COLORADO SPRINGS — The 4th annual Pikes Peak Apex mountain biking race finished on Sunday with a 31-mile long bike ride starting at America The Beautiful Park, through the Gold Camp Base Area, and down Captain Morgan's trail. Hundreds of racers from around the globe and Colorado finished the 3-day and 70+ mile event.
"It showcases all the local trails, which is pretty cool," said cyclist Alex Synder.
14-year-old Synder was talented enough at mountain biking that officials let him participate in the 15 to 23-year-old
age group for the race. He finished 1st overall for every race in the event.
"You don't get the chance to win a race very often, but when you do, it's awesome," Synder said contently.
The Apex race started on Friday, September 9th with an 11-mile loop at Palmer Park and continued in Woodland Park the next day. Organizers say the event has two main goals: exposing a diverse audience to Colorado Springs trails, while simultaneously raising money to restore those trails.
"When you think about destinations in Colorado to go ride mountain bikes, you don't necessarily think about Colorado Springs. We're trying to change that," said Pikes Peak Apex Executive Director Micah Rice.
"As a fundraiser for the Pikes Peak Outdoor Recreation Alliance and the trail stewardship fund, the money that we raise from this event actually is put back into the trail system here in the Pike's Peak region. So that all of us that live here around get to enjoy the trails," he continued.
Becky Lienweber, Executive Director of the PPORA, says the race has been able to donate to several projects in the area including Captain Morgan's trail, St. Mary's Falls trail, the Monument trail, and more.
"We're trying to improve them [trails] all the time because they need regular maintenance, we need to make sure there aren't hazards out there, and we want to make sure that generations can enjoy them for years to come," said Lienweber.
____
Watch KOAA News5 on your time, anytime with our free streaming app available for your Roku, FireTV, AppleTV and Android TV. Just search KOAA News5, download and start watching.
