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August 27, 2014 VOLU M E 53 | I S S UE 34 | 7 5 ¢
PikesPeakCourier.net T E L L E R C O U N T Y, C O L O R A D O
A publication of
Pro Cycling Challenge a smashing success An estimated 10,000 fans turned out for the Stage 5 start on Aug. 22 By Danny Summers
dsummers@colorado communitymedia.com Logan Mackay arrived at the start village in Woodland Park on Aug. 22 long before most of the other 10,000 spectators jammed downtown. The Madison, Wisconsin, resident spent the previous night at a motel in Manitou Springs, studying up on his favorite cyclists from around the world and hoping to breathe in as much of the thin mountain air and atmosphere surrounding the Stage 5 start of the USA Pro Cycling Challenge. “I came here to do some mountain biking myself and to watch this race,” Mackay said. Mackay followed the first five days of the week-long event like a bear trolling for fish in a stream. “I was up in Crested Butte and I was up on Monarch Pass and I was down in (Colorado) Springs yesterday,” Mackay said. “I was able to get over to Garden of the Gods and then downtown to see the end of the race.” Of the thousands of people who gathered for the start of the race, most (maybe 80 percent) were there strictly because of
Stage 5 of the USA Pro Challenge 2014 gets underway in Woodland Park, mid-day Friday downtown near the Midland Pavilion. Photo by Rob Carrigan the festive event. Businesses from around Woodland Park and neighboring towns set up vending booths, while security (in the hundreds from several Colorado towns) patrolled the streets to make sure that ev-
erything went according to script. But for the hardcore bike enthusiasts like Mackay, the real action came with the start of the 104-mile trek to downtown Breckenridge. That trip included a journey
more than 11,000 feet Hoosier Pass. “This is my last stop,” Mackay said. “It’s been great to catch as much as I can. Cycling continues on Page 4
Teller responds to concerns By Pat Hill
phill@coloradocommunitymedia.com POSTAL ADDRESS
PIKES PEAK COURIER (USPS 654-460)
OFFICE: 1200 E. Highway 24 Woodland Park, CO 80863 PHONE: 719-687-3006 A legal newspaper of general circulation in Teller County, Colorado, the Pikes Peak Courier is published weekly on Wednesday by Colorado Community Media, 1200 E. Highway 24, Woodland Park, CO 80863. PERIODICALS POSTAGE PAID AT WOODLAND PARK, COLORADO and additional mailing offices.. POSTMASTER: Send address change to: 9137 S. Ridgeline Blvd., Suite 210 Highlands Ranch, CO 80129 DEADLINES: Display: Thurs. 11 a.m. Legal: Thurs. 11 a.m. | Classified: Mon. 10 a.m. GE T SOCIAL WITH US
P L EA S E R ECYC L E T H I S C O PY
In the battle to slow the downstream flow of water on Fountain Creek the culprits include Mother Nature. “Our weather patterns have shifted globally and across the United States based on shifting currents coming out of the Pacific Ocean,” said Steve Steed, Teller County’s director of emergency management. For Crystola residents, the ravages of summer rainstorms have taken out bridges and culverts and wreaked havoc on at least one homeowner’s leach field. “We have four or five residents who are impacted here,” Steed said, referring to homes along CR 21 which runs adjacent to Fountain Creek. “When they bought the property they knew that parts of it were in a floodplain. The homeowner needs to have some kind of understanding and accountability for where they live and where the water flows.” Fred Clifford, the county’s public works director, acknowledges the concerns of the Crystola residents while giving a nod to more powerful forces. “When it gets to be a flash flood and exceeds a 50- to 75-year flood, culverts and bridges are not designed for any more than that,” he said. “You’re going to get water going wherever it wants.” Driving along CR 21, Clifford, along with Steed and Sheryl Decker, the county administrator, review mitigation efforts in that area. “Our main concerns are fence line to fence line, roadside drainage and protecting rights-of-way,” Clifford said. “After a flooding event, we make sure these roads and bridges are safe for travel.” As the severity of rainstorms increases, county road crews concentrate on the ditches on CR 21.
“We dug the ditches so they can accept water,” Clifford said. “Part of our roadside drainage system includes driveway culverts that homeowners are responsible for cleaning. We’re engaging our engineer to look at projects where it makes sense.” Continuing along the road, Clifford points to several mitigation projects, including the resurfacing of the top of the bridge just east of Wal-Mart. “The hard surface allows water to flow off the bridge,” Clifford said. But it’s the mitigation work in the Summer Haven subdivision that shows Clifford’s command of the drainage on mountainous, curvy terrain. “We wanted to find a way to have that water turn the corner and send it down to the ditches to protect our road and the utilities,” he said. “They piped it underground so it turns the corner in a pipe instead of in a ditch where it can erode.” At the intersection of Summer Haven and CR 21, the county has mitigated the flow with rap rap, rocks that provide a foundation to protect the creek bed. At the confluence of Crystola and Fountain creeks at Creekside and Crystola Canyon roads, the county has installed “twin cans,” or two box culverts. In the creek bed behind the Crystola, the arched culvert is another point on the mitigation map. “If we didn’t dredge it, the culvert would be closed; these drainage structures are accepting as much water as they’re designed to accept,” Clifford said. Speaking of the projects, Decker said, “We want to make sure what we do works — we don’t want to just fix our problem and send it downhill.” In the Aug. 20 edition of the Courier, Sally Clark, who lives in Crystola Canyon, highlighted the flooding problems experienced by her neighbors. As a result, she has
From left, Steve Steed, director of Teller County emergency management, Fred Clifford, director of the county’s public works department, and Sheryl Decker, Teller County administrator, check out a drop culvert on County Road 21. Photos by Pat Hill
The confluence of Crystola and Fountain creeks is at Creekside and Crystola Canyon roads. Teller County public works maintains the culverts to keep water flowing. shone a light on the mitigation efforts of her neighbors, the city of Woodland Park and the county of Teller. “I think everybody is incrementally trying to work on these issues to the best of their ability. We can’t
always design what Mother Nature will throw at us,” Clifford said. “Everybody has to be cognizant but you can be responsible, spend as much money as you want, but if Mother Nature puts down that rain amount, the best laid plans ... ”