The Coveted Turd Trophy Awards – dried, lacquered and glued

guest — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 00:37:01 GMT

I’ve written about the Estes Park Challenge in past blogs and the Challenge was in a column that discussed how to set good, challenging goals.

To achieve 12 consecutive months of riding from Loveland, Colorado to the mountain town of Estes Park is not an easy accomplishment. There is often wind, rain, snow,more snow, rain mixed with snow and a shortage of time due to life that can get in your way.

Left to right: Lou Keen, Mike Keen, Bruce Runnels, Lee Rhodes, Scott Ellis, Sherri Goering, Pam Leamons, Brandy Staves, Darcy Tigis, Ron Kennedy, Peter Stackhouse (event host) and Jerry Nichols. MIA: Dennis Andersen, Kathy Forbes, Kirk Leamons, Todd Singiser and me.

For this year’s awards, 17 people achieved the goal by December of 2011 and one person will score a solid 12 in April. This year Jerry Nichols made the awards and they were stunning – a big, big improvement from year one when my artistic talent with poo proved to be lame.

As with every year the dried, lacquered and glued elk poo was part of the coveted Turd Trophy. Jerry took that theme, added cycling chain and a collage photo of all the riders to make the great awards. He cleverly included a box of Elk Duds with each award, stating that extra poo was collected. (He was kidding and the caramel duds could be consumed by humans.)

Anyone living near Loveland is welcome to participate. Below are the basic rules.

Estes or Bust

Rules to achieve the world famousTurd Trophy Award

Ride toEstes Park once per month for 12 consecutive months.
The starting point can be from anywhere in Loveland, Ft. Collins or Windsor and no further west than the Big Thompson Elementary School.
Either route, Highway 34 or via Devil's Gulch Road (Larimer County Road 43 known as the Glen Haven route), is acceptable. If you ride via Highway 34, you must ride west to at least the Estes Park city limit sign near the Olympus Lodge. If you ride via Glen Haven you must ride west to at least the top of the switchbacks where you can see Longs Peak.
A return trip sans car and via bike back to Loveland is not mandatory, but encouraged when conditions are safe and fitness allows. (This means you only have to rideup (one way) to have the trip count towards your trophy goal.)
Riding from Loveland to Lyons to Estes Park via either Highway 7 or 36 counts. This ride can be one way just to Estes or round trip back to Loveland.
The honor system is strictly enforced - ride with or without the group, with a buddy or solo.
You can start any month of the year and go for 12 consecutive months or begin in January and go for a calendar year.

Rule clarification questions or rule change requests can be sent to gale@galebernhardt.com. The Rules Committee will review change requests.

Ride on!

Blog Posts From Active Expert: Gale Bernhardt Tagged With good_goals

The Coveted Turd Trophy Awards – dried, lacquered and glued