Wheat Ridge D.I. Team Advances To Global Finals see page 6
Zumba – Fitness Fusion of Dance, Aerobics see page 7
New Senior Clinic Needs Your Help see page 11
Gazette NEIGHBORHOOD
Wheat Ridge | Edgewater | MAY 16 – JUNE 17, 2014
Bike Racers Race Criterium on Wheat Ridge City Streets in June By Cyndy Beal
O
n a summer morning in June, a swarm of bicycle racers will take over a mile of closed city streets in Wheat Ridge. Don’t panic! It’s just the Ridge at 38 Criterium (Crit) Bike Race scheduled for Sunday, June 22. The bike race runs from 7:30 a.m. to 12:55 p.m. The start and finish line will be in front of Wheat Ridge Cyclery (WRC) at High Court and 38th Avenue. The accompanying family-friendly festival will continue until 3:30 p.m., on the Green at Wheat Ridge 5-8 School, 7101 W. 38th Ave. The festival will feature live music, food and other entertainment. A community 10-minute fun ride is scheduled for 11:40 a.m. Bike racers are advised to arrive an hour prior, at 6:30 a.m. In order to register and compete, racers are required to have a USA Cycling (USAC) license. All USAC rules apply. Bicycle Racing Association of Colorado (BRAC) membership is recommended to gain points for the Rocky Mountain Road Cup. The Rocky Mountain Road Cup is a season-long Colorado competition with multiple bike races, which wraps up with awards in the fall. The Ridge at 38 Criterium is a Bronze level Rocky Mountain Road Cup road bike race. It’s a closed circuit, 1.15-mile course or loop with six corners. There are seven races and categories, and range in time from 40 to 55 minutes per race. The race course, primarily on residential streets, starts in front of WRC. The route includes High Court, 35th Avenue, Pierce Street, and sections of 38th Avenue and 39th Avenue. For detailed route information, visit http://ridgeat38.com/play/2014criterium/ map/ or see map on page 11. Criteriums are short one-day races, with multiple laps, and are the most common type of American bike racing. They are often ridden on closed city streets. These races are around a mile or less for a single lap,
and each race usually lasts from one to two hours. They are extremely fast, with speeds of 30 mph and up according to the USAC website, www.usacycling.org/road-cyclingcriteriums.htm Criteriums are exciting and actionfilled not just for the riders, but also for the spectators as well. “You never know who’s going win the bike race,” said Ron Kiefel, president and general manager of WRC, about criterium races. A rider in the lead often doesn’t stay that way or hold the position for long. In a criterium, a racer may win prizes or merchandise for winning a single lap. Kiefel also advised spectators to “keep your toes out of the road” and to “look down the road” to avoid colliding with riders on the course. The city has hosted other bicycle races, as well, such as the USA Pro Challenge cycling race that passed through on 32nd Avenue last August. The Pro Challenge is scheduled again for this coming summer. Racing aside, it’s common in Wheat Ridge to see people on bikes, either as individuals or groups, such as a family on a casual ride on residential streets or on the Clear Creek Trail. Families and bicycles just go together. In August 1973, Eugene Kiefel, Ron’s father, bought a bike shop, later named WRC. As a matter of course, for a family-run business, family members have spent time working in the shop. Ron’s mother, Nora, and his two sisters, Erlinda and Leona, all have worked at WRC. Kiefel himself is no stranger to road bike racing. Kiefel was the first American to win a stage in the Giro d’Italia and a Bronze medal in the 1984 Olympics for the team time trial. He raced in and completed seven Tours de France, and was U.S. National Road Champion in 1983 and 1988, per the WRC website. This isn’t the first criterium for Wheat Ridge. The first was in 1982, followed by two Continued on page 12
IN A CRITERIUM CORNERS ARE KEY – At the first Wheat Ridge Criterium in 1982 a pack of bike racers turn the corner onto 33rd Avenue. In this year’s Criterium in June, competitors will complete multiple laps on a 1.15-mile course on Wheat Ridge’s city streets. PHOTO COURTESTY WHEAT RIDGE CYCLERY AND WHEAT RIDGE 2020
BIKING IN BELGUIUM IN 1989 Ron Kiefel rides as part of Team 7-Eleven. Kiefel, president and general manager of Wheat Ridge Cyclery, was part of the first American team in the Grand Tours of Europe. On June 22, Wheat Ridge Cyclery is providing support for Criterium bike racers. PHOTO COURTESY OF WHEAT RIDGE CYCLERY
Voters Approve Higher Mill Levy, New Director for WRFPD By J. Patrick O’Leary
B
y a vote of 3,054 to 2,393, voters in the Wheat Ridge Fire Protection District approved a tax increase of 5 mills – from 7.5 to 12.5 mills. They also replaced one incumbent member of the District’s board of directors in the May 6 regular special district election. Of 27,000 eligible voters, only 20 percent – 5,447 – cast ballots. Of those, 56 percent approved the increase. The increase is expected to raise $1,663,296 in 2015, and pay for general operating and capital expenses, including replacing older fire apparatus, renovating and constructing buildings, and the personnel costs necessary to continue the current level of service. It is estimated that the increase will result in an additional $79 in annual property taxes on a $200,000 house. WRFPD’s board of directors voted to place the increase on the ballot after discussing the findings of a Blue Ribbon Panel report on challenges facing the district, released at the board’s Jan. 15 meeting. Fire Chief Robert Olme told the Neighborhood Gazette last month that, due to the loss of grants and other factors, WRFPD’s current 2014 budget was “tight”: “No capital expenditures are planned. We’ve frozen salaries and hiring.” The additional revenue from the mill levy increase will be available for use in 2015. Voters chose to give two incumbents another four years on the WRFPD board of directors: First Vice President James R. Johnson and Secretary Robert “Kent” Johnson, with 2,713 and 3,084 votes, respectively – the third and first largest tallies. Monica I. Duran received the secondhighest number of votes – 2,871 – pushing out appointed incumbent Ronald L. Benson,
who had served as Treasurer. Benson received 2,310 votes, fourth highest, but well ahead of challenger Leonard F. Ortiz’s 1,571 votes. Duran placed third in a four-way race for a Wheat Ridge City Council District I seat in November. Ortiz unsuccessfully ran for a WRFPD director position in 2010. Voters were asked for vote for three of the five candidates. Robert Johnson received 57 percent of possible votes; Duran 53 percent; James Johnson 50 percent; Benson 42 percent; and Ortiz 29 percent. Ahead for the slightly changed board is the development of a long-term financial plan for the district, and an organizational assessment, which were recommended by the report. The financial plan is necessary to determine how much revenue is needed for short- and long-term services, develop reserve and investment policies, and finance the promised, new Edgewater fire station. The organizational assessment will assess the district’s structure and level of services, review the board of directors’ roles and responsibilities, help the board develop a vision for the future, conduct a compensation study to develop a new market-driven compensation plan, and re-examine creating a financial operations position. According to designated election official Barbara Sferra, election judges began preprocessing ballots received in late April, but a decision was made to not tally votes until the night of the election, May 6. There was no crowd awaiting results outside the fire station that night, she said, and only one person – Edgewater’s mayor – requested to be notified of the results that night. Chief Olme met with firefighters that night, and all candidates were advised of the results. Election documents and results, and a copy of the Blue Ribbon Panel Report can be found at www.wrfire.org.