Olympic hopeful Huck Kurinsky knows bikes. The 9-year-old Bay Village, Ohio (suburban Cleveland) resident has owned 16 of them and – as the global youth ambassador for Dayton, Ohio-based Huffy Bikes – he has been able to give away dozens more.
Huck started cycling at age 3 and was “tricking” by age 5, according to his parents, Keir and Jennifer Kurinsky. He is the reigning USA BMX Freestyle National Champion in the Men’s 8 and Under Division and hopes to win for a third consecutive year when he levels up to the Men’s 9-10 Division.
“If I win the (next) national championship, I’ll have three-in-a-row wins,” Huck gushed. “I’ll be the only kid to get that!”
“Huck is high spirited,” explained his mom. “He has to get his jiggles out. … He’s got a lot of energy to burn.” He especially needed an outlet during the COVID-19 pandemic, as did the rest of the family. At the suggestion of a neighbor, the Kurinskys got a family membership at Ray’s Indoor Bike Park in Cleveland, where Huck (and his bike) soared. At Ray’s, Huck quickly developed remarkable skills and became the youngest person to successfully land a backflip on a BMX bike.
Probably the biggest thrill for Huck has been riding with two Olympians he met at Ray’s, Nick Bruce and Marcus Christopher. This year, Huck watched some of the Summer Olympics events from the BMX Freestyle Olympic Development Academy in Woodward, Pennsylvania, where the USA Cycling National Championships are held. He was participating in a BMX (bicycle motocross) training camp, along with his dad. Huck’s parents estimate that Huck has participated in well over 30 competitions around the country over the past three years.
“My flip is probably the easiest trick,” Huck claimed. “My hardest trick that I can do right now is probably a truck driver. It’s a tail whip (in-air spin) where you whip your whole bike around you and it’s on a quarter pipe.” He’s also teaching himself double backflips.
The escalating BMX fun and learning unfortunately coincided with a very difficult time for the family. Jennifer’s mother, Susan Altoff – who had recently moved to Cleveland from Toledo to help care for Huck while he was attending preschool partial days – was diagnosed with glioblastoma, a highly aggressive brain tumor. Huck had become especially close to his grandmother, whom he fondly referred to as “Gammy.” His older sister, Ada, was in elementary school all day so Huck and Gammy spent a lot of one-on-one time together.
“Huck was her boy,” Jennifer reminisced. “They really bonded.” Gammy died two years after her cancer diagnosis and missed seeing Huck become a BMX champion. Still, the whole family feels blessed that they could accompany Gammy to Cleveland Clinic for her treatments and doctors’ appointments. They spent considerably more time together because of the dynamics the pandemic brought about. They have good memories of the care Gammy received at Cleveland Clinic and the friends they made there.
After her mother’s passing, Jennifer dragged out an old photo album and showed Huck a photo of her as a child. She was riding a Huffy – just like Huck. That’s when Jennifer, Keir and Huck hatched the idea to approach Huffy about sponsorship opportunities. Keir helped Huck write a letter to Bob Stomel, Huffy’s
then-director of sales and a renowned bicycling enthusiast, who was impressed with Huck and put things in motion for him at Huffy. Sadly, not too much later, Bob died from pancreatic cancer.
When Huck rode in the Bay Village Trike & Bike last year, he rode for Gammy, but he also rode for Bob. In fact, Huck covered his own name with Bob’s on the personalized Huffy jersey he wore at the event.
Trike & Bike benefiting VeloSano is a series of community-organized bike rides for children throughout Northeast Ohio. Every dollar raised supports pediatric cancer research at Cleveland Clinic Children’s.
Huck looks forward to riding again in the Bay Village Trike & Bike on October 4 – maybe even with fellow tricksters Nick and Marcus. But he says this year, he wants to raise more money for cancer research and personally attend as many Trike & Bike events as he can. He says it makes him feel good to help people and to honor Bob Stomel and Gamma in this way.
To any newcomers to the sport, Huck’s advice always is to “never give up.”
Upcoming Trike & Bike Events
Solon – Sunday, August 25
Medina County – Friday, September 13
Hudson – Saturday, September 14
Ohio City – Saturday, September 14
Chagrin Falls – Sunday, September 22
Rocky River – Sunday, September 29
Bay Village – Friday, October 4
100% For The Cure
