Wheat Ridge Opens its Newest Park see page 8
Blankets & Baskets: Picnics see page 10
Want to be Part of the Car Scene? see page 12
Gazette NEIGHBORHOOD
Wheat Ridge | Edgewater | MAY 15 – JUNE 17, 2015
Crit Bike Race Returns in June By Cyndy Beal
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eep off the streets, sit on the sidewalks and watch the racers round the corners. The Ridge at 38 Criterium Bike Race returns for a second year on Sunday, June 7 from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The start and finish lines will be in front of Wheat Ridge Cyclery (WRC) at High Court and 38th Avenue. The accompanying family-friendly festival is on the Green at Wheat Ridge 5-8 School, 7101 W. 38th Ave. The festival will feature live music, foods and other entertainment. 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, a Colorado competition with multiple bike races, which starts in the spring and ends in the fall. The Ridge at 38 Criterium is a gold-level Rocky Mountain Road Cup road bike race. It's a closed circuit, 1.15-mile course or loop with six corners. There are 12 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. (Please see accompanying map for more detailed route information or visit http://ridgeat38.com/play/criterium/map/) 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-cycling-criteriums.htm). Criteriums are exciting and actionfilled not just for the riders, but also for the spectators as well. "You never know who's going to 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. WRC is providing neutral support for the racers. 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. 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. Last year’s criterium wasn’t a first for Wheat Ridge. The first was in 1982, followed by two others. However, this does mark the largest bike race for Wheat Ridge, entirely within its borders, with the possibility of hundreds of participating riders. To volunteer or learn more about the Ridge at 38 Criterium, go to http:// ridgeat38.com/play/criterium/
THE RIDGE AT 38 CRITERIUM BIKE RACE returns for a second year on Sunday, June 7 from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The start and finish lines will be in front of Wheat Ridge Cyclery at High Court and 38th Avenue. The accompanying family-friendly festival is on the Green at Wheat Ridge 5-8 School, featuring live music, foods and other entertainment. Details: ridgeat38.com PHOTO: SHAWN CURRY
New Wheat Ridge Businesses By Cyndy Beal
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evelopment and change does not always come without controversy—but with new builds and businesses moving into the city, change is afoot in an epoch sense.
A Tale Of Two Grocery Health Markets In May and June two new grocers arrive in the Wheat Ridge market, both on Kipling Street. Vitamin Cottage Natural Grocers
The Robot Sculptor Next Door By Laura Poole
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n a garage that smells like heat and burning metal stands 18-year-old robot sculptor Chris Mora in his welding gear, with the pieces of his most recent steel projects, entitled Number Eight and a model AT-AT from “Star Wars,” laid out on the ground. Seemingly reserved and quiet on the outside, Mora can actually talk for hours about his robots and yet only manages to share 90 percent of his passion in words; the rest is shown in his metal marvels. This young artist started bringing his imaginative robots to life a year and a half ago when drawing and painting them no longer sufficed. “It took me years to realize I didn’t like two-dimensional stuff,” said Mora. “I was making little sculptures out of pop cans and that’s part of it … I really wanted to SEE robots and the only way I could think of to do it was to draw them, but eventually I became so dissatisfied with the idea that I bought the welder.” His mother, Teresa, was concerned at first – as any mother of a young man who suddenly proclaims he’s going to start welding would be – but saw this was the path for him. “He’s always been artistic. It started when he was really young. I told him when he was 3 that I couldn’t build him Legos anymore, that he had to build them himself, and he’s been building ever since,” she said.
opens their new store on May 19 at 8 a.m., located at 4900 Kipling St., just south of I-70. To celebrate the grand opening, and in honor of the company’s 60th anniversary, the store is giving the first 60 customers mystery gift cards. The gift cards will be in the amounts of $5, $10, $25, $50 and $100. Customers will learn the amount of their gift card at check out. On Saturday, May 23 they are inviting the community to a block party and tasting event. This is the first of several events from May to June in celebration of their first store in Wheat Ridge. The Colorado-based company opened its first store in Lakewood and now has 96 stores in 16 states. A Sprouts Farmers Market opens Wednesday, June 24 at 7 a.m. This newly constructed 27,059 square foot store is located at 3725 Kipling St. It is the 17th Sprouts store in the Denver area. Headquartered in Phoenix Arizona, Sprouts has more than 200 stores in eight states. They are one of the largest natural grocers in the U.S. Sprouts is hiring around 100 full- and part-time employees for their new location. For more information or to apply go to https://www.sprouts.com/web/guest/ careers Continued on page 7
Continued on page 2 PHOTO: JOYCE JAY