PALISADE, Colo. (BRAIN) — BRAIN's Dealer Tour braved rain and even a bit of snow pedaling about 20 miles from Grand Junction to the small town of Palisade on Thursday, visiting the town's Rapid Creek Cycles & Sports.
While Palisade is best known now for its wineries and its peaches, the town could become one of the major mountain biking destinations in a few years, if the owners of Rapid Creek have any say in it.
The store is owned by Scott Winans and Rondo Buecheler. Buecheler was the founder of Over The Edge Sports in Fruita, Colorado, (where the Dealer Tour visited Wednesday) where he helped build the trails and biking community that made Fruita one of the most popular mountain bike destinations in the country. In Palisade, he has similar plans. The town already has several good trails, and the shop does a good business renting mountain bikes for the trails and e-bikes for winery tours. The shop also rents and sells paddleboards and other water sport gear.
The store's founders also are working hard to establish a new trail that would descend from the nearby Grand Mesa about 6,000 feet over 30 miles to downtown Palisade. The trail, which Winans compared to Moab's Whole Enchilada Trail and the Monarch Crest Trail near Salida, Colorado, would be a huge asset for the Grand Valley and a destination for many. Supporters are working with multiple agencies and land managers to build the trail. Winans (who is also MRP's vice president of engineering) said that trail builders might break ground as soon as May 2018. Construction will take about 18 months.
Watch for more on the Dealer Tour and the proposed new trails — called the Palisade Plunge — in the June 15 issue of Bicycle Retailer.
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We stopped in at the Chamberlin Cycling Center at Colorado Mesa University on our way to Palisade. CMU has had a collegiate cycling program since 1999, but it accelerated in 2009. Ed Chamberlin created the Cycling Center, a room with 12 Computrainers and two big screen TVs used by the student athletes. CMU also hosts community classes to help fund its collegiate cycling program. About 44 members make donation to the program as well. About 38 students are currently in the collegiate cycling program and the school estimates that will grow to 50 next year. -
Rapid Creek co-owners Scott Winans and Rondo Buecheler. Winans is president of COPMOBA, the local trail organization, which was inducted into the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame. -
In its short history, Rapid Creek has been in three locations on the same intersection in downtown Palisade. -
Rapid Creek Cycles & Sports has diversified income sources: bike sales, rentals, tours and water sports equipment. -
Rapid Creek Cycles & Sports has diversified income sources: bike sales, rentals, tours and water sports equipment. -
Local manufacturer MRP hosted a Dealer Tour reception Thursday for local retailers and other community members. -
Local manufacturer MRP hosted a Dealer Tour reception Thursday for local retailers and other community members.
