Evergreen is home to the largest bicycle racing team in Colorado. This may be news to you if you haven’t been racing bicycles this year. Team Evergreen Racing is wrapping up just its first season on the regional mountain bike and road racing circuit, and has made a considerable splash. The team was organized by Team Evergreen Bicycle Club, the 1200 member recreational cycling club that, among other things, puts on the 120-mile Triple Bypass bicycle epic each July, shepherding 3,500 cyclists from Evergreen to Avon via Squaw Pass, Loveland Pass and Vail Pass.
Team Evergreen Racing began training together in January with a 100-plus member roster. That level of commitment to a brand new cycling team is quite remarkable. As the 2005 racing season got underway and the summer months passed, TER scored with strong individual and team performances. Through September, with the cyclocross season yet to come, the team had tallied more than seventy individual first, second or third place finishes including 29 wins. The team put up over 140 top-ten finishes, plus high individual and team placements in series events. In fact, TER garnered more wins than any other Colorado based cycling team.
Bicycle racing is one of the most challenging physical sports on the planet. But those who endeavor to race often discover that the physical and psychological rewards are well worth the undertaking, even if you never actually win a race. Carrying the potential for those rewards into a team environment adds even more to the experiences of training and racing. Every cyclist who witnesses a teammate’s commitment to training and racing understands what that obligation demands, and appreciates how satisfying it is to progress as a cycling athlete. Teammates respect the dedication and enjoy sharing in the celebrations of success.
Bicycle racing offers competitions on road bikes and mountain bikes as well as special bicycles for cyclocross, a peculiar off-road affair of mixed terrain and obstacles, and track racing, the high-banked oval events most people only see on TV coverage of the summer Olympics. Races for mountain bikes and road bikes dominate the calendar and while athletes may compete in multiple disciplines, many focus on one of these two.
Races may be as brief as twenty minutes for intense hill climbs or time trials. Most amateur road or mountain bike races consume about an hour in novice categories and two to three hours for higher level racers. Beyond that, endurance racing has become popular, covering distances of 100 miles or more, or as time limited events of 12 or 24 hours. Stage races consisting of multiple races (stages) on consecutive days are also available. Across Colorado there are races for every taste and one is available within striking distance almost every day of the week from May through August.
Team Evergreen Racing is currently accepting applications for 2006 team membership. The team’s mission statement promises to provide all who have an interest in the sporting side of cycling a supportive framework in which to pursue their goals. Female, male, and junior athletes are encouraged to consider bicycle racing and TER. If you may be interested in launching or advancing your racing career, Team Evergreen Racing invites you to contact Racing Director Chris Harry about the possibilities TER holds. E-mail Chris at Racing@TeamEvergreen.org.