{"id":2445424,"date":"2019-06-17T22:00:01","date_gmt":"2019-06-18T04:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/rocky-mountain-sandbox-up-in-leadville-locals-have-found-the-formula-for-the-perfect-brown-pow-for-dirt-bike-riders\/"},"modified":"2019-06-17T22:00:01","modified_gmt":"2019-06-18T04:00:01","slug":"rocky-mountain-sandbox-up-in-leadville-locals-have-found-the-formula-for-the-perfect-brown-pow-for-dirt-bike-riders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/rocky-mountain-sandbox-up-in-leadville-locals-have-found-the-formula-for-the-perfect-brown-pow-for-dirt-bike-riders\/","title":{"rendered":"Rocky Mountain sandbox: Up in 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, an early-summer sunset beginning 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, for all intents and purposes, both the caretakers and visionaries behind the Leadville Motocross Park. And ever since Jeff, a former pro mountain bike racer, kicked his mountain bike to the side eight years ago for the distinct \u201cbraap, braap\u201d engine sound, 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 who also owns a home in town \u2014 live out of their RV at the moto park each summer. From the RV, they \u2014 along with their trusty right-hand men such as Scott Collins, Nic Drago and \u201cWater Truck\u201d Tommy Whittaker \u2014 treat the quality of the dirt much like a terrain park crew perfects ski and snowboard jumps and trails at a Summit County Ski Resort.<\/p>\n

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

\u201c\u2018Brown pow,\u2019\u201d Kim said. \u201cThat\u2019s literally how they explain it.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s that \u201cbrown pow\u201d that the Kegus and Collins have cultivated at the Leadville Moto Park that has provided the newest chapter in a history and culture of loving 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,\u201d Kim said. \u201cIt\u2019s amazing how many people have dirt bikes that you don\u2019t realize have dirt bikes. When you get a dirt bike you realize how many of your neighbors have dirt bikes, and it\u2019s the majority.\u201d<\/p>\n

With that, Kim said there was a sense in the Leadville community that the town would benefit from a centralized motocross park-type location where community members could convene to ride in the park format rather than more single-track style, which also is bountiful around town. 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, a 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 at the park, Jeff began the process of making the park what it is today. First and most importantly, he worked with Collins to acquire what Collins dubs \u201cthe magic dust.\u201d It\u2019s sawdust from Collin\u2019s employer, Cutting Edge Cabinetry near Copper Mountain, that the company previously was just 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, 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.<\/p>\n

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 de-icing out of the bottom. Jeff said on a typically dry day it may take as many as three, 35-minute trips to and from town to fill and spread enough water to get the \u201cbrown pow\u201d to the exceptional \u201cloamy\u201d soft-riding standard that increasingly is making the park a desired destination for riders all across the state and country. Think about it as the dirt equivalent to blower pow out on the mountain in wintertime, as loam is a term used in mountain and dirt bike circles to describe a soft mixture for perfect forgiving-yet-grippy riding conditions that not only at times feels like landing on pillows, but also provides for ideal rutting later in a riding session.<\/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

The Kegus and Collins 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 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 altitude has its athletic advantages. But, more and more, they are \u201cfreaking out,\u201d as Kim put it, at the quality of Leadville\u2019s \u201cbrown pow.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kim \u2014 who Jeff refered to as the track mama \u2014 said season-pass memberships are up 900% since the track opened earlier this decade. Still, the Kegus and Collins 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 if the motopark crew is eager to see any riders come by more and more, it\u2019s Lake County\u2019s 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 near by. He wrangled them all over and told 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

aolivero@summitdaily.com<\/a><\/p>\n

via:: The Aspen Times<\/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":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2445424","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-19 05:33:44","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":"KSPN The Valley's Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2445424","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2445424"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2445424\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2445424"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2445424"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2445424"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}