Bennett's first season a joy ride.

Byline: Chris Hansen The Register-Guard

After just one full season of competitive cycling, the road ahead looks wide open for Andrew Bennett.

The South Eugene High School freshman will be honored in Portland today as the Best All-Around Racer for 2007 in the 15-16 junior-men age group by the Oregon Bicycle Racing Association.

Bennett, 15, and the only junior on the Collins Cycle Shop team, tallied 1,283 points throughout the season to finish in fourth place overall for junior-men (ages 13-18), and first in his age group.

"It gives me confidence to know that I can do well," said Bennett, who competed in just four races before joining the Collins team last January, though he won one of those races and finished in second place twice. "It makes all those really long rides worth it, and all those rides in the rain worth it."

Bennett started out with a splash this year, winning his first race as a member of the Collin's team - the Cherry Pie Road Race in mid-February.

He competed in 29 races overall, won 13 and finished in the top five 25 times. He also record just two finishes out of the top 10, not including the one race he failed to finish due to a crash.

"The biggest thing is, to have this kind of success in your first real year is wonderful," Collins manager, Luke DeMoe, said. "I was a pretty successful rider my first year and I don't know if I finished in the top 10."

Bennett trains roughly 10-12 hours a week, not including his daily ride to school and back. He recently hired a coach who lives in Bend and who has Bennett on a regimented program.

"He was the little kid who would always come into the shop," said DeMoe, who was the one who initially put Bennett on the Collins development team. "He's a good kid. Very focused, determined."

Those virtues were on display this season. Bennett was the top downhill racer overall in the junior-men, and he finished second in the mountain bike standings.

"Mountain biking is my main focus," Bennett said. "It's the most fun. You have to use your bike as an extension of your body. It's more challenging."

However, to qualify for the best all-around award, a rider has to compete in at least four of the seven cycling disciplines - mountain biking, downhill, road racing, time trials, criterium, track and cyclecross. Bennett competed at least once in all but track.

"I know his primary interest is mountain biking," DeMoe said. "But he proved to be a very strong road racer. His body is talented and he has the ability to push himself more than a lot of people do."

DeMoe also said road racing is really the only place a rider can create a future in cycling.

"He's on the cusp of something great," DeMoe said. "With mountain biking, you can only go so far. But road racing is very popular. Andrew has a natural ability and a keen road sense. There is no limit for him."