Saturday, Aug 6, 2016 10:51 AMUpdated Saturday, Aug. 6, 2016 11:16 AM
Devo built an Olympian
Howard Grotts got his start in competitive mountain biking riding area trails with Durango Devo. Ten years afterhe joined the Devo team, he is an Olympian.
Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
Howard Grotts, far right, got into mountain biking because of his father, Don, and big brother, Donnie. Courtesy of Debbie Williams
As he tried to keep up with his big brother Donnie, Howard Grotts started to shine on a mountain bike at a young age. Courtesy of Debbie Williams
With plenty of trails to ride in and around Durango, the Grotts boys were always riding their bikes. Courtesy of Debbie Williams
When Donnie Grotts, left, quit racing mountain bikes, he became Howard Grotts’ biggest fan. Courtesy of Debbie Williams
Howard Grotts, center, is used to racing against athletes older than him. He’s been doing it since he was a kid, and now he is an Olympian at the young age of 23. Courtesy of Debbie Williams
Howard Grotts has been working on his game-face for a long time. Courtesy of Debbie Williams
Howard Grotts was able to race in the hometown Iron Horse Bicycle Classic in 2012, and led race winner Yannick Eckmann down Coal Bank Pass. Jerry McBride/Durango Herald file
Iron Horse Bicycle Classic race director Gaige Sippy honored Howard Grotts at Carver Brewing Company in 2014. Durango Herald file
Howard Grotts stunned the elite field when he won a cross-country mountain bike national championship at Mammoth Mountain, California, in 2015. Courtesy of PB Creative
Durango’s Howard Grotts has consistently proven himself as the top-American mountain biker, and USA Cycling rewarded him as such by giving him the lone men’s mountain biking roster spot for the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Michal Cerveney/Specialized Racing
After continually climbing the UCI points standings, Durango’s Howard Grotts is Olympic-bound for the first time in his career. Michal Cerveney/Specialized Racing
Howard Grotts did it again by repeating as the cross country national champion in 2016. Courtesy of Specialized Racing
Durango’s Howard Grotts was so far out in front of Keegan Swenson that he could open his arms and celebrate a national championship sitting up in 2016 at Mammoth Mountain, California. Wil Matthews/Specialized Racing
Howard Grotts knows the trail around Fort Lewis College’s Rim Drive well. He’s been riding it since he could first stand on bike pedals. Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
Looking back on his childhood in Durango, Howard Grotts called it a perfect community for cycling. Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
Howard Grotts’ focus is never on wins or losses but more the experiences gained along the way. Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
When Howard Grotts races in Rio, he will have USA on his chest and Durango on his back. And Durango will have his back, too. Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
Howard Grotts, far right, got into mountain biking because of his father, Don, and big brother, Donnie. Courtesy of Debbie Williams
As he tried to keep up with his big brother Donnie, Howard Grotts started to shine on a mountain bike at a young age. Courtesy of Debbie Williams
With plenty of trails to ride in and around Durango, the Grotts boys were always riding their bikes. Courtesy of Debbie Williams
When Donnie Grotts, left, quit racing mountain bikes, he became Howard Grotts’ biggest fan. Courtesy of Debbie Williams
Howard Grotts, center, is used to racing against athletes older than him. He’s been doing it since he was a kid, and now he is an Olympian at the young age of 23. Courtesy of Debbie Williams
Howard Grotts has been working on his game-face for a long time. Courtesy of Debbie Williams
Howard Grotts was able to race in the hometown Iron Horse Bicycle Classic in 2012, and led race winner Yannick Eckmann down Coal Bank Pass. Jerry McBride/Durango Herald file
Iron Horse Bicycle Classic race director Gaige Sippy honored Howard Grotts at Carver Brewing Company in 2014. Durango Herald file
Howard Grotts stunned the elite field when he won a cross-country mountain bike national championship at Mammoth Mountain, California, in 2015. Courtesy of PB Creative
Durango’s Howard Grotts has consistently proven himself as the top-American mountain biker, and USA Cycling rewarded him as such by giving him the lone men’s mountain biking roster spot for the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Michal Cerveney/Specialized Racing
After continually climbing the UCI points standings, Durango’s Howard Grotts is Olympic-bound for the first time in his career. Michal Cerveney/Specialized Racing
Howard Grotts did it again by repeating as the cross country national champion in 2016. Courtesy of Specialized Racing
Durango’s Howard Grotts was so far out in front of Keegan Swenson that he could open his arms and celebrate a national championship sitting up in 2016 at Mammoth Mountain, California. Wil Matthews/Specialized Racing
Howard Grotts knows the trail around Fort Lewis College’s Rim Drive well. He’s been riding it since he could first stand on bike pedals. Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
Looking back on his childhood in Durango, Howard Grotts called it a perfect community for cycling. Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
Howard Grotts’ focus is never on wins or losses but more the experiences gained along the way. Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
When Howard Grotts races in Rio, he will have USA on his chest and Durango on his back. And Durango will have his back, too. Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
Durango Devo has given many children their first taste of cycling, and Olympian Howard Grotts was no different.
Grotts, 23, is the only American men’s mountain biker on the Olympic team for the cross-country race Aug. 21 in Rio de Janeiro. But it was only 10 years ago he was first learning how to race with the Durango Devo program.
“Devo was the biggest thing for actually getting into racing,” Grotts said. “They took us to local series races in Colorado and my first national championships my sophomore year of high school. My career kind of kept on going from there.”
Devo was established in 2006 by co-founders Chad Cheeney and Sarah Tescher. Grotts’ older brother Donnie was quick to join the program, and the younger Grotts was eager to get in on the action.
What made Devo enjoyable for Grotts was the programs focus on fun rather than competition results.
“Chad and Sarah, they created such a good environment for kids to ride bikes in,” Grotts said. “It wasn’t about getting a good result but about being part of a little group of friends just out there having fun.”
Grotts joined Devo as a 13-year-old and graduated to what was then known as Devo’s “Sweet Elite Team.”
“At a young age, Howard was special,” Tescher said. “Not because he was winning races at a young age, but just that he loved riding.”
When Grotts needed a better mountain bike to take to the national championships as a 15-year-old, Cheeney reached out to Durango mountain biking legend Ned Overend, who was a Specialized Factory Racing Team member and captain. Overend still works in the Specialized product development team.
Grotts has been with Specialized ever since.
“I noticed Howard doing his riding for Devo, and I think Chad Cheeney alerted me to the fact he needed better equipment,” Overend said. “A lot of different people help make Durango a special bike community. I’m part of it, Todd Wells is part of it, Fort Lewis is part of it, and Devo is a big part of it.”
Cheeney said Grotts wasn’t an instant star in the Devo program but kept working until he became an elite rider.
“It was a really gradual progression,” Cheeney said. “It was probably his second or third season on the team when he really stood out as a climber. Every time I went to nationals with him I got ready to stand at the finish line to see him raise his arms and win. We started to realize, ‘Oh my gosh, Howard is really this good.’”
Above all else, it was Grotts’ ability to adopt Devo’s philosophy of having fun before anything that has helped result in a trip to the Olympics at such an early stage of his career.
“Howard is a Devo poster child in that, while he is the fastest in the country, he also loves to ride, and that is a success in and of itself for Devo,” Tescher said.
Cheeney said he uses Grotts’ pure love of cycling as an example for younger kids getting involved in the sport.
“It’s hard to make things fun at a high level in any sport, and I often look around at other sports to see who is having fun out there,” Cheeney said. “It’s not common for the top guy to be that cool, humble and have that much fun all around. It’s kind of like LeBron James, and I’m super proud of Howard for that.”
