Step Inside Leadville Bicicasa, the Highest Elevation Bike Shop in North America

BicyclingMagazine

Even at an elevation of 10,000 and six months of snow, Rafael Millan-Garcia’s bike shop is at the center of a thriving cycling community.

Transcript

00:00 (upbeat music)

00:02 You know, some mornings when I'm getting ready

00:05 to open the shop and I look around,

00:07 I'm just really freaking grateful.

00:10 (upbeat music)

00:13 Leadville is a high-sale division town in North America

00:22 and Leadville is a high-sale division bike shop

00:25 in North America.

00:26 If you want movie theaters and you want infrastructure

00:29 and you want fast food and all that stuff, don't move here.

00:32 But if you wanna just be outside, this is paradise.

00:35 You have to be a passionate mountain nut to be happy here.

00:39 I am from Hidalgo, Mexico,

00:46 tiny itty-bitty state north of Mexico City.

00:49 I arrived in Colorado with my bike, my dog Roscoe

00:53 and everything I owned and a bike trailer

00:55 20 years ago, almost on the dot.

00:58 (wind blowing)

01:00 When I started to leave Mexico, it was 'cause of a breakup.

01:06 When I'm struggling, when I feel stranded,

01:09 when I feel stagnant, I ride my bike.

01:12 I oftentimes tell people that I fix bikes 'cause bike fix me.

01:15 It was winter of 2002, 2003.

01:20 That winter, oh my gosh,

01:21 it was probably like two meters of snow.

01:23 Got snowed in, never left.

01:25 Like Colorado picked me to a degree.

01:27 Usually my plans never go farther than like two weeks

01:31 or two months from now.

01:32 I never intended to move here permanently,

01:34 let alone spend 20 years.

01:36 After this, we need to break it free

01:39 and separate this from this.

01:42 I fell in love and my sweetie at the time lived in Leadville.

01:48 I just started doing bike work out of my house.

01:51 Little by little, people told people,

01:53 word of mouth, cut on fire.

01:55 And every day I will like build it all up.

01:58 My little mini third bag service center,

02:02 turtle bag dance, it's like nothing happened,

02:04 leave no trace.

02:06 That was kind of like the beginning of exploring,

02:08 having my own shop.

02:09 My old friends of almost 20 years by now,

02:12 one of them said, "It's time you have your own shop.

02:15 "We're gonna make it happen."

02:16 And so this place exists 'cause of them.

02:19 Everybody came together and chipped in to make this happen.

02:24 You know, some mornings when I'm getting ready

02:26 to open the shop and I look around,

02:29 I'm just really freaking grateful, really grateful.

02:32 You know, they gave me something to do

02:35 at this point in my life and I'm just so proud

02:37 and I feel just such a freaking duty to deliver,

02:41 to give back, to make them proud

02:44 and to do the best I can with this shop.

02:46 And that's why it's the little community space

02:49 that it's become.

02:50 (upbeat music)

02:53 When I was considering moving to Leadville,

03:13 I was like, "Can I move to a place

03:15 "where it's gonna be winter for six months out of the year

03:18 "and only ride fat bikes?"

03:21 And turns out I love it.

03:23 Fat biking, it's underground, kinda out low.

03:27 When I thought I kinda like experienced all things cycling,

03:31 here goes fat biking.

03:32 To be like, "You gotta try this."

03:34 Sometimes I look outside and I see this blowing sideways

03:37 and I'm like, "Woo!"

03:39 And get all like excited about it, you know?

03:41 My pride and joy to fat bike as much as I can,

03:44 get as high up as I can, do all the races.

03:48 I don't know what's wrong with me.

03:49 For a Mexican, I love all things snow, all things cold.

03:53 This event I just raced with the Colorado Cup,

03:58 which is the first one

03:59 and the winter series from Cloud City Wheelers.

04:04 To a degree, the winter fat bike races

04:06 are like a high school reunion for me

04:08 'cause friends come from all over Colorado.

04:11 I get to see everybody there.

04:13 So it's amazing to get all the high fives

04:15 and all the giggles

04:16 and just being there to embrace the challenge together

04:19 with all the homies.

04:20 Fat racing versus people have my age

04:22 'cause anyone between 18 years old and 59 years old

04:26 is compounded on the men's open,

04:28 which makes things pretty spicy

04:30 'cause then it's all out of the gate

04:33 'cause it's eight and a half miles.

04:34 So it's like a cross country short track race.

04:36 It's very, very short,

04:38 which means from the beginning to end,

04:39 you're 100% like all you got.

04:42 It's just the most amazing time.

04:45 I don't win races.

04:47 I just like the feeling, the challenge, the excitement,

04:50 and to support good causes.

04:53 Typically, if I sign up for a race

04:54 is because it's like some ridiculous challenge

04:58 and/or because it supports a good cause.

05:00 - How about for you?

05:06 You okay?

05:07 - Yeah, the first few miles, I was dying.

05:09 - Dying.

05:10 (laughing)

05:12 I hope this is not just in my head,

05:14 but I think every winter we see more variety in riders.

05:19 The ridership is becoming a little bit more diverse

05:22 where there's more Hispanics, more women, more juniors.

05:26 And so more and more people embracing

05:29 this whole winter fat bike racing.

05:31 That's what we want, right?

05:32 Because yeah, historically cycling's been

05:34 a white male-dominated sport,

05:36 and there's a lot of momentum right now to change that

05:40 because yeah, representation matters.

05:42 If you show up to do something that somebody told you is fun

05:46 and you look around and you don't see anyone

05:49 that remotely looks or sounds like you or behaves like you,

05:53 it'd be intimidating.

05:54 You're gonna be like, "This ain't my scene.

05:55 "I'm just gonna go back to my little corner over here,"

05:58 which is not a good way to promote

06:00 and enable and embrace everyone.

06:02 So I love seeing this diversity

06:04 and the winter fat bike races.

06:06 It warms my heart, and I hope that we can keep it that way

06:10 for the winters to come.

06:12 (wind blowing)

06:14 Leadville is such an amazing community.

06:22 It's resilient, it's tight-knit.

06:25 When it comes to the people who are passionate

06:27 about environmental stewardship, social justice,

06:30 building community, and fighting for access to public lands,

06:34 which is so important for anyone

06:36 that wants to recreate, do anything,

06:37 whether it's fish, hunt, bike, pack, rock climbing.

06:40 Over time, we have been attacked

06:43 for being so vocal about political stuff.

06:46 A lot of people would rather keep the peace

06:48 and not get caught into any of it

06:50 by keeping their mouth shut

06:51 and not really saying it like it is

06:53 or how they really feel about political affairs,

06:56 but that's not us.

06:57 As an individual, I feel my duty to promote things

07:00 that promote the greater kindness for people,

07:03 for minorities, for marginalized groups.

07:05 If three, four years from now we didn't make it

07:07 'cause we were putting morals before profits, I don't care.

07:12 If we lose a shop, I'll pack up

07:14 and take off again on my bike,

07:15 and I get taken out in some obscure place

07:18 around the world or whatever.

07:20 That might be quite an epic ending, maybe.

07:22 I don't know.

07:23 Connecting with people, making new friends,

07:27 is also why the doors are open here,

07:29 and you're sharing things,

07:31 because I think the more you share,

07:33 the more you build community.

07:34 That is just the essence of it, right?

07:37 I always believe that no matter how much you have,

07:42 emotionally, spiritually, or material,

07:44 it doesn't mean shit if you don't share it.

07:47 (upbeat music)

07:49 (upbeat music)

07:52 (upbeat music)

07:54 (upbeat music)

07:57 [MUSIC PLAYING]

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