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  • The Estes Park Challenge Enters Year 20

     

    Photo: Scott Ellis, Todd Singiser and Gale Bernhardt. January 28th, 2007. The roads were considered “good enough” to ride road bikes on this ride. Other rides required mountain bikes.

    The birth of the Estes Park Challenge was January of 2005. I had just returned from a period of international business travel and really wanted to do a bike ride. The problem was, it was 16 degrees Fahrenheit, we were on the backside of a big snowstorm, and the roads weren't good for cycling on a road bike – they were snow packed and icy. On the upside, it was sunny and there was little to no wind.

    Knowing that riding is good for my soul, my husband Del suggested I call my crazy friends Scott Ellis and Todd Singiser to see if they would ride uphill to Estes Park with me. Del said he would provide sag support along the way in case we got too cold and wanted to abort. Also, while going uphill would probably be okay, descending in the snowy and icy conditions would potentially be dangerous. (Del was later nicknamed “Super Del” by Bill Frielingsdorf for all the support he has, and continues to provide, to me and my cycling buddies.)

    Todd agreed to the adventure, but Scott thought it was best to stay warm at home. Frozen camelback tubes and all, Todd and I made it to Estes where we treated Del to lunch.

    In February of 2005, when Todd and Scott showed up for the normal Sunday ride they announced they were going to Estes because the weather was reasonably nice. Unfortunately, I was sick and trying to recover from a cold. I decided it was best for me to stay home. In March, the three of us made the trip to Estes.

    Somewhere around mid-year of 2005, Todd announced that he had ridden to Estes Park every month that year and was aiming to go through December. He was aiming for 12 consecutive months of riding to Estes. Scott had missed January, and I missed February, but we were on all the other rides...so Todd topped the leaderboard, becoming the rider with the most consecutive rides.

    All three of us completed 12 consecutive months and other riders inquired about what we were doing. Three more riders joined the “fun” in 2006. With six riders completing the challenge in 2006 and 2007, I thought it would be funny to manufacture awards that proudly displayed lacquered elk turds (duds). (Doesn’t take much to make me laugh.) The infamous Elk Turd Trophy was born. Those that took over trophy-making duties after me did a much better job and we've had many fabulous trophies.

    The first Turd Trophies made in 2006.

    For those outside of Colorado, what makes this challenge, well, challenging, is that Estes Park sits at 7,522 feet in elevation. We begin in Loveland, which is about 5,000 feet. Snow can come anytime after September 1, but snow-packed roads are common for days or weeks at a time for the months of November through March – sometimes April as I’ll tell you about later. We ride through a canyon that is cold and dark in the winter. Snow and ice can be present anytime in these months due to the wind and freeze-thaw conditions. That written, there have been some challenging rides in every month of the year as very high winds and rain can be present from March through October.  

    Throughout 2025, at least once per month I will post some of the past ride and trophy photos, along with some good stories. Weaved in will also be information about why this ride has become a staple for winter training for many endurance athletes.

    From our records there have been 39 people that have completed at least one year of 12 consecutive months. Others have completed multiple years of the challenge. (The list I refer to has been kept by one of the Estes Park Challenge record keepers*. People may have done something similar on their own, not part of the official Estes Park Challenge.)

    *Big thanks to Scott Ellis, Pam Leamons and Ron Kennedy for keeping the Estes Challenge Spreadsheet. I am unable to get the spreadsheet to convert to a photo file that can be read. I’ll keep working on it. Until then, below is a list of names of people that have completed at least one year of the Challenge.

    Auman, Jimmy

    Barrow, Scott

    Bernhardt, Gale

    Bird, Harmony

    Brent, Chad

    Brown, Cini

    Campbell (Raymond), Jo

    Collier, Cathy

    Ellis, Scott

    Forbes, Kathy

    Forrest, Keith

    Frielingsdorf, Bill

    Goering, Sherri

    Hansen, Nick

    Hassel, Diana

    Jensen, Keith

    Johnson, Chris

    Keen, Lou

    Keen, Mike

    Kennedy, Linda

    Kennedy, Ron

    Leamons, Kirk

    Leamons, Pam

    McClure, Dave

    McSweeney, Kevin

    Motter, Tim

    Nichols, Jerry

    Rhoades, Lee

    Roberts, Brenna

    Roberts, Matt

    Runnels, Bruce

    Schultz, Barb

    Schwandt, Judi

    Seligman, Belynda

    Singiser, Todd

    Stackhouse, Peter

    Staves, Brandy

    Stine, Audrey

    Tiglas, Darcy

     (Ron saved a copy of the file in a photo format, better than what I could do. Best way to view it is by right-clicking and opening it in another tab, then enlarge the image. Even then, the text is hard to read.) 

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