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Bikers brave BC Bash

Andrew Harley

Beaver Creek Mountain challenged mountain bikers late Wednesday afternoon with a 6-mile loop for Beaver Creek Resort’s BC Blast.

Resident sports hero Mike Kloser designed the course, and managed to come in third in the Men’s Pro Elite division – Cheater? No, he’s simply superhuman.

Riders started at the base of the Centennial Lift, headed up Cinch to Allie’s Way, hit Village, to Lost Buck, to Stack, back to Lost Buck and back to Cinch to complete the loop at the start/finish line.



And, a great deal of the 484 registered riders had to bike around Steve Jones’ horses, which were crowding the trails in precarious places.

“Allie’s Way was nice,” said Kristi Foster. “There was a nice straightaway through the woods and some smooth singletrack on the course.”

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The kids started at 5 p.m., rode one lap, or less, and Francisco Rocha came away with another victory in the Junior Boys 12-14 division with a time of 36 minutes, 16 seconds. Michael Haskins wasn’t far behind with a second-place time of 38:41.

Rocha’s brother, Ivan, won the Junior Boys 11 and Under division with a two-mile time of 18:44. J.T. Schmitt placed second with a 20:59.

Kloser’s daughter, Heidi, won the Junior Girls 11 and Under division with a 28:09.

The Men’s and Women’s Pro Elite, the Men’s Expert and the Men’s Vet Expert divisions took on the largest burdens, with three laps – 18 miles.

Jay Henry won the Men’s Pro Elite division with a time of 1 hour, 20 minutes and 54 seconds. Jimi Mortenson came in second with a 1:22:12.

Monique Merrill won the Women’s Pro Elite division with a 1:37:24. Siri Chwalk placed second with a 1:38:46.

Dan Weiland came in first in the Men’s Expert division with a 1:32:09. Jacob Youcha placed second with a 1:32:42.

Peter Davis won the Men’s Vet Expert division with a 1:31:06. Steve Meyer came in second with a 1:31:56.

Charlie Evans won the 12-mile, Single Speed division with a 1:04:16. Jamey McCalla came in second with a 1:07:01.

“What I do is not called racing,” said Devon Alvarez, who placed fifth in the Single Speed division. “I participate in the organized events held throughout the valley.”

Brad Bingham won the Men’s Sport division with a 1:04:11. Sean Malloy came in second with a 1:05:53.

Toni Axelrod won the Women’s Expert division with a 1:12:40. Julie Morrow placed second with a 1:12:44.

Local pet-guru Ron Gruber won the Men’s Vet Sport division with a 1:08:51. Jeffrey Cowell came in second with a 1:10:24.

Paul Sands won the Men’s Masters division with a 1:06:16. John Currier placed second with a 1:06:42.

Dan Batten won the Junior Men’s 15-18 division with a 1:19:45.

Linda Bradley won the Women’s Sport division with a 1:18:19. Paran Krueger placed second with a 1:18:42.

Foster won the Women’s Vet division with a 1:12:50.

“I had a good time,” said Foster, who took a couple years off of Vail Recreation District’s mountain biking series to be with her child. “I’m trying the Vet class out to see how my times compare with the other classes.”

Jen Kuechenmeister won the 6-mile Women’s Beginner race with a 43:38. Debra Jujan came in second with a time of 44:00.

Lee Hoffman won the Men’s Beginner division with a 34:57. Tyler Chapman took second with a 35:45.

“Everyone I saw had a smile on their face. The singletrack was sick. There were short steeps and it was a fast and technical course,” said Alvarez. “If I had to sum it all up, I would say it was a giggle factory.”

Andrew Harley can be contacted at (970) 949-0555 ext. 608 or at aharley@vaildaily.com.


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