Less than two years after racing for the first time, local resident Thorin Howell has become one of the top sophomore mountain bike racers on the Colorado High School League circuit after winning three consecutive races.
The first of Howell’s wins came at the Frisco Bay Invitational in Frisco on Aug. 26, when he finished first in a sophomore division that included 132 riders. Howell’s time of 53:33.77 was more than a minute better than second-place finisher Zach Footer (54:40.98).
Howell’s next victory came at the Cloud City Challenge in Leadville on Sept. 9 when he finished two laps around a difficult course in a time of 55:58.21. The sophomore’s most recent victory came at the Chalk Creek Stampede in Nathrop, when he led a field of 132 racers with a time of 52:10.
“The races are pretty big, and I’ve gotten first in each one,” Howell said. “Going into that first one, I didn’t’ really know how I was going to do, and I ended up winning by like a minute or so. I took off from there.”
While Howell’s success has not been completely unexpected given his impressive performances in practice and his hard work over the summer, the home-schooled sophomore’s victories have been somewhat surprising in light of the fact that he began competing just last year.
A member of Cortez’s High Desert Devo mountain bike team, which includes several middle school riders, seven high school riders and several coaches, Howell practices several times per week throughout late summer and fall on tracks at Boggy Draw and Phil’s World.
“I ride all over the place, all the local places,” Howell said. “In the summer and fall, we do two hour practices two days a week. We practice at Phil’s World and Boggy Draw, and we do skills days at Parque de Vida.”
Although the High Desert Devo team is not affiliated with any high school, team members compete against several high school teams from around the state in the Colorado Division, which is open to school-affiliated and nonschool-affiliated riders.
Competitors are spread across four classifications, which include varsity, junior varsity, sophomore and freshman divisions. Varsity riders generally complete four laps around a 6-mile course, junior varsity riders complete three laps around the course, and sophomore and freshman riders complete two laps.
Each classification is divided into a north and south division, and riders accumulate points based on their placing. Howell, who is ranked No. 1 in the south division of the sophomore classification, will compete in a state championship competition in Durango on Oct. 20.
“I want to try to do as best as I can,” said Howell. “There are a lot of fast guys in the north division, so we’ll see how it goes.”
Although Howell still has two years left of riding at the high school level after this season, the sophomore is already looking ahead to compete in college.
In the meantime, he plans to continue rafting and fishing during the summer and will continue to work at the Kokopelli Bike and Board and practice with the High Desert Devo team.
“You don’t have to be a serious rider to get into it,” Howell said. The team is always accepting new riders, and it would be awesome if we could get more people into biking. (Mountain biking) is super fun and something that I will stick with for a very long time.”
