By CHARLENE PAUL
Moapa Valley Progress
Fifteen-year-old CJ Anderson recently moved to Moapa Valley from Las Vegas. He is now a sophomore at Moapa Valley High School where he had hoped to play football. But that was not to be.
“I messed up my shoulder, so football is a no,” he said.
But that didn’t keep him from competing in downhill mountain biking. He started the sport when a friend gave CJ his old bike.
“I really liked it and just kept going,” he said. “My first race was in February 2018. It was the Bootleg Canyon Race in Boulder City. I was in a slower category, but I took first place. So, that’s pretty good.”
He is hoping to move from Category 1 to Category 2 so that he can compete in faster races. But his present category has kept him plenty busy.
“I have been to Sea Otter in Monterey, Calif. and Snow Summit in Big Bear Lake, Calif.,” he said. “Two weeks ago, I came in number 12 out of 31 competitors from all over the nation.”
CJ explained that mountain biking is growing as more people figure out how much they like it.
He talked about local efforts to create more mountain biking trails in the Moapa Valley. One of the main advocates for providing those trails is locally-owned bicycle rental company Bike Access.
“Don Whipple (Bike Access co-owner) rents bikes and is working hard to get more trails in the area,” Anderson said. “You can rent a bike from him and start training to get more endurance.”
CJ’s mom frankly was not thrilled when he began competing in downhill mountain biking.
“She doesn’t like it too much,” CJ said. “She was pretty worried, but now she’s pretty happy. My dad wasn’t as worried as Mom. He likes it.”
Anderson is in the off-season right now and working toward the Bootleg Canyon season that begins in February.
“I would kind of like to see a group get started out here,” Anderson said. “We could maybe start a ride day and go from there.”
After he graduates from high school, CJ said he would like nothing more than to pick up a bike sponsor and race professionally for a team.
“The University of Nevada Reno has a team as well as Colorado; Canada also has a team,” Anderson said. “I am also interested in law enforcement or in being a firefighter.”
