Estes Park Mountain Bike Team Brings Home Three Medals From First Race

The Estes Park Mountain Bike Team is off to an amazing start to the 2023 season with the Colorado High School Cycling League! Their first race weekend took place at the Frisco Bay Invitational in Frisco, CO, on August 27th! Four Estes Park MTB Team high school student athletes gave it their all on a beautiful day of racing with Freshman, JV Boys & Girls racing 12 miles and Varsity Boys racing 18 miles on the fun Frisco course that runs along the Dillon Reservoir.

Senior and Varsity Boys Racer Odin Rhode started off the fast paced day with a perfect starting position in the second row. Odin has been training hard and racing across the country all summer with his biggest finish being at the GoPro Games in June finishing 1st Place in their 17-18 XC Mountain Bike Race. Odin paced himself properly on the course against 38 other Varsity Boys racers. However, when a mid-race crash twisted him and his handlebars, he worked his way to pass the dozen racers who passed him and finished an amazing 5th Place in Varsity Boys. Congrats, Odin Rhode!

Junior and JV Boys Racer Owen Brandewie was in the second wave of the day with another perfect starting position in the second row. Owen won the style award for the day with his jorts and baguette and made the most of having fun during his race. Halfway through Owen's race, a classic Colorado thunderstorm rolled in and the JV Boys race was stopped and the course was evacuated. Even still, Owen had a great 14th Place Finish in JV Boys out of 96 racers. Congrats, Owen Brandewie!

After a little delay due to weather, Junior and JV Girls Racer Nora Harrison was ready to race and started in the middle of the pack of 24 JV Girls Racers. Nora was unable to pre-ride the course, but thanks to her skills she learned while enduro racing throughout the summer, riding the course blind did not stop her from tackling all the challenges the course threw at her. Nora finished an unbelievable 2nd Place Finish in JV Girls. Congrats, Nora Harrison!

The final race of the day was an Individual Time Trial for all the Freshman where the student athletes gave it their all, racing the clock for 12 miles. Freshman Ellie Kostadinov has been riding with the team since 7th grade and was excited that now as a Freshman she could officially race with the Colorado High School Cycling League. Ellie had spent her summer training hard and even competed in two challenging races this summer finishing 2nd Place in the 13-14 yr old Wildflowers Classic Cross Country Race at Crested Butte and finishing 6th Place in the 13-14 yr old XC Race at the Colorado Mountain Bike Championship at Copper Mountain. Ellie did not let the challenges of not knowing the speed of the riders around her stop her and she made quick work of taking ownership of her time trial. Ellie was able to quickly pass not only all the girls racers in her group but also caught up to the boys racers who started three minutes before her. Even with a mid-race crash, Ellie was able to fix her bike and get back to work passing with class and took time to encourage fellow boys and girls racers on course. Ellie came across the line with an amazing 2nd Place Finish in Freshman Girls. Congrats, Ellie Kostadinov!

In addition, each race weekend the Colorado League hosts Team Spirit Contests and the small but mighty Estes Park Mountain Bike Team was able to win the Socks Team Spirit Award with their sock ball and silly sock outfits that they wore and threw throughout the day.

Thanks to the incredibly strong showing of all four of the high school student athletes who raced from the Estes Park MTB Team, the team finished 5th Place Team for their Division 3! Way to go, EP MTB Team!

The Estes Park MTB Team is a fall coed sport, open to 7th-12th grade students and welcomes both adventure riders and performance racers. High School students on the Estes Park MTB Team are able to race in the Colorado High School Cycling League with over 2000 other students from across the state of Colorado, including parts of Wyoming and

Diversity, Equity And Inclusion (DEI) Training For Nonprofits

The Estes Park Nonprofit Resource Center (EPNRC) offers a six-part series that will enhance your understanding of what is meant by diversity, equity, and inclusion. Workshop participants will gain practical tools for implementing DEI into their workplace and organizations.

The first and last presentations are inperson and all-day. The other four are virtual from 9 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. on sequential Mondays. Topics include Identity and Intersectionality, Using Structure and Clear Criteria to Bust Bias, Unpacking My Bias, Reducing Microaggressions and Utilizing Inclusive Language, and Communicating Across Dif- ferences. Participants must commit to all sessions.

This workshop is facilitated by Dr. Jeremiah Fernandez Johnson, Founder and CEO of Triad Diversity Consulting. His focus is on social mobility for at risk populations, inclusive practices in workplace culture, and the utilization of cultural and social capital for the advancement of innovation in the workplace.

Dr. Jeremiah will give attendees actionable artifacts at each session to implement at their organizations. Additionally, Triad Diversity Consulting and the EPNRC will offer follow up consulting for participants to help reduce any bar- riers to implementation and measure collective success.

This workshop is supported by the Town of Estes Park Base Funding. This series is valued at $15,000 and free to organizations serving the Estes Valley. The series is limited to 25 participants, applications to participate close on September 15.

Visit epnonprofit.org/deiworkshops to take advantage of this opportunity and register. Questions? info@epnonprofit.org or 970-480-7805.

New Mexico. The Estes Park MTB Team is always welcoming of new riders and racers at any time of the season - contact them at estesmtb.com or on Instagram @estesmtb if you have a student who is interested or has questions.

This series starts with an all-day in-person session from 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. on October 2, then four 9 a.m.11 a.m. virtual sessions on Mondays, October 9 - November 6, and finishes with another in-person meeting on November 13.