News
EAGLE COUNTY, Colorado — The annual Ride the Rockies bicycle tour will make an overnight stop in the Vail Valley this year. It's the first time in more than a decade that the tour has stopped in the valley for the night.
The tour stop will be June 13 in Edwards, with headquarters at Battle Mountain High School and Freedom Park. About 2,400 riders participate every year, along with another 100-plus tour volunteers, gear-wagon drivers and others.
A quick look at the tour itinerary shows a week with quite a bit of climbing, but tour director Chandler Smith said this year's ride is actually easier than the 2010 event, which was longer and had still more climbing.
And, while Ride the Rockies is a series of one-night stops, Smith said the tour leaves a sizable economic impact in its wake. Tour officials estimate about $250,000 in spending at each overnight stop. That's a bit more than $100 for each rider.
That kind of economic impact is why the tour goes to different parts of the mountains every year.
But getting a tour stop doesn't happen by accident.
Vail Valley Partnership Executive Director Chris Romer said that group contacted Ride the Rockies shortly after the 2010 tour ended. As Ride the Rockies started putting together this year's ride last summer, tour officials started talking to different community groups about their interest in a tour stop, and their ability to host it.
Romer said the Vail Valley's offer included help from both the Eagle County School District and the Western Eagle County Metropolitan Recreation District. The stop wouldn't have happened without the cooperation of those agencies, Romer said.
The Partnership is also working on plans to make the Edwards tour stop a showcase for what the valley has to offer to summer visitors. The Partnership is working with NRC Presents, the promotions arm of Avon-based NRC Broadcasting, to put together a “taste of the Vail Valley” event at the tour stop, with restaurants, lodges and retailers putting together samples and information about what they have.
“We just want to show them a great time,” Romer said. “Hopefully, some of them will come back.”
Business Editor Scott N. Miller can be reached at 970-748-2930 or smiller@vaildaily.com.
The tour stop will be June 13 in Edwards, with headquarters at Battle Mountain High School and Freedom Park. About 2,400 riders participate every year, along with another 100-plus tour volunteers, gear-wagon drivers and others.
A quick look at the tour itinerary shows a week with quite a bit of climbing, but tour director Chandler Smith said this year's ride is actually easier than the 2010 event, which was longer and had still more climbing.
And, while Ride the Rockies is a series of one-night stops, Smith said the tour leaves a sizable economic impact in its wake. Tour officials estimate about $250,000 in spending at each overnight stop. That's a bit more than $100 for each rider.
That kind of economic impact is why the tour goes to different parts of the mountains every year.
But getting a tour stop doesn't happen by accident.
Vail Valley Partnership Executive Director Chris Romer said that group contacted Ride the Rockies shortly after the 2010 tour ended. As Ride the Rockies started putting together this year's ride last summer, tour officials started talking to different community groups about their interest in a tour stop, and their ability to host it.
Romer said the Vail Valley's offer included help from both the Eagle County School District and the Western Eagle County Metropolitan Recreation District. The stop wouldn't have happened without the cooperation of those agencies, Romer said.
The Partnership is also working on plans to make the Edwards tour stop a showcase for what the valley has to offer to summer visitors. The Partnership is working with NRC Presents, the promotions arm of Avon-based NRC Broadcasting, to put together a “taste of the Vail Valley” event at the tour stop, with restaurants, lodges and retailers putting together samples and information about what they have.
“We just want to show them a great time,” Romer said. “Hopefully, some of them will come back.”
Business Editor Scott N. Miller can be reached at 970-748-2930 or smiller@vaildaily.com.
