Twin Lakes – By now, just about everyone is familiar with the power of positive thinking. Cole Bangert has tapped into the speed.
Bangert, a 20-year-old downhill mountain bike racer from Twin Lakes, a tiny eastern-edge-of-Independence Pass hamlet, will realize his dream of competing in the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in New Zealand this month after turning the corner this summer as a pro speed merchant. The Morewood Cycles-sponsored racer is rapidly making a name for himself (and his South African bike sponsor) on the international circuit with a recent fourth-place finish in the U.S. National Championships, a sixth-place standing in the National Off-Road Bicycle Association (NORBA) series and two top-three finishes among Americans racing on the World Cup tour overseas.
“When I first saw the team roster on the Internet, I was like, ‘Sweet, I’m on there,”‘ Bangert said of the invitation to compete in his first world championship race in Rotorua, New Zealand, from Aug. 22-27. “But the next morning it really dawned on me. I started bouncing off the walls. It’s been a goal for mine for five years now, but I didn’t know how long it would take to make the elite team as a pro. I had no expectations of it being this soon.”
Bangert is one of 10 Colorado-based riders making the trek to the Southern Hemisphere, but is the lone Coloradan to qualify as a downhiller. Other local racers on the world championship roster include Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski of Boulder and Todd Wells of Durango (elite men’s cross country), Shonny Vanlandingham of Durango and Heather Irmiger of Boulder (elite women’s cross country), Sam Jurekovic of Colorado Springs and Colin Cares of Boulder (U23 men’s cross country), Chloe Forsman of Boulder (U23 women’s cross country) and Jessica Vogt of Boulder (elite women’s 4-Cross).
For the 5-foot-11, 175-pound Bangert, the opportunity to compete in the biggest arena in the sport (downhill has yet to achieve the Olympic status of its cross country cousin) fulfills an aspiration planted in his psyche since witnessing his first world championship downhill race in Vail in 2001.
“When I saw the downhill and (4-cross) races at the worlds in Vail I was like, ‘Oh, my gosh, I have to do this.’ I saw my passion,” Bangert said. “After that I just bothered my parents until they got me a downhill bike, and I’ve been racing every summer since then. The passion is still there for riding and racing every summer. To get to go all over the world and race down mountains, it’s pretty much a dream come true.”
But Bangert is doing more than merely taking in the scenery. His dedication to the sport included two months of training in Australia last winter with Moorewood teammate Mick Hannah and an intense cross-training regimen when the snow piled up too deep in his high-country home. The offseason training paid big dividends this season as his national ranking rocketed from the mid-30s to third among American pros racing in the NORBA series. There is one race remaining before the finale in Snowmass on Aug. 12-13.
“I was on my bike every day for two months in Australia, and that was a big factor. It wasn’t just riding, it was riding some of the gnarliest, scariest lines I’ve ever seen. That trip made a huge difference in how this racing season has gone. Things that used to be scary to me aren’t scary anymore because I’ve done bigger stuff,” Bangert said. “Every rider has an edge, a limit. Those riders who can ride as close to that edge as possible without crashing, those are the guys who win. My edge last year is probably a fast practice run for me this year. My edge has gotten that much faster.”
