Vermont’s very first household of mountain bike racing is putting the West on notice this summer.
It’s June 17 in Missoula, Montana, as well as Austin Beard of Middlesex, Vermont is gearing up for tomorrow’s race. The Missoula XC program is explained on the race site as “pure evil”—a 5K path developed for UCI-sanctioned, world Cup-style cross-country mountain bike racing: steep climbs, bermed corners as well as gaps.
“I’m psyched as well as excited however kinda scared, too,” states Austin, in a phone interview. “I’m not truly sure what it is: will I crash? What will happen? It’s all those things.”
Last November, at the finals for the Triple Crown Enduro series in new Hampshire’s Highland Bike Park, Austin had had a great race, protecting second general for the series. After the race, while doing a few “party runs” he took a jump as well as crashed, landing him in the hospital for three days with a lacerated spleen as well as concussion.
Since then, he’s gone on to race in the Sea Otter traditional —the California event that draws many of the nation’s top riders—and a root 66 race series opener as well as four Kenda cup east series races in Connecticut, Vermont, new Hampshire as well as Massachusets. In the next two months, he’ll contend in four races (2 of them are multi-day) across the country, from Missoula to Mammoth, sun Valley to Snowmass, including the USA Cycling national Championships. In total, he expects to do almost 20 events this year.
Traveling as well as racing together with him will be his similar twin brother, Carson, his father, Phil Beard as well as his mother, Kelly Ault.
Austin Beard is 12 as well as a half years old, an similar twin, as well as the “A” in the dirt P.A.C.K. —the name of the very first household of Vermont’s mountain bike racing scene has provided its team. As part of the Bicycle reveal Racing Team, based out of the Northfield bike shop, Bicycle Express, as well as a hold of gear as well as garments companies, the household has ended up being a routine fixture on the Eastern mountain bike race circuit, with all four contending in both cross-country as well as enduro style events.
“This is the only household with an operation of this level that I’ve seen on any type of racing circuit,” states Noah Tautfest, owner of Bicycle Express, their main sponsor as well as himself a expert racer who completed 12th at last year’s Canada Cup.
“What they’re doing this season is insane. They are all truly strong, they are truly passionate about the sport. And” he adds, “it’s the boys who are pushing the parents. They just can’t get sufficient of it.”
This past winter, on Thursday nights, as many as 15 Bicycle reveal Racing team members in addition to other road as well as mountain bike racers would gather at the Beard/Ault house in Middlesex to Camiseta Valencia do a round of indoor training, a who’s who of central Vermont feline 1 as well as pro racers. “The boys would be right there keeping up with us,” Tautfest recalls. “And then they would add in their own workouts.” After, Phil commonly cooked dinner for the whole crew.
Last winter, Austin composed on the household blog that he did “a Crossfit workout when a week as well as some nights I do 50 pushups as well as 150 mason twists.”
“They’re like mini world cup athletes,” Tautfest notes. “If you see [world champion] Nino Schurter doing something on his ‘Hunt for the Glory’ video, a few days later I’ll see Instagram shots of Austin as well as Carson doing it too.”
The twins’ drive, athleticism as well as training principles isn’t so surprising if you think about who their parents are.
“I’ve tried about 30 different sports, as well as for a long time I was truly into triathlons,” Kelly says. She raced the Lake Placid Ironman as well as then moved into XTERRA (off -road triathlons) where, in 2009 she was the Northeast regional champion in her age group.
Phil Beard had been a road racer, contending in the eco-friendly mountain stage Race at least ten times, however soon after the birth of their twin sons, the couple began costs more as well as more time riding mountain bikes. “I quite much hung up my running shoes,” Kelly says. This past year, the couple (both now 45) raced feline 1 in the USA Cycling national championships for both cross country as well as enduro. Kelly was very first in the Camiseta Sao Paulo FC cross country event in the 40-45 age group as well as third in the enduro event, while Phil was fifth in the enduro.
“One of my very first memories was cheering Camiseta Atletico Madrid my mom as well as dad on at races,” states Carson. He got on a bike at age 2.
Carson is sleight as well as lanky, with a tussle of dark hair, an upturned nose as well as a quiet, serious manner. His sibling looks so much like him it’s simple to mix them up. “I likewise keep in mind the time we got off training wheels,” Carson adds. “It was truly chilly as well as I didn’t want to do it however my sibling did so we both tried it.”
And it’s been that method quite munullnull