Wow! I sincerely thank all of the people and many entities that came together to make last weekend’s Colorado Cycling League State Championship Race happen. The town of Eagle rolled out the red carpet for 479 high school racers, 39 teams, over 100 volunteers, and families who traveled to Eagle from Colorado and Wyoming. The energy at the race was electric and the feedback on the course and venue was incredibly positive!
The extraordinary partnerships that occurred from this community over the past 18 months allowed this event to take place and resulted in a fantastic finale to the 2013 season! I have looked for race venue in the Vail Valley for since 2009. I have spent many hours looking at various options in consultation with several community members, and nothing was quite right until the fall of 2012. It was the vision and hard work of the town’s Board of Trustees, Mayor Yuri Kostick, Open Space Coordinator John Staight, and Marketing and Events Coordinator Amy Cassidy that brought this event to the area. This incredible foresight combined with the Haymeadow landowners’ willingness to grant an easement to the property made this dream a reality and Eagle the best choice for our state championship weekend.
The expertise and countless hours of Momentum Trail Concepts, the Hardscrabble Trails Coalition, Town of Eagle Open Space, Public Works, local police, and fire departments greatly contributed to making the Haymaker Trail into a smooth, fun and challenging place for the championships, not to mention a gem of a trail for the community and guests to ride in the future. Big thanks to the Haymeadow landowners and John Purchase for allowing access to their property for event parking. Lastly, a giant thanks to Eagle’s residents and business community for the warm welcome and hospitality that was extended to our racers, their families and our staff.
This level of effort and collaboration is unprecedented in the history of the Colorado League series and clearly demonstrates the willingness of people in Eagle to embrace mountain biking and family friendly recreational opportunities. I trust that other communities will take notice and follow in Eagle’s footsteps. Congratulations for setting a high standard on how a community works together to bring our events to an area. No doubt you will see many visitors return to this mountain biking hub and we look forward to seeing you in 2014!
Bravo, Eagle! You nailed it.
Kate Rau
Director, Colorado High School Cycling League