By Bill Plock
Kate Rau’s passion for making lives better and helping kids ride through the tunnel of adolescence to becoming adults permeates the core values of the Colorado High School Cycling League. She has been at the forefront of the movement to get more kids on bikes since landing in Colorado to go to college at CU. Starting with her days at SMBA (Singletrack Mountain Bike Adventures) and leading us through the birth of Colorado High School Cycling League, Kate has worked tirelessly to help kids, well, be kids. She works to “reduce the barriers to entry” and to help kids who are overscheduled, feeling contained, and maybe isolated, to feel grounded, and learn to take risk and to experience “the pure wonder of joy while riding a bike.” Â
The Colorado High School Cycling League has grown exponentially in the last few years and now has 80 teams with about 1,800 kids making up four regions in Colorado. There are teams from Wyoming and New Mexico as well. It’s an organization with a broad reach but a narrow focus. It takes a dedicated staff, coaches and countless volunteers to make it happen. It also takes critical partnerships from corporate sponsors who help fund and facilitate bringing it all together. Kate strives to provide value to all involved with a keen eye to always remembering the goals that Kate says is, Â “helping kids feel good about themselves, bringing families together, and connecting the communities that support those values. We want to teach kids about land stewardship and the environment and make sure we do all we can to be inclusive. Everybody scores, nobody is benched.”
303 Endurance was honored to have been chosen as partner of the year which came with some wonderful swag from sponsors: Optic Nerve, Osprey, Primal, Feedback, Yeti and Squirtlube. it has been our honor to help bring more awareness to this valuable part of the community we serve.
0 Comments