The Middle Park Pedalers from Left to Right: Wil Kuhns, Kimo Sullivan, Guy Granger, Wil Clevland, Mark Peters, Brendan Droll, Aaron Sanders, Cole Wetterson, Casey Myers, Darby Howard, Ella Wiser, Bethanne Droll

The Middle Park Pedalers from Left to Right: Wil Kuhns, Kimo Sullivan, Guy Granger, Wil Clevland, Mark Peters, Brendan Droll, Aaron Sanders, Cole Wetterson, Casey Myers,
Darby Howard, Ella Wiser, Bethanne Droll

The Middle Park Pedalers are a group of middle school through high school students who compete in the Colorado High School Cycling League.  The club is designed to engage teenagers in the sport of mountain biking.

The team consists of 20 local teens competing in 4 categories of varsity and junior varsity events and also includes a 6th through 8th grade development team.  Team members compete against themselves by working to improve their time at each race and celebrates individual and team efforts.   “ The Middle Park Pedalers goals are to instill the love of mountain biking in Grand County Youth,” explains Maire Sullivan.  Everyone gets to race, and team members are incredibly supportive of each other as we compete in spirit competitions during the race.   10th grader Kimo Sullivan, Maire’s son, placed 5th in the sophomore division at the Granby Ranch invitational this season, and the team placed 1st in the spirit competition.  Kimo is in his second year with the team.

Ben Koenig, head coach of the Middle Park Pedalers, “We have built a ton of momentum in our second year and we benefit from strong parental support, ” says Ben.  The Grand County Cycling Club is a large sponsor of The Middle Park Pedalers. According to Koenig, “Teamwork is at the core of the Middle Park Pedalers.” The Middle Park Pedalers placed 6th at the first race of the season in Frisco and 8th at the race in Steamboat Springs this season.  The team is looking forward to the state meet in Eagle at the end of the season.

Middle Park Pedalers Coach Ben Koenig

Middle Park Pedalers Coach Ben Koenig

Race fees are a significant cost to the team members and the team is looking to start a scholarship fund to help team members with race fees and gear.  The races are overseen by the Colorado High School Cycling league which is a member of the National Interscholastic Cycling Association.  These organizations are separate from the Colorado High School Sports Activities which govern most high school sports in the state.

If you are interested in volunteering as a ride leader for the team practices or contributing to their scholarship fund please contact Patty Finnigan at 970-531-7532.