Cycling, Chi and Championing in Leadville

Summit Group Supports MBT

“We chose to donate to the Mineral Belt Loop nonprofit because it’s one of our favorite rides and we want to help the committee accomplish its goals of adding more loops and maintaining the long mining heritage of the Leadville area,” stated Bill Tracy with the No Name Bike Group (NNBG).

During a recent visit to Leadville’s Mineral Belt Trail (MBT) the group made a special stop at the Lime Lode Shelter where a plaque is now on display crediting numerous financial contributions to the popular trail which celebrated 20 years this past July 2020. The No Name group is now proudly listed among the donors with a growing donation amount of more than $400.

Started in 2012, this active group is mostly professional retirees who are either full or part-time Summit County residents. Their age range is 58-90 and they are from all over the country. Some 20-30 people ride 3 times a week.

Paul and Allison Hagen started the No Name Bike Group informally as a way to stay active as both were retired ski instructors and Over-the-Hill-Gang guides.

The No Name Bike Group of Summit County recently donated to the Mineral Belt Trail. It’s nice when cyclists give where they ride! Photo: Leadville Today.

“On Aug. 8 2012 when Paul was 79 he gave Marianne and I the job of coordinating the NNBG,” explained Dick Candelmo, the unofficial official coordinator of the No Name Boike Group. “Paul had guided us skiing with the Over the Hill Gang since 1998 and he was such a great guy we couldn’t say no to him. He continued to bike with the NNBG right up until he passed away a few years ago.  Allison is now 83 and still bikes up and down the mountains with the NNBG and she doesn’t use an E-Bike.”

Most members are also active in other sports, including Alpine and XC skiing, snowshoeing, hiking, Kayaking, pickleball, and volunteering. The NNBG is not a club or any kind of organized group.

“We’re just a group of friends who ride together,” explained Tracy.  The group rides Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from Mid June to September.

“We ride in Leadville about 6 times a season on the Mineral Belt Trail and around Turquoise Lake,” said Tracy adding that the group generally lunches at a local restaurant afterward. If that sounds like something you’d be interested in doing, meeting new friends for outdoors fun, then contact Dick & Marianne Candelmo at dm724candelmo@gmail.com.

Tai Chi Classes Start in Leadville

If you live in Leadville Today and are looking for an activity that moves at a slower pace, but provides many health benefits, then consider signing up for one of Elaine Waters’ upcoming Tai Chi classes. Two classes will be offered on Thursday evenings starting September 24 at Ray Of Light located at 201 West 6th Street in Leadville.

Elaine Waters practices and teaches Tai Chi in Leadville. New classes start soon.

Learn the art and movement of Tai Chi in a relaxed and supportive environment, from a longtime, local instructor. Tai Chi is both a moving meditation, as well as a sophisticated martial art.

Elaine Waters is certified to teach this famous lineage of tai chi by Master Wm C C Chen. She won an International Tai Chi Tournament doing Tai Chi Push Hands in Taiwan in 1990. In this system of tai chi, body mechanics allow for minimum movement to produce maximum effect.

Tai Chi can improve your skiing as the same alignment is used, pressuring on and off from hips to the feet. For more information, connect at Elaine Water’s website.

Community Champions Emergency Crews

Residents came together with local First Responders on Friday, September 11 to honor and remember the victims of 9-11-2001, as well as recognize Lake County’s emergency departments, agencies, and staff. Those bright-blue Colorado skies returned providing the perfect backdrop for the flags flying on Harrison Avenue as a few speeches were made to commemorate the historic event and supporters waved signs of #NeverForget and #LetsRoll, a reference to the final heroic moments of United Flight 93. It was a peaceful gathering that was only interrupted when an emergency call came in and several crews had to respond to the call-to-duty, another stark reminder of their importance and commitment to those living in Leadville Today.

Honoring First Responders

Making Snow Outta SNOW!

Talk about getting a head start. When a massive cold front hit Colorado on Tuesday, Sept. 8, it felt more like the beginning of winter than the tail end of summer. At 10,200 feet, Colorado Mountain College Leadville was primed for the campus’s ski area operations students to be the first to take advantage of plummeting temperatures – ideal for making snow.

From 2:30 p.m. through 7:30 the next morning, students worked alongside ski area ops faculty, firing up the college’s snow guns and experiencing what both day and nighttime snowmaking is all about.

“We were able to test our new equipment,” said Brian Rosser, CMC ski area operations associate professor. “Also, it was a great pre-season training exercise, before it really counts.”

Colorado Mountain College’s ski area operations program offers a range of certificates and degrees. Find out more at https://coloradomtn.edu.

On Sept. 8 in Leadville, it looked a whole lot more like winter than summer. At Colorado Mountain College’s Leadville campus, an early cold front gave ski area operations students the opportunity to make snow at the campus’s terrain park.