“So my wife, Dana, asked me if that was all I was going to ride that day…” Josh Cramer
- Trivia Started the night: Of note- The Tour de France is one of the most famous bicycle races in the world. Established in 1903, it is considered to be the biggest test of endurance out of all sports. & Dutch cyclist Fred Rompelberg pedaled in the slipstream of a dragster at 167.044 mph (that’s 268,831 km/h for Steve Wens and Stefaan), a record that still stands. While no clear winner stood-out, Max Cramer, Heidi Tryon and Tom McGrath all garnered a point more than the rest of us.
- Greg Sampson, el prez, spoke about ideas for following meetings; training, diet, goals and trip slide shows. Please feel free to share the cool things that you are doing on your bike with us in the following meetings!
- Belle Morris updated us on TAC. Currently 8 options have been created for the traffic issues facing Estes Park. CDOT wants the town to narrow down the options to 2 with a projected ground breaking of 2017 after studies and community input are completed and collected.
- Thad Eggen updated the group on the proposed Hermit Park multi-user trail. {If you have not done so, please take a moment to sign the letter requesting that Larimer County moves forward with the construction of this trail. Letter is located on our website.} In summary-Larimer County Open Space has essentially designed a great multi-user single track trail, yet has stalled in its development. Encouragement by us, and other bike clubs will help move this trail to a higher priority position.
- Joel Estes trail- Mark Theiss proposed a trail idea involving the BLM land around the area of where Fish Creek Road and Highway 34 intersect. If this trail where allowed to connect to Hermit Park, and this would involve permission from land owners and the BLM, we could have a trail from Estes Park to Pole Hill and Hermit Park. A great idea that will take some planning and discussing, but a trail most of us hadn’t thought of until now.
- Bike Park, proposed- The most exciting thing that night was the news that the bike park has been green lighted by the Recreation District. Thanks to the volunteer efforts of Todd Plummer, a perimeter trail around Stanley park has been proposed to be added to the bike park. Greg Farmer feels strongly that a GoCO grant, help from various groups in town such as Families for Estes and the Rotary would help make this dream a reality. Currently Kristen Hill and Stacy Ferree are working with Sarah Pita to put together a grant application. Randy Biddle has written a more detailed summary of the current status of the proposed bike park. If you did not receive a letter from him, please send Thad Eggen an email at thadeggen@gmail.com and he will forward it to you. Thank-you(s) to Randy Biddle for his efforts in developing a plan and location for the bike park, Todd Plummer for envisioning a bigger trail system, Greg Farmer for helping EPCC move the trail and park forward, Kristen Hill, Stacy Ferree and Sarah Pita who are all working on a GoCO grant and with the other organizations in town.
- Josh Cramer regaled us with his story of participating in a Festive 500 challenge. A festive 500 is a challenge to ride 500 kilometers (that’s 310 miles for everyone except Steve and Stefaan;) between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Day. Everyone laughed as Josh described riding Zach Zerh’s fat tire mountain bike- “its a two wheeled monster truck that wouldn’t let me ride faster than 8 mph; so I went back to my cross bike, in the snow, to do 16 mph” and being cajoled by his wife to get out and ride more, in the night at sub freezing temps around the lake. Josh’s biggest break-through came when he read about OR’s meteor mittens and promptly purchased a pair at the Mountain Shop. Empowered by the wonderful feeling of warm hands, Josh finished his festive 500 by riding 34 miles on New Years Day. Thanks Josh!
