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If you were one of the 36 bicyclists who finished behind Blake
Caldwell in the 7 September Up-the-Hill Races, you were in good
company. Some of the nation's top young bike racers also are
losing to Blake, who has captured ten junior national
championships and is beginning to set his sights on professional
competition. "I like the excitement of racing. There's always more
to do," he says. "It's a constant challenge to do well and move up
to different categories."Blake, 17, works part time as a student assistant with the computer networking group in SCD. (His mother, Ginger Caldwell, is also in SCD.) He graduated last year from Fairview High School in Boulder, and he takes classes at Red Rocks Community College. But Blake's main passion is bike racing. After setting a time trial record last year for junior men 16 and under, he won this year's national time trials in Gainesville, Florida for the 17 to 18 age category. Now, he is venturing into international competition, taking part in the 10–14 October junior world championships in Lisbon. "I'm really looking forward to it," he says. "It's going to be pretty tough. I'd like a medal, but we'll see."
Blake started racing at the age of 7, encouraged by his father, Mac, who began entering races in the master's group at age 40. His goal upon turning 18 is to compete as an elite amateur in Europe as well as the United States. Eventually, he'd like to race professionally. But Blake still feels challenged by the hill leading up to the mesa. This year marked his second consecutive first-place finish in the venerable Up-the-Hill event, but stiff head winds held his winning time to 5:19—20 seconds shy of his 4:59 time last year. "It's definitely one of the tougher hills," he says, adding: "It's a fun race." (Photo by Carlye Calvin)
Unless otherwise noted all images are copyrighted by the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research / National Center for Atmospheric Research / National Science Foundation.
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