bike Archives - Colorado Central Magazine

Along for the Ride

July 1, 2020 by Mike Rosso

By John Cameron When your legs burn, but you are not there yet, you have to keep pedaling. The thought comes at the end of yet another day of biking with Salida in the distance settled down in the valley bottom. A new style of bicycling is emerging and the Arkansas Valley is at the …

The Rusty Lung: Salida’s Newest Trail

October 2, 2017October 1, 2017 by Mike Rosso

By Mike Rosso

Since 2006, a group of volunteers named Salida Mountain Trails (SMT) have been steadily increasing the number and quality of non-motorized, multi-use trails in the Salida vicinity.

*Margaret Knight on the new Rusty Lung Trail near Salida. Photo by Ben Knight, feltsoulmedia.com*

The latest addition to the extensive trail system harkens back to the early days of mountain biking in the area. Back in the 1980s, mountain biking was beginning to be taken up by more and more riders. It offered an off-road, nature-based experience. Two early Salida pioneers of the sport, Don McClung and the late Mike Rust, developed a loop trail on the backside of Tenderfoot Mountain on Bureau of Land Management property. It was steep, rocky and challenging, especially in the pre-suspension days of the ‘80s, and named The Sunset Trail by another early Salida mountain biker, Jack Chivvis.

McClung, a bike designer and builder, began riding what he called “a faint animal game trail,” in a 1988 Mountain Mail story about the mountain biking opportunities which were opening up back then. Unfortunately, the original trail disappeared in private property and was eventually abandoned as new, legal trails began popping up.

A Technical History of the Two-Wheeler

October 15, 2012August 1, 2012 by Mike Rosso

By Eric Sampson

Since we here in Central Colorado have been singled out as a bicycle mecca, we thought we’d take a closer look at this enigmatic machine. First, consider what life may have been like at the dawn of the 19th century. Most in the community lived and worked on local farms, some distance from the town center. For community events, folks would come to town by horse. After trading for some staples, a meal and perhaps a nip of apple wine, some sport could be had by racing horses around the square. A little money would change hands, along with the entertainment, and the social machinery was oiled for another day. As towns grew, and the square shrank the horse, fine fellow that he is, could become a nuisance – hard to house break, and quite willing to share his flies. Best to leave him at the livery stable.

For the Love of Single-Speeds

March 12, 2012August 1, 2011 by Mike Rosso

By Mike Rosso

“One gear bikes have two speeds: riding and pushing.” – Anonymous

I remember clearly my first bike. It had one gear. If you needed to climb a hill or gain momentum you stood up and pumped hard. Downhill you wound it out to the maximum RPM, slamming back hard on the pedals to bring it to a screeching halt. No hand brakes, no derailleur, no multiple gears – very reliable except for the occasional flat tire or broken chain. But who could resist the lure of multiple gears? The decisive click of a three-speed grip shifter found on the typical English commuter bike? The sudden ease of climbing hills? I then became smitten with the five-speed in-line stick shift on the gold Schwinn Stingray I was astonished to find on Christmas morning one year (thanks again Mom and Dad). Sure, the Stingray was kind of a ridiculous contraption; the banana seat, sissy bar, high-rise handlebars – but that cool shifter! Man, you could do some serious climbing and get some great speed, all the while imagining myself another Mario Andretti.