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Date: 8/21/2015
WEST SPRINGFIELD – It’s West Springfield Inc., the West Springfield Partnership for Education and the Colorado Ski and Snowboard Shop are teaming up to host a cycling event at Bear Hole Reservoir on Sept. 12.
The event offers two courses for riders, a casual course and an advanced course, though Roberta Page, president of It’s West Springfield, said both would require mountain bikes and helmets.
“There are some people who may have a more aggressive ability to participate, but for the casual kind of riders it will be on the roadways in Bear Hole,” Page said. “It’s sort of sand, gravel and that sort of thing, but the advanced course will be over hill and dale. It’s really for advanced cyclists.”
The Bear Hole Bicycle Event will serve as a fundraiser for both It’s West Springfield and the Partnership for Education, allowing both nonprofit organizations to provide programming for the town.
While the event has been months in the making, Page said she initially had planned for the ride to take place on the streets of West Springfield. At Mayor Ed Sullivan’s suggestion, the course was changed to Bear Hole Reservoir. This allows residents to support local organizations while exploring a unique asset.
“It’s really a way to showcase the Bear Hole Reservoir area as a passive recreation space so people will know about it … I think that Bear Hole is a gem that not many communities have,” Page said. “We’re very fortunate to have that in town. I think to feature that is exceptional, and it is a plus for us. A lot of people may not be aware of it, and that’s one of the goals for It’s West Springfield, to really showcase it.”
Page said registration and staging will take place at the West Springfield Middle School at 9 a.m. and the ride will begin at 10 a.m. from there. Though it begins at 10 a.m., Page said the event is not a race, and participants have until 2 p.m. to complete the course.
The ride will be moved to the following day in the event of heavy rain, but Page said if it is cloudy or misty, the show will go on. There will be free food and water for those attending, she said.
Though this is the inaugural cycling event, Page said the hope is to build on it for the future.
“I think it’s exciting because that’s what It’s West Springfield is all about, trying to showcase who were are, what we do, what we have in town, how people cooperatively and collaboratively work together to help people know what West Springfield is all about,” she said.
To register for the event, visit www.bikereg.com or call It’s West Springfield at 279-4567.