{"id":25039,"date":"2019-06-07T20:24:01","date_gmt":"2019-06-08T02:24:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/news\/rocky-mountain-sandbox-leadville-locals-have-found-the-formula-for-the-perfect-brown-pow-for-dirt-bike-riders\/"},"modified":"2019-06-07T20:24:01","modified_gmt":"2019-06-08T02:24:01","slug":"rocky-mountain-sandbox-leadville-locals-have-found-the-formula-for-the-perfect-brown-pow-for-dirt-bike-riders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/local-news\/rocky-mountain-sandbox-leadville-locals-have-found-the-formula-for-the-perfect-brown-pow-for-dirt-bike-riders\/","title":{"rendered":"Rocky Mountain sandbox: Leadville locals have found the formula for the perfect \u2018brown pow\u2019 for dirt-bike riders"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
From left to right, caretaker Scott Collins, “track mama” Kim Kegu and track manager Jeff Kegu pose for a photo at the Leadville Motocross Park on Tuesday, June 4, in Leadville.<\/strong>
Hugh Carey \/ hcarey@summitdaily.com<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

LEADVILLE \u2014 If you drive just south of this tree-line town over 10,000 feet and turn left at a dirt road, the one with a sign for the local airport, be sure to hang another left at the first fork in the road. If you continue down that rocky road to a green gate, you\u2019ll find Jeff Kegu\u2019s Paul Bunyan-sized sandbox.<\/p>\n

\u201cJeff is able to have every little boy\u2019s dream,\u201d his wife, Kim, said Tuesday evening as an early summer sunset began to illuminate the state\u2019s highest point, Mount Elbert, in the distance. \u201cHe has this huge sandbox, and he\u2019s got real-life Tonka trucks that he gets to play with on this track.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd he gets to ride it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Kegus are both the caretakers and visionaries behind the Leadville Motocross Park. And ever since Jeff, a former pro mountain bike racer, kicked his mountain bike habit to the side eight years ago for the distinct \u201cbraap, braap\u201d engine sound of a dirt bike, he\u2019s devoted his life to manicuring a dirt-bike mecca unlike any other across the nation.<\/p>\n

Jeff has made it his life mission so much so that he and Kim \u2014 a couple that also owns a home in town \u2014 live out of their RV at the moto park each summer. Along with their trusty right-hand men Scott Collins, Nic Drago and \u201cWater Truck\u201d Tommy Whittaker, they treat the quality of the dirt much like a terrain park crew perfects jumps at a Summit County ski resort.<\/p>\n

When the crew completes its park prep work, even the dirt is referred to in skiing and snowboarding jargon.<\/p>\n

\u201cBrown pow,\u201d Kim said. \u201cThat\u2019s literally how they explain it.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s that brown pow that the Kegus and Scott have cultivated at the Leadville Moto Park that has provided the newest chapter in a history and culture of dirt-bike riding in Leadville. At the highest incorporated city in America, rules restricting the riding of dirt bikes are much more lax than most towns. Essentially, as long as you\u2019re not riding on a state highway or a main paved street, you\u2019re free to rev it.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople just ride them around, Kim said. \u201cIt\u2019s amazing, when you get a dirt bike, you realize how many of your neighbors have dirt bikes, and it\u2019s the majority.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kim said there was a sense about 10 years ago in the Leadville community that the town would benefit from a centralized motocross park, one where community members could convene to ride in a park format rather than more singletrack style. Then, about a year after the track opened, the Kegus became more and more involved. And when Jeff began considering getting knee deep in the dirt operation, local High Country friend Phil Stevens told him the track wouldn\u2019t be worth doing unless they did it right. And that meant shipping in dirt.<\/p>\n

After their county commissioner approved them parking their RV up at the park, Jeff began the process of making the park what it is today. First and most importantly, he worked with Scott to acquire what Scott dubs \u201cthe magic dust.\u201d It\u2019s sawdust from Scott\u2019s employer, Cutting Edge near Copper Mountain, that the company previously was taking to the landfill. Instead, every two weeks Scott and Jeff pack a trailer full of the dust before mixing it with sand purchased from a company down toward Buena Vista.<\/p>\n

When you combine the sawdust and sand with the site\u2019s natural dirt and clay, all tilled with a John Deere tractor and sifted through a dirt screener, Jeff said there\u2019s only one last ingredient to add to the secret formula: water. To do so, Jeff drives a 1981 former municipal magnesium-chloride truck all over the park\u2019s bumpy terrain. Jeff and Scott jerry-rigged the old truck, which holds 1,800 gallons, to spray water out of the driver\u2019s side rather than a salt-brine mix for deicing out of the bottom. On a typically dry day, Jeff said, it may take up to three 35-minute trips to and from town to fill and spread enough water to get the brown pow to the exceptional \u201cloamy\u201d soft-riding standard that increasingly is making the park a desired destination for riders across the state and country. Loam is a term used in mountain- and dirt-bike circles to describe perfect forgiving-yet-grippy riding conditions that not only feel like landing on pillows but also provide for ideal rutting later in a riding session. Think about it as the dirt equivalent to blower pow on the mountain in wintertime.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe deeper we get it, the better it is,\u201d said Jeff, who works by day for Waste Management in Silverthorne. \u201cIt\u2019s like a foot-or-two powder day on your snowboard.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kegus and Scott say the riding conditions have become so good that the track is now inverting what was historically the typical migratory pattern for the state\u2019s dirt-bike riders. Back in the old days, riders here in the mountains would drive down to the Front Range\u2019s flats to ride the state\u2019s best dirt. Now, there is an increasing number of Front Range riders making it a point to trek to above 10,000 feet, including female riders who come out each Tuesday during the summer for a weekly girls-ride night.<\/p>\n

The park also has attracted some of the nation\u2019s best riders, such as last Thursday when a few elite privateers trained in Leadville for the following weekend\u2019s AMA Motocross Nationals. For such high-quality riders, like any other sport, training at elevation has its athletic advantages. But more and more, they \u201cfreak out,\u201d as Kim said, at the feel of Leadville\u2019s \u201cbrown pow.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kim \u2014 who Jeff referred to as the \u201ctrack mama\u201d \u2014 said season-pass memberships are up 900% since the track opened earlier this decade. Still, the Kegus and Scott believe there is space to grow. Heck, they\u2019ve used enough excess dirt from the airport construction down the street to widen the park for plenty more riders. And looking ahead, if the moto park crew is hopeful to see any riders come by, it\u2019s more Lake County youngsters.<\/p>\n

Jeff recalled a day last summer when he brought the relic of a water truck into town to fill up. While there, he noticed a group of young kids riding in circles in a dirt lot nearby. He wrangled them over to tell them about what he has cooking up by the airport.<\/p>\n

He welcomed them to join him at his life\u2019s sand box for a different kind of Leadville lap.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe place is turning into what it is because it\u2019s managed by riders for riders,\u201d Jeff said after finishing his water truck duties for the day. \u201cAnd I think that has a lot to do with the quality of everything we are doing out here.\u201d<\/p>\n

via:: Summit Daily<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From left to right, caretaker Scott Collins, “track mama” Kim Kegu and track manager Jeff Kegu pose for a photo at the Leadville Motocross Park on Tuesday, June 4, in Leadville.Hugh Carey \/ hcarey@summitdaily.com LEADVILLE \u2014 If you drive just south of this tree-line town over 10,000 feet and turn left at a dirt road, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[97],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-25039","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-11 19:27:36","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KIFT - The LIFT FM","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25039","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25039"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25039\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25039"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25039"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25039"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}