MONTROSE — It’s no secret that Ride the Rockies has grown more gray over the years, with the typical bicyclist in the week-long tour now pushing 50.
Helping to tug the average in the other direction, though, is the Simmerman family of Centennial. Bill and Renee’s two boys, Blake, 11, and Denver, 10, aren’t the youngest riders — that distinction goes to a 7-year-old — but they might be two of the youngest who aren’t pedaling from the rear seat of a parent’s tandem bike.
Both boys cover the miles on their own two wheels, with plenty of encouragement from Mom and Dad.
At a rest station Tuesday on Dallas Divide, the family recounted the previous day’s segment — the longest ride yet for either boy.
“I didn’t think I could do 77 miles,” said Blake, whose favorite parts are the climbs.
“I thought it would be harder,” said Denver, who prefers the flats.
Riding behind her younger son, Renee sometimes is part coach, saying “push, push” in rhythm to help him keep up a pedaling cadence. Other times, the mother in her takes over: She “sang him up the hill” on Monday, concocting silly lyrics and rhymes to keep Denver’s spirits from sagging.
This is Renee’s third Ride the Rockies but the first for the rest of the family. Bill said that besides being fun for the boys — who are active in hockey, soccer and taekwondo — a ride such as this “teaches lessons about setting goals and persevering. And we’ve been doing a lot of persevering the last couple of days.”
Monday’s leg took 11 hours, including breaks. Today brings another big test: 92 miles from Montrose to Crested Butte.
Of the four of them, only Renee has ridden that far.
The boys feel they’re ready. It’s a lot of miles, but Denver has reassuring words for himself: “There aren’t very many bad uphills.”
