COLORADO SPRINGS — “Biking’s cool in that you can like be solo, but you can also like ride on a team,” said Pikes Peak APEX racer, Keegan Hale.
He is a contender from the high school ranks who is taking on the three-day APEX race.
“It's a little daunting just because I've never ridden like that many consecutive days racing.”
Adding to the challenge is sharing the course with some pro racers.
“It'll be cool to test my skills against those because this year has been my most training that I've ever done,” said Hale.
Consistent training increases physical endurance and builds the mental toughness needed for this kind of racing.
Hale said, “As you're going down a rock garden, you have to like, look right, left, and literally everywhere, and then you ride the trail but it's all within milliseconds.”
The Air Academy High School senior is part of the KOAA News 5 sponsored team.
He rides a bike he built up from a frame that he worked to keep down to just 23.2 pounds.
A lightweight bike along with Hale’s admitted slender build can offer advantages on parts of the race course.
“I kind of find my happy place kind of in the hills and like climbing up steep stuff.”
He spends so much time on local trails he also has the advantage of knowing well most of the trails on the three race courses.
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