Nearly 50 competitive bicyclists turned out to open the 2011 Cortez bicycle motocross season on Monday evening at the remodeled Cortez BMX track.
The American Bicycle Association event went off under a rare 2011 May sunny sky and welcomed plenty of eager faces on the track and in the crowd.
We were really pleased with how things went. We had 49 riders there. Were really pleased with that number, Cortez BMX track operator Mark Baxter said. The track is in pretty good shape. Were feeling comfortable, and were ready to keep racing.
The Cortez BMX season runs until Monday, Sept. 26, and will have races every Monday and every other Saturday beginning June 4 at the Cortez BMX track.
There were 12 moto classes, and each class raced in five heats before the main races at the end. At least the top three in each class qualified for the main events. The moto classes ranged from age 6 to 30.
The following are the main moto class placers listed in their respective age classes in order from first place. Moto one, 26-30-cruiser, Ocean Rodd, Derek Fuller, Scott Schmidlin; moto two, 6-novice, Max Johnson, Aden Hood, Andrew Patterson; moto three, 7-novice, Kamri Willbanks, Amber Fuller, Laurissa Goben; moto four, 7-expert, Chase Moore, Levi Fuller, Sage Knuckles; moto five, 9-novice, David Stice, Taylor Ramage, Ethan Root, Casey McCarty; moto six, 9-intermediate, Gabe Frizzell, Colt Fury, Tyson Schmidlin; moto seven, 11-novice, Logan Fuller, Chris Bennett, Tyce Griffin, Cameron Fury; moto eight, 12-intermediate, Dylan Potts, Tyler Wilson, Taron Lard, Derek Fuller, Tyler Potts, Swayde Noyes; moto nine, 13-novice, Walker Baker, Cheyenne Tanner, Jalen Balderrama, Bryce Peterson, Tristen Boren; moto 10, 13-intermediate, Rodd, Mark Bennett, Landon Sanchez, Shae Emerson; moto 11, 14-intermediate, Walker Brown, Dylan Fuller, Rylan Huff, Bo Lard; moto 12, 15-intermediate, Cole Baxter, Chace Gallimore, Aaron McClain, Logan Willbanks, Tanner Wright, Jackson Vermeule and Rusher Ammon.
Cole Baxter is 14 and at the expert level, but he races in the 15-intermediate class because Cortez BMX does not have a 14-expert class.
However, that did not stop Cole Baxter from winning the 15-intermediate class.
Its pretty hard because Im all out of shape and stuff. But it felt pretty good, Cole Baxter said about his opening Cortez BMX season win.
Cole Baxter, Gallimore and Rodd will race in the ABA Spring Nationals in Albuquerque, N.M., on Friday through Sunday at Veloport Complex. The national race will host more than 1,000 professional and amateur competitive bike riders.
For more information about the Cortez BMX season, log on to www.cortezbmx.org.
Reach Bobby Abplanalp at bobbya@cortezjournal.com.