Grass doesn’t grow beneath Ryan Keeler’s feet.

A 16-year-old junior at Fruita Monument High School, Keeler’s had a busy summer.

By the time high school golf practice begins next month, he will have played, by his estimation, 13 to 15 junior tournaments this summer.

That may be the least of his athletic endeavors. Since May, Keeler has been training to do a triathlon.

The results of that training will become evident Saturday when Keeler participates in the Fruita Sprint Triathlon at Highline Lake.

“What really intrigued me was my grandpa,” Keeler said. “He bikes up the (Colorado National) Monument every day.”

Richard Keeler, 71 years old, took up cycling a couple of years ago when running started taking too much of a toll on him.

Ryan, along with his father, Ford, joins Richard two or three times a week for bike rides on the monument.

Ryan ran track in the spring, competing primarily in sprinting and jumping events. His mother suggested in April that he consider doing his first triathlon.

“I’m up to doing a lot of challenges,” he said. “I said, ‘I’m up for it.’ ”

He began running three miles five times a week near his home on the Redlands, increasing his mileage after beginning a running regimen last year.

“For some reason it just hit me to start running a lot last summer,” he said.

With the miles he’s put in, he’s confident in his ability to handle the bike and running legs.

The 500-yard swim, however — “That’s going to be my toughest part,” he said.

Keeler has spent some time this summer swimming in a friend’s pool and planned to hit Highline Lake for a practice swim this week just to get a sense of the water temperature and swimming in a lake.

Fortunately, he said, his toughest leg comes first.

“I think if I get the swim out of the way, I’ll be OK,” he said, hoping he can make up time in the 12-mile bike leg and the three-mile run.

A top-10 or even a top-20 finish would be great, he said, but he’s not setting his expectations too high.

“My goal is to finish,” he said.

That’s a modest but realistic standard for his first triathlon.

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E-mail Kent Mincer at kmincer@gjds.com.