| ROUTT COUNTY RIDERS NEWS ~ April 2010
"We unite all bicyclists in Steamboat Springs and Routt County to create a fun, healthy and safe bicycle friendly community benefitting local citizens and visitors alike." |
NEWS JUST IN: 501c3 UPDATE
RCR is now recognized officially by the IRS as a 501c3 non-profit organization which opens up significant new opportunities for grant funding and tax deductible donations benefiting cycling causes in the community.
The effort to gain this status started over 14 months ago and was largely accomplished by the RCR Treasurer, Paul Strong. Great job Paul and everyone else involved! |
BOARD OF DIRECTORS UPDATE
The Routt County Riders has
appointed a Board of Directors consisting of nine members. Within the
Board is an Executive Committee consisting of: Robin Craigen,
President, Lisa Shafer, Vice President, Paul Strong, Treasurer, and
Scott Schlapkohl, Secretary.
Newly appointed to the board are:
Randy
Howie, Gretchen Sehler, Mel Stewart, Mike Loomis and Janet Hruby.
With the Board of Directors in place our goal is to adopt a more
formalized structure for the meetings in order to make things more
efficient. The Board encourages everyone to participate in the meetings,
but moving forward only the Board of Directors will vote. The Board
will be reviewing the by-laws over the next several weeks and making
recommendations for updates.
A board retreat is planned for the fall for more in-depth planning as we
look to 2011.
Other Board Member Updates:
Robin, RCR President, recently met with Brent Boyer, Editor of the
Steamboat Pilot to discuss a stronger relationship with the newspaper
which is very interested in the Bike Town, USA initiative. The paper is
very receptive to bike related news and event reports and is reviewing
the possibility of a trails report with info provided by RCR amongst
other things. |
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MULTI-MODAL ADVISORY BOARD
 This group had their first meeting this past month. The first item that the group discussed was putting together a quick education campaign as we quickly approach the biking season. They feel that this will cost the least amount of money while still working towards their goals. They have created a "share the road" sign that they hope to distribute as widely as possible. In coordination with the sign they have come up with four points that they would like to stress to cyclists: - Obey laws, signs and signals.
- Be visable and aware.
- Ride Friendly.
- Three feet to pass.
Their next step is to ask the commissioners for money to spend on
product to distribute the sign. The Multi-Modal Board will be at the
Spring Bike Fest to answer questions.
The following are the members:
Lisa Shafer -cycling
Steve Williams - South Routt resident
Derek Hodson - cycling business
Stuart Handloff - Steamboat springs resident
Bill Gay - Agriculture
Bill Baderacca - construction
Leslie Lovejoy- North Routt resident
Lisa Barbour- runner/ped
Mike Rossman- trucking
Frank Roitsch- West Routt resident
2 ex-officio: Paul Draper- RC R&B, Janet Hruby Steamboat springs Public Works. |
The Grants Committee is very excited to announce that Routt County Riders has been awarded to significant grants in the last few weeks!
The Safe Routes to School grant was awarded in the amount of $16,500. The money will go to create bike education programs in the elementary and middle schools at the Strawberry Park campus.
A $35,000 grant was awarded to Routt County Riders for the purpose of building the Moose Draw Agate Creek Trail on Emerald. Gretchen, Trails Committee Chair, will coordinate the efforts for building this trail with hopes of it being ridable by mid-summer!
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BICYCLE FRIENDLY BUSINESS (BFB) PROGRAM
The Board of Directors is seeking a Committee Chair for the Bicycle Friendly Business Program. The foundation for the program has been established, and they are looking for someone that can launch the program.
The BFB program helps business plan for how they might participate in cycling related events and help achieve community cycling goals at the same time. It also enables businesses to extend the reach of their support for cycling events or projects into a year-round message.
This will be a great opportunity for businesses to contribute to the many RCR events, support the cycling community and be recognized for the partnership. If you have a Bicycle Friendly Business get in touch about enrolling in the program. Volunteers are needed for this committee. Please contact Jackieif you are interested. |
The Rotary hosted this event on April 3rd and it proved to be a great success! As the beneficiary, Routt County Riders will receive $7500 cash for the purpose of building a new trail on Emerald Mountain in Zone 1 that was created following the land swap.
The Rotary also committed to donate their time volunteering to help build this trail. The trail building project will be managed by Routt County Riders and overseen by the BLM.
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ADAPTIVE COMMITTEE
Four or five adaptive mountain and road trikes will be at the Bike Fest, per the Denver adaptive cycling club contact, John Vcelka. Andy and Craig, Adaptive Committee Chairs, will be out of town, but STARS will set up booth and be present to answer questions with John and his friend AJ. The committee is excited for people to check out the adaptive equipment!
The 1st annual STARS Adaptive Cycling camp dates have been set for July 10 and 11. Five mountain trikes and up to ten road trikes will be brought up this year until STARS writes a grant of their own. The hope is that when STARS has their own bikes, they will offer adaptive riding on and off the mountain all year round. The Adaptive committee is looking for volunteers to help be guides for this group and offer any tech assistance. There has been interest from 3 RCR members so far.
The committee hopes to offer more adaptive riding as equipment gets added, but also want to open up all cycling events for all adaptive riders who have their own equipment as well. |
 DOWNHILL / FREE RIDERS / GRAVITY MOUNTAIN BIKING
Corey Prager, Freeride Committee Member, reported that there are bids being put together for a pump track in the area near Ski Time Square. An independent person would be funding this project and the track would be adopted under the City Parks and Rec. They are looking for a group to take charge of the maintenance for this area and Corey proposed that RCR be that group. Corey volunteered to head the effort for the summer. There will be no dollar amount cost to RCR. The Board of Directors were favorable to the idea, but asked Corey to provide further details on the agreement.
The Steamboat Gravity Team is hosting a fundraiser at the Community Center on Friday, May 7th at 8pm. They will be showing the "Follow Me" video premiere. All proceeds go to Routt County Riders and The Steamboat Gravity Team.
Follow Me: Anthill is a group of award winning artists who are constantly pushing visual and technical boundaries to create work that inspires a way of life. Born out of mountain biking, but influenced by all action sports, Anthill lives to play in BC's mountains, oceans & rivers. This lifestyle makes us who we are and shapes what we do. |
 ROUTT COUNTY RIDERS WEBSITE
The new RCR website has been developed and will be ready once the content is populated throughout the site. Randy Howie is the new head of this committee and is moving forward on this effort.
This new design will offer a content management system, which will allow quicker and easier updates to the website. New features will include an event calendar, photo gallery, RCR blog, improved online membership registration, committee updates and more! |
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BIKE TOWN USA TASK FORCE
The Bike Town USA Task Force met twice within the past month with one meeting being a five hour long session. Ryan Schutz, The Regional Director of IMBA, came to the last meeting and helped the group create a vision and mission. Ryan works on helping create bicycle focused communities and gave the group several ideas to move forward with becoming a biking destination. Ryan really sees the potential in Steamboat becoming "the next Whistler" in terms of cycling.
The next idea of the group is to create a giant master plan that includes the plans of the city, county, etc with the goal to have one plan that makes sense to everyone. They will eventually market this master plan with hopes to get more local businesses involved.
The initial objective of this Task Force was to bring community decision makers together to create a vision and purpose to move forward on the idea of developing the potential of Steamboat as a biking destination. This task force includes representatives from the City, County, BLM, Forest Service, Ski Area and Routt County Riders. Please contact RCR Executive Director, Jackie Brown, if you are interested providing input and she will pass the information along to the Task Force. |
STEAMBOAT RIDE - 4 -YELLOW
This event continues to grow momentum as the planning moves forward! This is the only Livestrong event in Colorado, so will be significant for our community. Registration is now live on the website at http://www.ride4yellow.com/info/registration/ The premier ride, from Dumont Lake along the Continental Divide and arriving at the ski area via Mountain View trails is limited to 200 riders and each rider must raise $500.
The most recent topic of discussion within the committee is an event jersey which is now moving forward, orders will be due by June 7th.
Please contact Committee Chair, David Nagel, if you are interested in serving on this committee. The event will be looking for a large number of volunteers - please let us know if you will be available.
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BIKE TO WORK WEEK
Save the date ~ June 21st - 25th, 2010
Lisa Shafer, Committee Chair, has begun work on this year's bike to work week. Plans are coming together for the following events:
Monday: Orange Peel/Spindle One Bike Tour on Emerald
Tuesday: Evening Road Ride Meeting at Orange Peel
Wednesday: Bike to Work Day. 7a-10a breakfast at the Courthouse lawn sponsored by Honey Stinger/Big Agnes.
Thursday: Ski and Bike Kare skills clinic
Friday: Ski Haus Poker Ride
Saturday: Bike Rally and Festival
There is a group also working on a bike to work corporate challenge and more details will be provided on this soon! |
2010 ROUTT COUNTY RIDERS JERSEY
The 2010 RCR Jersey has been submitted to Voler and is now in the processing stage. The new jersys will arrive the last week of April and will be available for sale at the Spring Bike Fest! The cost of a 2010-2011 jersey will be as follows:
Retail: $65.00
Bulk:
1-20: $50.00 each
21-50: $45.00 each
51+: $40.00 each
There are a few remaining 2008-2009 jerseys, which are now on sale for $35.00! Contact Scott if you are interested. Sizes available include: Men's M/XXL and Women's M/L/XL |
| MEMBERSHIP REPORT
The membership committee is currently researching the use of membership numbers and membership cards for the Club in order to help identify members and provide members with more incentives. Details to come!
There are currently 139 paid memberships for 2010. Memberships for 2009 are now expired and you can sign up for 2010 membership which is due buy June 1, 2010.
Routt County Riders is partnering with the Steamboat Winter Sports Club Youth Cycling program this year by offering each child that is a part of a family membership with Routt County Riders a $20 discount on their registration. Contact Ben Clark for details. Please contact Jackie to join or find out the status of your membership to RCR. Online registration is available on the Routt County Riders website. When you join you will receive a confirmation via e-mail.
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SPRING BIKE FESTIVAL (formally known as Bike Swap)
 Saturday, May 8th ~ 9:00am - 1:00pm
The event will be held at Olympian Hall and will feature new events and activities. Ideas include the bike swap, food, drinks, games for kids, bike safety, a bike shop expo, free-ride FYI, music and much more! Katie Lindquist, the Bike Swap Coordinator, has recruited several volunteers and the event should be better than ever!
The committee is now looking for volunteers to donate raffle/door prizes as well as a music provider and auctioneer. If you have any ideas please contact Katie. |
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STEAMBOAT TRAIL MAPPING
The demo program that the committee has been using to work on the map has now expired. The group will purchase the new software now that the club has its 501(c)3 status in order to receive the price discount. The map is planned and they plan to sell sponsorships for eight "rides." The rides will cost $300 each and these sponsorships will cover the cost of the map. They plan to have these ready for sale sometime in May and will sell them for $10.00 each. Contact Lisa if you are interested in sponsorship or have questions regarding the mapping committee.
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BICYCLE FRIENDLY COMMUNITY RENEWAL
The committee for the Bicycle Friendly Community renewal has been established and have been meeting regularly. This application is due in July of 2011. Committee Chair, Janet Hruby continues to make improvements to the application and has an intern starting soon with the City who will focus on preparation work for the renewal plan. |
YAMPA VALLEY CORE TRAIL CLOSURE
Notice from the City of Steamboat Springs
The City of Steamboat Springs Parks, Open Space and Recreational Services Department will be closing a section of the Yampa River Core Trail while trail construction is in progress. Beginning Wednesday, March 31, 2010 the soft surface trail from Weiss Drive to the Highway 40 underpass will be closed with barriers to all trail users while work begins to concrete this section of trail. All trail users should use Highway 40 as an alternative access around this section of closed trail. This trail closure is expected to last approximately 30 days.
FOR INFORMATION CONTACT: Craig Robinson (970) 879-4300 |
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LARRY JOHNSON SCHOLARSHIP FUND
The Larry Johnson Scholarship Fund started as a result of Larry's son Ethan who was a strong bike competitor that grew up in Steamboat. Larry thought that there should be some kind of fund to help give youth more opportunity to participate in competitive cycling. Larry's thought grew into a scholarship program within Routt County Riders and now the scholarships awards $2000 each year to local youth. The Board suggested that a funding committee be formed for decisions on the scholarship money moving forward. They hope to include local competitive cyclists as well as support youth in the Town Challenge program. |
Next RCR Meeting
Monday, May 3, 2010
5:30pm - 7:00pm
Bud Werner Memorial Library
Library Hall Meeting Room |
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