'Next Lance Armstrong' completes 157-mile bike tour

Boulder boy, 7, youngest ever to finish Courage Classic


In many ways, Jared Scott is your typical second-grader. He jumps on trampolines, plays with friends and walks to school.

But at 7 years old, Jared has already completed what many adults never do in a lifetime. Two mini-triathlons. Two Bolder Boulder races. Oh, and a three-day, 157-mile bike tour through the Rocky Mountains.

Just more than a week ago, Jared became the youngest individual rider to complete the Courage Classic, a bike tour spanning from Leadville to Vail to Copper Mountain and back.

The brown-haired boy, who will be entering second grade at Foothill Elementary this fall, is what his mom calls “gutty.”

“He’s not tough; he’s just incredibly confident,” said his mother, Lara Scott.

Jared rode alongside his father, Peter Scott, 44, and neighbor Tom Mayer, 71, in the Courage Classic and caught the glances of hundreds of cyclists stunned to see such a young man competing.

“People would see Jared on the road and do double-takes,” Mayer said. “They’d say, ‘This is the next Lance Armstrong.’”

Jared spent nearly 20 hours in the saddle, burned 157 miles of bike rubber and climbed more than 27 miles of inclines — some in excess of 10 percent grades.

And although many riders dismounted their bikes to walk up steep switchbacks, Jared didn’t get off his bike once.

“He stayed in the saddle and pedaled the whole way,” said Mayer, who has participated in the race eight times.

And Jared did it all without the help of fancy sports gear. He wore regular tennis shoes and regular shorts and manned a six-gear mountain bike that weighed twice as much as his dad’s road bike, Mayer said.

Jared, who turned 7 in June, said “the big uphills” were the best part of the ride, and that “energy” kept him going the whole way.

He said “energy” has also propelled a slew of other accomplishments he’s already achieved in outdoor adventure sports.

At ages 5 and 6, Jared completed his first triathlons — mini versions including a 25-meter swim, a half-mile bike ride and 1/3-mile run — ran the Bolder Boulder without stopping, and started rock climbing.

Also at 6, he mastered skiing double-black diamonds in the winter and topping out 30-foot bouldering problems in the summer with his dad.

And this summer’s Courage Classic was the third year in a row Jared participated. In 2007, at age 5, he finished on a tag-along bike towed behind his dad. The following year, he completed part of the race by himself, totaling 35 miles on a one-speed cruiser bike.

“And this year we let him try the whole thing, but didn’t think he would do the whole thing,” Lara Scott said, her face full of pride.

Next year, Jared says, he wants to add the extra 100-mile detour option, called the “century” ride, to his agenda.

The Courage Classic, based in Copper Mountain, is a fundraising bike ride that benefits Children’s Hospital. About 2,000 riders participate each year.

Event officials confirmed Jared is the youngest individual rider on record to complete the tour.