Breaking away
(By: Clay Evans :: Boulder Dirt, Boulder, CO) :: Chris Grealish loves cycling. He loves to ride, he loves to race, his business involves cycling, and he's always looking for a way to promote anything you do on two, non-motorized wheels, whether it's road racing, mountain biking or cyclocross. He's a tireless promoter of the sport.That explains his longtime involvement in producing bike-racing events around Boulder and other parts of northern Colorado for more than a decade.
2006 Criteriums@Stazio cycling races
Sunday, March 12, 19 and 26
Stazio ballfields complex, east Boulder
Free-$15; (303) 619-9419 or www.dbcevents.com
But as much as the 43-year-old owner of Denver/Boulder Couriers enjoys producing events and promoting the sport, he admits he'd usually rather be riding.
Now, thanks to his persistent efforts, he may get his wish: The city of Boulder Parks and Recreation Department is poised to take on spring criterium races at Stazio Fields, starting next year.
"Hopefully next year," Grealish says, "I'll be participating instead of being a person wearing an orange vest. ... (The city has) begun to look around for alternative sports that will be valuable to the community, not a money loser, and sustainable."
Step one will begin this month, when parks and recreation officials will "shadow" Grealish and other race organizers at the 2006 Criteriums@Stazio races, which will take place - weather permitting - on Sunday, March 12, 19 and 26.
"One thing Chris said to me early on was, 'I just want to race. I don't want to put them on; I want to race,'" says Teri Olander, recreation administrator for the city of Boulder. "I said, 'OK, we'll do it, so you can race.'"
And while Grealish notes that "Nothing has been signed yet," the city already has included this year's Stazio races in its spring parks and recreation catalog, to be published in the next couple of weeks.
"We're starting to get people used to the idea," Olander says. The city also plans to sponsor a couple of summer races with an assist from Grealish to "help in the transition," she says.
This year's races, co-sponsored by Denver/Boulder Couriers and the Tyler Hamilton Foundation, will be open to seven age categories for youth 18 and under, "non-licensed" men and women citizen riders, and American Cycling Association and United States Cycling Federation licensed adult riders in five categories, from masters (40 and older) to professionals.
2006 Criteriums@Stazio cycling races
Sunday, March 12, 19 and 26
Stazio ballfields complex, east Boulder
Free-$15; (303) 619-9419 or www.dbcevents.com
But as much as the 43-year-old owner of Denver/Boulder Couriers enjoys producing events and promoting the sport, he admits he'd usually rather be riding.
Now, thanks to his persistent efforts, he may get his wish: The city of Boulder Parks and Recreation Department is poised to take on spring criterium races at Stazio Fields, starting next year.
"Hopefully next year," Grealish says, "I'll be participating instead of being a person wearing an orange vest. ... (The city has) begun to look around for alternative sports that will be valuable to the community, not a money loser, and sustainable."
Step one will begin this month, when parks and recreation officials will "shadow" Grealish and other race organizers at the 2006 Criteriums@Stazio races, which will take place - weather permitting - on Sunday, March 12, 19 and 26.
"One thing Chris said to me early on was, 'I just want to race. I don't want to put them on; I want to race,'" says Teri Olander, recreation administrator for the city of Boulder. "I said, 'OK, we'll do it, so you can race.'"
And while Grealish notes that "Nothing has been signed yet," the city already has included this year's Stazio races in its spring parks and recreation catalog, to be published in the next couple of weeks.
"We're starting to get people used to the idea," Olander says. The city also plans to sponsor a couple of summer races with an assist from Grealish to "help in the transition," she says.
This year's races, co-sponsored by Denver/Boulder Couriers and the Tyler Hamilton Foundation, will be open to seven age categories for youth 18 and under, "non-licensed" men and women citizen riders, and American Cycling Association and United States Cycling Federation licensed adult riders in five categories, from masters (40 and older) to professionals.
posted by Ryan Amirault at Thursday, March 02, 2006
