Boulder Valmont Bike Park!

Boulder's Valmont Bike Park is finally almost to fruition but they need more help. Buy a brick or donate time or money to this amazing municipal project.

Bobby Noyes, Pete Webber, and Chris Grealish have been instrumental in this happening. They've been working on this for over 10 years. Here's aht Rocky Mounts' Bobby Noyes has to say about the project, regarding an email that Pete Webber had sent out:

On Aug 7, 2008, at 9:06 PM, "Bobby Noyes" wrote:

Pete's email hit the nail on the head, but we need to make the community more aware of some of the history. Valmont has been in the works for a long time.....

It all started out in 1996 when Chris Grealish, Lou Patterson and I got together. The city had just purchased Valmont, and had a public input meeting to decide the future of the park. We decided to do a mailing to every licensed bike racer in the city of Boulder. We sent out 500 letters (pre-internet), and at the first meeting, there were 68 citizens present, 65 of which were riders like us. From this point, the project took on a life of its own. Chris and I had about $18 between us (no joke), and Lou Patterson from Pearl Izumi offered to pay the postage, it's good to have friends. At this meeting, I met Pete and he showed similar conviction.

Besides the obvious benefits to us, the users of the park and the next generation, we have an opportunity to pay Pete Webber and Chris Grealish back for their years of tireless work.

Pete has worked for IMBA for years, putting together the world's best trails for us to ride. Boulder is Pete's backyard, and he wants to implement these in our community. The canvas is blank, he is totally fired up to get to work, and we need to let him paint his picture. I don't know if he is more excited to design the place, or put the screws to guys half his age, history will answer that.

Chris Grealish is a rock star, setting up courses, hanging banners, marshalling corners, sporting the orange vest, and dealing with various agencies in the name of hosting bike races (all under marginal and temporary conditions). Valmont will be Chris's dream, a permanent cyclocross facility, befitting the finest events in the world. One day at Valmont, Chris will be handing a rainbow jersey to a guy like Verveken or Nys, and I will be in the crowd with a big smile on my face.

Bobby