by Buddy Ramstetter, CBTRA President
Over the years, the Colorado 500’s annual visit to Crested Butte has brought mixed opinions from Gunnison Valley dirt bikers. Seeing 300 dirt bikers roll through (that’s a noticeable number in a town the size of Crested Butte), on what you usually tend to feel are “your” trails, can be a bit alarming if you aren’t aware that they’re coming.
What’s this all about? Why are these guys here, you ask yourself? Oh yeah, it’s the 500. Why do they have to come here again? Who thinks it’s okay that there are suddenly throngs of motorcycles all on our trails and all over town?
Those are really good questions that are worth looking at and answering. Sure, there are the aspects of the Colorado 500 that locals know about, such as its donations to local charities over the years. We’ve heard a bunch about that and don’t seem to pay attention to it anymore. But have you ever stopped to consider how the Colorado 500 has benefited your riding over the years? Take a few minutes and consider some of the following . . .
Charity & Donations
First, we’ll touch on what you already know. You see a group of 300 riders passing through town, and on the surface, that is all you see. But what’s easy to forget is that the Colorado 500 isn’t just about an epic ride across the motorized trails of southern Colorado that we know and take for granted. It's about the charities that the Colorado 500 supports that are the most important to us. The ride, in itself, is an opportunity for the Colorado 500 members to get out and support those charities. You could basically call it a week of fund raising for the various charities.
Who are those charities? If you were to visit one of the Colorado 500 presentations, you would see money get donated to the Crested Butte Search and Rescue, the local Crested Butte schools, the Crested Butte Mountain Bike Association and Crested Butte Trail Riders Association. Colorado 500 donations have allowed these organizations to further their operations, purchase essential, and in some cases, specialized equipment to provide enhanced services to the community over the years. And Crested Butte isn’t the only stop-off-for-donation location on the Colorado 500 ride. Similar generosity occurs to other worthy causes in the communities that the Colorado 500 visits.
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