidetheRiftTaos.com
