A TRAIL ADVOCATE PUSHES THE PEDALS
KEITH SANDERS AND THE EMERGENCE OF THE FRASER VALLEY MOUNTAIN BIKE SCENE
By Cyril Vidergar / Photo by Carter Photographics / Race Photos Courtesy of Keith Sanders

Keith Sanders training for competitions on his cyclocross bike.

An identity crisis is upon Grand County; to the extent it has multiple identies. The crisis is larger than just Grand County – it is found across Colorado and the nation, largely due to current economics. Some among us know exactly who we are and how we want our community portrayed on the local, state, national, and international stage. One of those few is the reigning 50-54 US National Cross Country Mountain Bike Champion, Keith Sanders, who will be defending his title this summer at SolVista and the USA Cycling MTB Nationals. Keith is unshaken in his identity as a cyclist, open-trails advocate, and supporter of the vision behind Winter Park as “Mountain Bike Capital USA.”

GCL recently sat down with Keith to discuss the emergence of Grand County as an international mountain bike venue and the future of trail riding through the Grand high country.

The catch phrase many transplants take for granted – “Mountain Bike Capital USA” – was the marketing idea of Dave Smith and the Winter Park Chamber of Commerce in 1990, marking the end to a previous economic slump in the valley. Keith was on the scene at least five years earlier, along with Mike LaPorte and Paul DiVincentis, introducing the Mountain Bike (MTB) vision in the Fraser Valley. After an epic road trip riding in Moab, UT, the group returned to Fraser frustrated at the dearth of developed MTB venues in Colorado. Then they saw gold in the hills below a late spring storm rainbow, arching across the Fraser Valley.

Keith remembers the lack of a local summer economy in those days, and sluggishness among local merchants. He, LaPorte, and DiVincentis soon founded the Winter Park Fat Tire Society (FaTS), which ultimately developed the grass-roots interest that led LiLynn Graves at Winter Park Resort to run the first instance of its famed Winter Park Race Series – Fat Tire Classic in 1988.

Keith Sanders (no. 396) at the Winter Park Resort Race Series, Super Loop, 2009.

The event hosted through the Competition Center drew only a handful of local competitors, among them Keith, who took home ample prizes on race day.

Keith fondly recalls his task as FaTS VP and Trails Committee chairman: to map and mark MTB trails in the valley. Forging into public lands to reclaim abandoned logging roads and map courses, Keith balanced his excitement at the burgeoning opportunities to ride amid the piney ranges with a grounded sense of responsibility to steward the “resource.” Adopting terms like that from USFS vernacular and conscientious trail advocacy, Keith assisted FaTS in establishing a good rapport with local forest managers.

While that camaraderie would not always be the rule, Keith has never lost his vision for a wild Grand County, widely accessible by mountain bike. Keith attributes FaTS with putting Grand County on the map at a crucial juncture when organized MTB racing was gaining momentum and seeding the rich network of trails that allow for riding in Grand County today. Keith predicts an even greater trans-county network on the verge with the recent addition of Lisa Debevec at the helm of the Grand Lake Metropolitan Recreation District.

Keith competes for the national title at the 2009 USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Championships at SolVista.

Keith helped seed the forest for mountain biking not only in Grand County, but also in Colorado at a time when the Internet was not as widely used as today. The word-of-mouth spread quickly though, and it was not long before the commercial prospects of Keith’s vision were embraced by NORBA, who welcomed the opportunity to promote two national-level MTB events at Winter Park in the 1990s, along with the Winter Park Mountain Bike Series (WP MTB Series).

Those efforts carry on today to further heights as the WP MTB Series approaches its 22nd year, and has become the largest cross county mountain bike event in the state. Keith is proud to note its wide recognition as the standard-setting event for amateur MTB racing in Colorado – which is saying a lot, considering that, when FaTS formed, Winter Park was one of only three areas known for MTB riding in the nation (beside Moab and Crested Butte).

The WP MTB Series has taken on a life of its own now, but in 2009, a new giant appeared on the horizon: the USA Cycling MTB National Championships, which came to roost at the other end of the Fraser Valley for a two-year stint. Just as Keith was involved at the birth of MTB racing in Winter Park, he was called into SolVista for course consulting at last summer’s event to design the amateur cross country course. Although other race venues drew attention in the late 1990s, local cycling has seen a new boon with the hosting of the USA Cycling Nationals.

From left to right: Heidi Godsil, Keith Sanders, Aaron Sanders (son) and Sage Wilderman show off their medals at the 2009 USA Cycling Mountain Bike Nationals at SolVista.

Toward preserving those trails, Keith threw his weight into efforts in 2006 to craft a practical federal wilderness bill for the James Peak area as National Policy Advisor with IMBA. Keith’s efforts brought together the voice of Grand County’s Commissioners and community to weigh-in on what began to arrear as a palpable threat to the whole of recreation in the Fraser Valley. Keith helped strike down the initial bill, which sought to close all trails in forest lands east of US Hwy 40 under the “wilderness” classification. Having advocated responsible trail riding since Day One (instituting programs like Pay-Dirt, where race competitors dedicated one day to trail work and received ranking points equivalent to a first-place win in their categories), it was a shock to Keith and the Fraser Valley Partners for Trails that Congress was poised to evict bikes from the James Peak area.

Good ties with USFS aided his advocacy, for the Forest Service’s 10-year plan offered a solution to the perceived hiker-biker-wilderness conflict, if only Congress would look at that plan before its vote. Advocacy has been the touchstone for Keith’s vision of Grand County since he first discovered the connections possible from D-2 log road across the adjoining wet glade. Today, D-2 and the network of trails local riders like Keith maintain, are better for Winter Park FaTS having stepped into the forest.

In addition to MTB adventures, Keith sees the potential for local development of a venue for the Belgian-born and dominated sport of cyclocross. See the accompanying sidebar for details on the sport. Whether the wheels are skinny or fat, you always need to keep your eyes ahead. And with that, another GCL history lesson comes to an end; now get out there and ride.

READ MORE STORIES FROM THIS ISSUE:
• Lifestyle: Survey of Cyclocross - The Key to Grand County's Backdoor
• Lifestyle: The Chris-Craft Mystique - Winning the Hearts of Grand Lake Boaters for Decades
• Lifestyle: Skateboarding - Dropping In and Busting Big Air with Nik Seemann
• Afterwords: Footsteps of Ike - The Spirit of the 34th US President Still Lingers Here
• Summer 2010 Articles