Mark Luttik grew up in the Netherlands, earned his skiing chops in the Swiss Alps, and then, when life happened to him, drifted away from it for 17 years.Move over, Flying Tomato. The Mohawk Militia is headed for the Olympics.
At least, that’s the dream of 14-year-old Copsey Bogle of Convoy, Ohio. For the time being, Bogle, who sports a blue brush mohawk atop his racing helmet, is riding in intermediate races at the Franke Park BMX track.
And winning them, almost 20 victories in only two years, just a few short of moving up to the expert class. And then, who knows how far he’ll climb up the ladder, maybe to London for the 2012 Olympics.
The Franke Park BMX track attracts about 25 to 40 racers on a typical Saturday, said Amy Thompson, who, with her husband Jason, is track director. The track is run and maintained by a platoon of nine volunteers, assisted by numerous parents. The age range is from 4 through adults, with the racer divided by experience. The six-month season began in May and runs through the end of September.
Thompson’s three sons race, as does her husband. She tried one lap herself and decided she was better off in the front office, registering racers and running the concession stand.
Bogle has been riding since he was 2, and was growing bored of riding in the streets when a friend brought him to the Franke Park track two years ago and The Mohawk Militia was hooked. His only setback came last year when he got too much air on a jump and wound up in a pile underneath his bike, resulting in bruised ribs and a dislocated shoulder.
His mother, Paula Bogle, is an LPN and she’s OK with the risks involved with the competition. Her daughter, Kaygen, 6, has been racing for two years, zipping around the track in her pink riding togs. She’s still waiting for a cool nickname.
