Colorado cyclists are coming together Saturday to raise money for a small mountain town left isolated and heavily damaged by last month's floods.
Jamestown, which has about 300 residents, is a popular weekend ride destination for Boulder-area cyclists, who often stop outside the town's cafe, the Jamestown Mercantile, to refuel. The Mercantile kept a water jug outside for cyclists to refill their bottles.
"It was the most popular ride on the entire Front Range, according to Strava," said Boulder's Thomas Prehn of CatEye. "It was ridden a phenomenal number of times. It was a perfect hour ride from Boulder."
Joe Howlett, the former owner of the Mercantile who started the tradition of the cyclists' water jug, died during the floods when his house collapsed. Most Jamestown residents were evacuated by helicopter when the roads in and out of the town were destroyed.
The roads to Jamestown are still closed to non-residents and cyclists and the town has to rebuild much of its infrastructure, including a fire station, its water treatment plant, two major bridges and roughly 50 percent of its roads. Twenty percent of the homes in the town were destroyed.
Cyclists are meeting Saturday near the base of Lefthand Canyon Drive, the road shown in the photo above, where riders often began their journey to Jamestown. The all-day event called Cyclists 4 Jamestown will include bands, silent auctions and a road ride led by several Boulder-based pro racers. The group hopes to raise $100,000 for the town.
The event begins at 9 a.m. Saturday in the upper parking lot of the old Beech Aircraft facility, on Colorado Hwy 36 (6849 Foothills Highway), two miles north of Boulder. Cyclists are being encouraged to stop by as early as 7:30 for coffee before going for a ride.
Local retailer Boulder Cycle Sport is organizing a 40-mile group ride to leave from its North Boulder location at 10:30 a.m. and finish up at the Cyclists 4 Jamestown event.
