Monte Vista, CO – Professional athletes have long known the super-powering properties of potatoes, and now, thanks to growers, shippers and volunteers in Colorado’s San Luis Valley, thousands of hardy bicyclists are also in the spud nutritional loop.
For the fifth time in the 28-year history of Ride the Rockies, a weeklong, 500-plus mile bike ride across some of the Centennial State’s highest and most scenic mountain passes, volunteers associated with the Colorado Potato Administrative Committee will clean, wrap, bake and distribute approximately 1 ton of potatoes to more than 2,000 cyclists and support team members.
The ride, which begins June 8 in the famed ski resort town of Telluride and ends June 15 in historic Colorado Springs, will take riders over three breathtaking – both in beauty and in elevation – mountain passes along the 513-mile route.
Logging daily distances of between 46 and 91 miles, the cyclists will also climb a total of 20,400 vertical feet as they pedal from stop to stop. During one leg of the journey, they will also be given the opportunity to walk across the nation’s highest suspension bridge at Cañon City, the final night’s stop on the ride.
Well over 3,000 applicants put in for the internationally renowned ride, and organizers said all 50 states and numerous countries are often represented in the tour. Participants are selected randomly by lottery, and all skill levels historically apply and take part. Teams are generally made up of two to 10 support persons.
Welcoming the thousands who ride and who accompany the riders to Monte Vista on June 12, CPAC volunteers will have potato lines set up. Linda Weyers, assistant director of CPAC, said russets, golds and nutritionally rich purple potatoes will fill the bill, and she added the carbo-loading respite has long been a favorite stop for the cyclists.
“We have information letting people know our purples and deeper-colored varieties are very high in antioxidants, and the russets and yellows are good sources of potassium and vitamin C. More and more consumers are taking notice of studies that show all potatoes are heart-healthy, and now there’s information that proves they help lower blood pressure,” Weyers said.
“Each of our potato varieties, which include fingerlings and brightly colored specialties, is perfect for every season. In summer they’re wonderful grilled, and during fall and winter they’re the perfect comfort food with a nutritional bonus. And the bicyclists coming down off Wolf Creek Pass, which hits an elevation of nearly 11,000 feet and is often quite cool, are generally ready for a great baked potato,” Weyers continued.
She added, “It is something they have always really appreciated, and we just love meeting them, feeding them and wishing them well.”
For more information about Colorado’s nutritious and delicious potato varieties, which include fingerlings and brightly colored specialty spuds, visit us as coloradopotato.org or our Facebook page, or follow us on Twitter.
Photo information: Thousands of road-weary cyclists converge on the Colorado Potato Administrative Committee’s “spud break” during the Ride the Rockies 513-mile journey through the state’s highest mountain regions. CPAC provides upwards of a ton of potatoes, baked and ready to eat, to riders for important carbo-loading during one leg of the weeklong ride. Photo courtesy of CPAC
Source: Colorado Potato Administrative Committee
