{"id":2447803,"date":"2019-08-21T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-08-21T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/?p=311489"},"modified":"2019-08-21T07:00:00","modified_gmt":"2019-08-21T13:00:00","slug":"a-burgeoning-bike-scene","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/a-burgeoning-bike-scene\/","title":{"rendered":"A burgeoning bike scene"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"swift-gallery p402_hide\" readability=\"6.7627118644068\">\n<ul id=\"imageGallery-311489-182\" class=\"gallery list-unstyled\">\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/08\/biking-svs-082119-1-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/08\/biking-svs-082119-1.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Maddie Vincent | A racer descends out of the start line during the Snowmass Bike Park race series on Aug. 13.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-1.5\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"8\">\n<p><strong>A racer descends out of the start line during the Snowmass Bike Park race series on Aug. 13.<\/strong><br \/>Maddie Vincent<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/08\/biking-svs-082119-1.jpg\" alt=\"A racer descends out of the start line during the Snowmass Bike Park race series on Aug. 13.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/08\/biking-svs-082119-1-1-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/08\/biking-svs-082119-1-1.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Maddie Vincent | Dozens of bikers line up for the start of the Snowmass Bike Park race series on Aug. 13. It was the last of a six-race series held on Tuesdays from July to August.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-1.5\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"8\">\n<p><strong>Dozens of bikers line up for the start of the Snowmass Bike Park race series on Aug. 13. It was the last of a six-race series held on Tuesdays from July to August.<\/strong><br \/>Maddie Vincent<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/08\/biking-svs-082119-1-1.jpg\" alt=\"Dozens of bikers line up for the start of the Snowmass Bike Park race series on Aug. 13. It was the last of a six-race series held on Tuesdays from July to August.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/08\/biking-svs-082119-1-2-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/08\/biking-svs-082119-1-2.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"| A rider pedals in the Snowmass Bike Park on Aug. 13.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-2\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"7\">\n<p><strong>A rider pedals in the Snowmass Bike Park on Aug. 13.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/08\/biking-svs-082119-1-2.jpg\" alt=\"A rider pedals in the Snowmass Bike Park on Aug. 13.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/08\/biking-svs-082119-1-3-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/08\/biking-svs-082119-1-3.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"| Tyler Lindsay, an events and marketing manager for Skico, fist-bumps a racer on Aug. 13 at the start of the last competition in this year's Snowmass Bike Park race series. Lindsay has headed the series for the past two years, and hopes to see it continue to bring in more awesome riders moving forward.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"1\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"13\">\n<p><strong>Tyler Lindsay, an events and marketing manager for Skico, fist-bumps a racer on Aug. 13 at the start of the last competition in this year&#8217;s Snowmass Bike Park race series. Lindsay has headed the series for the past two years, and hopes to see it continue to bring in more awesome riders moving forward.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/08\/biking-svs-082119-1-3.jpg\" alt=\"Tyler Lindsay, an events and marketing manager for Skico, fist-bumps a racer on Aug. 13 at the start of the last competition in this year's Snowmass Bike Park race series. Lindsay has headed the series for the past two years, and hopes to see it continue to bring in more awesome riders moving forward.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/08\/biking-svs-082119-1-4-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/08\/biking-svs-082119-1-4.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"| From left, Lindsay, Will and Chris Halsey stand for a photo in the Snowmass Bike Park on Aug. 13.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-1\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"9\">\n<p><strong>From left, Lindsay, Will and Chris Halsey stand for a photo in the Snowmass Bike Park on Aug. 13.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/08\/biking-svs-082119-1-4.jpg\" alt=\"From left, Lindsay, Will and Chris Halsey stand for a photo in the Snowmass Bike Park on Aug. 13.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"caption-toggle\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/snowmass\/a-burgeoning-bike-scene\/#\" class=\"show-captions\">Show Captions<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/snowmass\/a-burgeoning-bike-scene\/#\" class=\"hide-captions\">Hide Captions<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText DropCap\">On a shaded section of the Verde trail just below Elk Camp, dozens of people covered head to toe in protective gear were lined up behind a start line with mountain bikes close to their sides.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">One by one, the riders were given the go ahead to mount and descend for the last Tuesday Snowmass Bike Park race series of the summer Aug. 13.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Tyler Lindsay, an events and marketing manager with Aspen Skiing Co., was signaling the starts, giving most riders a fist bump and words of encouragement as they pedaled off.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Lindsay has been leading the Snowmass Bike Park race series since it started last year, and grew up mountain biking in the Roaring Fork Valley \u2014 a sport he and other locals feel has transformed and grown immensely, especially in Snowmass, in recent years.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cI really think we\u2019re in the midst of a mountain biking revolution,\u201d said Lindsay, a Carbondale native. \u201cI grew up in the valley, and it took 20 years for there to be a new trail. Now there are five or six new trails created each year.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">In the Snowmass resort area alone, Lindsay said there will be at least four new mountain biking trails designated by the end of the summer, including two new bike park routes riders got a taste for during the race Aug. 13.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Lindsay said each week during this year\u2019s six-race summer series, 70 to 80 riders of all ages came out to compete in the Snowmass Bike Park from up and downvalley, which he feels highlights how diverse the area\u2019s mountain biking community is \u2014 and encourages that community to grow.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cA lot of people wanted a fun, local opportunity to compete,\u201d Lindsay said of the Snowmass Bike Park race series. \u201cIt\u2019s a really valuable way to build our community and show people that the community exists.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText Subhead\">Something for everyone<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Although the Tuesday night race series has quickly grown to become a summer mountain biking staple in Snowmass, it\u2019s not all the mountain has to offer.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Lindsay said part of what makes the local mountain biking community so diverse is the variety of trails in the Snowmass area.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cThere\u2019s such a diverse bike culture here, you can ride above the tree line on more rocky trails, or go down onto high desert trails where there are no rocks period,\u201d Lindsay said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The downhill and cross country trail options increased immensely over the past two years, which is when Skico was able to roughly double its trail mileage in the Snowmass resort area, according to Peter Santini, director of business services.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Currently, there are more than 19 miles of trails available to mountain bikers in the Snowmass Bike Park alone, and even more trails, new and old, in or near the Snowmass resort area.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Santini said since he began focusing his efforts on developing the summer programming Skico\u2019s Aspen-Snowmass mountains have to offer over five years ago, he\u2019s spent a lot of time working to expand the mountain biking trail system, especially the downhill routes.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cIt was something the valley really didn\u2019t have,\u201d Santini said of the lift-accessible mountain bike trails Skico has developed. \u201cOur valley had trails that existed, but the topography was challenging and people had to go uphill to reach them, so there was a big push to make trails more accessible.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The combination of lift-serviced cross country trails stretching east to west and downhill descents ensures there\u2019s something for everyone in Snowmass \u2014 and is benefiting more than just the people jumping on bikes.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">At Gene Taylor\u2019s Sports, one of Snowmass\u2019 first bike shops, some of the longtime employees reminisced on the days over 30 years ago when people were taking Schwin bikes with no suspensions on the Government Trail.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cThe trend is you don\u2019t have to be a diehard anymore to be a mountain biker,\u201d said Julie Schopper-Mele, a longtime employee with Gene Taylor\u2019s. \u201cIt used to just be hard-core athletes, but now moms and grandmas can go up and down the hill, too.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">In recent years, Schopper-Mele said there\u2019s been a huge increase in summer business at the shop with more bike rentals, sales of bike clothing and accessories, and bike maintenance. She sees this increase as a direct result of the wider variety of trails for all skill levels now available.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cWhat\u2019s the saying? If you build it, they will come,\u201d Schopper-Mele said. \u201cIt\u2019s a family event now and cool to see the kids riding with their parents who grew up biking, too.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">One of those kids is 5-year-old Will Halsey. As racers headed down the mountain Aug. 13 during the Tuesday downhill race series, Halsey and his parents, longtime mountain bikers Lindsay and Chris, rode as a family on the Verde trail.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Halsey had been riding throughout the Snowmass Bike Park since 7 a.m. that day, he said, first as part of summer camp, then just for fun with his parents. He said the bike park was his favorite place to ride.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cIt\u2019s my favorite place because it has my favorite bike trail,\u201d Halsey said, which he went on to identify as the Verde trail. His parents said he likes it for all of its berms and bridges.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cWe\u2019re definitely a biking family,\u201d Chris said, just before he, Lindsay and Will continued down the mountain on their evening ride.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">But although mountain biking in Snowmass has come a long way in regards to accessibility, people like Santini and Lindsay feel it still has a long way to go.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Santini hopes to continue expanding Snowmass\u2019 trail system and diversity of riders, Lindsay hopes to attract more awesome racers to the summer Snowmass Bike Park race series and both men expressed visions of working with groups like the Roaring Fork Mountain Bike Association and the town of Snowmass Village to make the area more of an all-encompassing mountain biking destination than it already is.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Rose Abello, director of Snowmass Tourism, said the town has been working to promote all of the mountain bike trails and clinic opportunities in Snowmass, but that the whole community\u2019s commitment to maintaining and promoting trails has been one of the main contributors to the sport\u2019s local success.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Like Santini and Lindsay, Abello feels there\u2019s potential for Snowmass Village to offer more for local and visiting mountain bikers, and acknowledged her commitment to helping turn that potential into reality.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cWe want to get to a place where our mountain biking is as renowned and world class as our winter sports,\u201d Abello said.<\/p>\n<p> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/snowmass\/a-burgeoning-bike-scene\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A racer descends out of the start line during the Snowmass Bike Park race series on Aug. 13.Maddie Vincent Dozens of bikers line up for the start of the Snowmass Bike Park race series on Aug. 13. It was the last of a six-race series held on Tuesdays from July to August.Maddie Vincent A rider [&hellip;]<\/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-2447803","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-25 10:58:48","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&#039;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\/2447803","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=2447803"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2447803\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2447803"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2447803"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2447803"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}