The Courage Classic has been held in Colorado since 1990. The Durango Derailers have had a fundraising team in the event for the last 11 years. In that time, the group has raised more than $405,000 for families in Southwest Colorado to aid in travel expenses for trips to the Children\u2019s Colorado in Aurora. That money helps more than 500 family per year.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we can raise $50,000 for the Courage Classic, we can designate the funds we raise specifically for families in Southwest Colorado,\u201d said Durango Derailers team captain Laura Shelton. \u201cThat can go to pay for lodging and transportation. We don\u2019t have special pediatric care here in rural Colorado. Our kiddos have to go up there. Children\u2019s Colorado serves one to two families from our area a day, and we\u2019re trying get them access to that care.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shelton took over the Durango Derailers captaincy two years ago and has ridden in the Courage Classic for six years. Kelly Miller, who is still on the team, started the team. Through the funds raised by the Durango Derailers, they have also created opportunities for specialty doctors to meet patients in Durango or offices closer to Durango so families don\u2019t have to travel as far.<\/p>\n
The Derailers must raise $50,000 each year to ensure those funds go directly to Southwest Colorado families and not into the general fund. This year, the team has raised nearly $49,000, and it has until the end of August to continue fundraising. Last year, the team raised $68,000, but those funds were used by April.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s how heavily it is used,\u201d said Shelton, whose son, Chase, has regularly gone to Children\u2019s Colorado for multiple complications after he was born two months prematurely.<\/p>\n
Chase, 8, is one of 18 child ambassadors at this year\u2019s Courage Classic. Durango\u2019s Jaden Brown, 8, is another ambassador. He suffered a stroke at birth that led to brain damage. Like Chase, Jaden has hydrocephalus, an incurable condition in which fluid builds up deep within the brain.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis weekend is very meaningful for Laura because Chase spent five years struggling to learn how to ride a bike so he could join his mom in the Courage Classic,\u201d said Megan Lane, the senior marketing communications manager for the Children\u2019s Hospital Colorado Foundation. \u201cLast year, he rode the Durango Derailers team across the finish line for the first time \u2013 without training wheels \u2013 a true testament to his strength and perseverance against all odds. This weekend, Chase will once again ride the Durango Derailers team across the finish line at Copper Mountain.\u201d<\/p>\n
While not every member of the Durango Derailers will ride their bike at Copper Mountain this weekend, many will, ranging from 6-year-old children to Wells, a multi-discipline national champion.<\/p>\n The rides are broken into two days. On Day 1, the Copper Loop of the Courage Classic is a 78-mile ride that starts and finishes at Copper. It loops from Copper to Ski Cooper in Leadville to Minturn and Vail. There is also a 40-mile option to Vail and back, as well as a 10-mile family ride around Copper. On Day 2, there is an 84-mile ride up Ute Pass, a 41-mile ride to Keystone and back and a 16-mile family ride to Frisco.<\/p>\n Wells said the rides are similar to the Citizen\u2019s Tour at the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic.<\/p>\n \u201cI have some friends that help run the event that I bumped into in the fall, and I talked to them about doing it,\u201d Wells said. \u201cThey suggested I get in touch with the Durango Derailers because they\u2019re one of the biggest fundraising teams in the entire state. They do a great job, so I decided to join the team and see what it\u2019s all about.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve been lucky our kid hasn\u2019t had to go up to Children\u2019s Hospital, and as a parent that\u2019s your worst nightmare, to have something happen to your kid. Secondary to all that is the huge cost incurred. This group ride does an awesome job of raising money for kids and families that need it. I couldn\u2019t think of a better cause to help raise some money.\u201d<\/p>\n