For “four old dogs from Santa Cruz, Calif.” – average age 59 years – the Boulder Bike Barn was, on July 19, 2018, “pure trail magic!!”
“We can’t say enough kind things about Bike Barn!” states an entry in the facility’s diary signed by Downhill Doven, Big Beautiful Dave, Tex and “Trust me I’m adopted” Dr. Andy. “Thank you so much!”
The four riders’ enthusiasm for the Boulder Bike Barn, located on the Jefferson County fairgrounds, was mirrored in many other entries in the diary, which Marilyn McCauley shared with fellow board members at the November 20 meeting of the Jefferson County Fair Board.
According to data McCauley shared with the board, 47 cyclists from at least nine countries visited the Bike Barn this past summer – a marked increase from the eight who stopped by the previous summer, the Bike Barn’s inaugural season.
After the 2017 summer season, a committee formed to promote the facility. That group was born out of coverage in the Boulder Monitor of the economic impact from touring cyclists, and by a February 2018 meeting organized by the paper to discuss ways of promoting the existing Boulder Bike Barn. The committee’s goal is to attract to the area more touring cyclists in hopes they will patronize local businesses and encourage other riders to follow suit.
The committee’s efforts are off to a good start.
Notably, thanks to committee work, Boulder is now an alternate stop on the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route, a 3100-mile ride from Canada to New Mexico that the Missoula-based Adventure Cycling Association developed in 1997.
Though the committee has produced a one-page brochure extolling the Bike Barn’s amenities – including a microwave, coffee maker, showers and “plenty of camping space” – McCauley credited word of mouth for attracting many of the cyclists.
Some diary entries attest to that. Cymantha and Joe Fredrickson of Sacramento, Calif., on day one of a five-week bicycle trip, had endured a hailstorm and were expecting to ride another 15 miles to a campground “when a man in a pickup stopped his truck in the middle of the road to tell us about this place,” they wrote August 10, 2017.
On the other hand, Gary and Marlene Read of Michigan learned about the Bike Barn “from a subtle mention” on the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route map, according to their diary entry of July 26-27, 2018. The “mention” was posted thanks to committee work with map producers.
Praising the facility as being “well thought out,” the Reads wrote that the Bike Barn “needs more notoriety” so other cyclists will know to stop while passing through – a sentiment shared by other cyclists who wrote that they found the Bike Barn by chance and suggested that signs be erected along the route.
Signage, including a mural proposed to be painted on the Bike Barn’s side, were among the “few ideas we would need the Fair Board’s blessing to do,” Bike Barn committee member Jan Anderson told the board last week.
Other ideas committee members discussed included converting the showers to coin operation, installing a keypad entry, and decreasing the nightly fee or changing it to a suggested donation.
Funding for the committee work is coming from an Elkhorn Community Foundation grant.
Though no items were put up to a Fair Board vote, following discussion committee members decided for now not to pursue installing coin-operated showers or altering the fee structure. McCauley suggested waiting to “see where we’re at” after the 2019 season before considering those items.
The Fair Board voiced support for signage, bike racks and a mural, asking to see a draft proposal on the mural prior to approval.
The committee is working with the Jefferson High shop classes on building bike racks to be placed at the Bike Barn and at each end of downtown Boulder.
The Fair Board also expressed interest in streamlining the Bike Barn check in process by allowing payment through the soon to be unveiled county recreation website to obtain a code for the door keypad. Bruce Binkowski, the county’s Event Coordinator, will pursue further information on that option and report back to the Fair Board.
