YOUR AD HERE »

Steamboat cyclists shine in regional races

A pair of Steamboat Springs High School mountain bike riders, Emi Cooper and Eliza Fox, raced on a four-girl team in May at the 12 Hours of Mesa Verda, placing second in their division. Mindy Mulliken, center, also raced in the event, with Karen Tremaine, placing second.
Courtesy

STEAMBOAT SPRINGS — Mindy Mulliken used to live in Gunnison, but she’d never taken the time to return to the area for one of its biggest mountain biking events, the Gunnison Growler.

When she finally did this year, racing last weekend, she seemed to find a friendly face at every rest stop, and she was catching up with one of those friends late in the race, in second place comfortably, or so she thought.

As soon as she was back on the trail, longtime friend and fellow Steamboat Springs rider Beck Edmiston was right on her back wheel. The pair raced each other for the finish line of the 64-mile race.



“I was foaming at the mouth trying to stay ahead of her,” Mulliken said. “We like to keep it fun, and it was fun to see her right on my tail.”

Mulliken pulled away late to finish second, behind Honey Stinger rider Liz Carrington.



The Growler result was one highlight from a big two weekends of riding for local athletes at several nearby events.

In Gunnison, Edmiston pushed strong to finish third in the women’s pro division. Helen Beall was second in the women’s 30-39 classification.

Miranda Schrock was fourth in the women’s half Growler and Britni Johnson fifth.

Peter Kalmes, meanwhile, was eighth in the men’s pro division.

The week prior, another big group of Steamboat Springs riders made the trip for the 12 Hours of Mesa Verde race.

There, a pair of local Steamboat Springs High School students laid out a great race, teaming with two other riding friends from the region placing second in the grommet girls division.

Emi Cooper and Eliza Fox helped guide their team to finish seven 17-mile laps in the 12 hours.

“I raced the first lap and Emi was right by my side,” said Mulliken, who helps coach the local high school mountain bike team and helped facilitate the team traveling for the race. “It was pretty awesome to see how well they did.”

Mulliken teamed up with Karen Tremaine to place second in the women’s duo division with eight laps. Amy Charity and Hadley Nylen were fifth at seven laps.

Alex Pond had a great race, placing third in the men’s solo division. Edmiston was swift, as well, finishing fourth in the women’s solo race. Rob Peterson placed 37th in the solo men’s division.

To reach Joel Reichenberger, call 970-871-4253, email jreichenberger@SteamboatToday.com or follow him on Twitter @JReich9.


Support Local Journalism

Support Local Journalism

Readers around Steamboat and Routt County make the Steamboat Pilot & Today’s work possible. Your financial contribution supports our efforts to deliver quality, locally relevant journalism.

Now more than ever, your support is critical to help us keep our community informed about the evolving coronavirus pandemic and the impact it is having locally. Every contribution, however large or small, will make a difference.

Each donation will be used exclusively for the development and creation of increased news coverage.