The Dig: Sawmill Trail

Mission Objective: In partnership with Vail Valley Mountain Trails, reclaim Sawmill trail and reestablish the creek.

At the beginning of the project, the creek and the trail were ubiquitous. The vegetation was overgrown, the water meandered back and forth across the undefined trail. Coming in from the meadow above at speed, riders unapologetically grabbed a handful of brakes in a desperate attempt to locate the trail. 

All hands on deck! The onset of the project was a muddy mess of moving rocks, organics, and soil from the creek. This was followed by moving thousands of shovel-loads of dirt to reestablish the creek at a lower grade.

Using the rocks from the creek bed, we redefined the critical edge between the creek and trail. Since Sawmll is a major drainage during spring runoff, we armored the tread with sizable rocks and jigsawed the rest together. Finally, our crew hauled in loads of dirt to bring the tread up to height.

The finished product turned out amazing! Clear trail, greatly improved sight lines and improved drainage into a well defined creek. Plus, we added features to keep it all lively. We couldn’t be more stoked to work with the team from Vail Valley Mountain Trails to accomplish this project!

The Fuel: Yeti’s Grind

Thanks to Yeti’s Grind, our team was fueled with amazing breakfast burritos and energized with fresh brewed coffee! Yeti’s Grind burritos are simply amazing and cover all the culinary bases. The burrito menu includes traditional wraps like bacon and sausage. Vegetarians and vegans rejoice! Yeti’s Grind takes it to the next level with veggie, gluten free veggie, and even vegan chorizo burritos!

The menu doesn’t stop there! With panini sandwiches, oatmeal, yogurt parfaits, snacks, bagels, and an espresso and coffee bar, Yeti’s Grind is the perfect fuel stop during ride or ski season. Be sure to stop in and let them know the Colorowdies mentioned their tasty goodness!

Back at camp, our Ambassadors devoured the breakfast burritos and fresh brewed coffee! Thanks to Marci and the crew at Yeti’s Grind for supporting our Mission Trip! Our Ambassadors were well fed each day to dig trail and ride bikes!

The Ride: Sawmill

Colorowdies Mission Trips happen were communities, land managers, and advocacy groups work in true partnership and value the importance of bikes. We appreciate how VVMTA, BLM, NFS, and the Town of Eagle collaborate to build some amazing bikes infrastructure. If you haven’t yet, go ride Eagle. There is so much diversity in trail and has options for all riders!

 

Though we enjoy building and maintaining trail, the highlight of the weekend was rippin’ fresh dirt, gettin’ sendy, and sharing laughs with a solid group of friends! Time to get rowdy!

Colorwodiew Mission Trip 2023 in Eagle, Colorado was a massive success. Thanks to all of our Ambassadors for making this such a special event!

Dig to Ride