Tim Does the Plummet

Tim in foreground, buddy in background. Little Pikes Peak in they way back.

Tim Schardt, RO Staff, has been a bike technician in Colorado Springs for years. His favorite ride in all of Colorado is the Pikes Peak Plummet. He’s done this 28 mile bad boy over 40 times! And this is how he does it:

Tim drives up the Pikes Peak Highway, getting to the toll gate around 7:30 a.m. He likes to drive to the summit for some photo ops. It’s one of the highest places in North America where one can take a bicycle!

Tim’s whip.

Then, he rides 2 miles down the toll road to Devil’s Playground and the Elk Park Trailhead. Fun facts from Tim!: From 1939 to 1984, Elk Park had a ski lift. And an old growth forest with 800-900 year old pine trees is nearby as well. Elk Park Trail goes for 8-10 miles before hitting Barr Camp. 

Tim likes to chat it up with the Park Ranger at Barr Camp and have a few leftover pancakes the Barr Camp staff make for campers each morning. 

From there, he hits the Lake Moraine Trail for 3 miles. The 1st mile is nice and flowy and the 2nd two miles have 1,200 feet of climbing. 

Then he hits Jones Park before hopping on the iconic #667 trail, also known as Captain Jacks. He takes Gold Camp Road before hitting up the famous upper and lower Chutes. Lastly, he winds his way through Stratton Open Space to his car chillin’ in the parking lot. 

It’s a 4-6 hour ride - depending how hard Tim hustles. A long but breathtaking day!

If you need someone to arrange a ride for The Plummet, give Tim a call. 719 641 9528   

A Spiritual Experience: Ascending Colorado's 14ers

Blanca Peak

People enter into the wilderness for different reasons. Some crave the solitude and slower pace. Others love being out there with friends and talking about life - with beauty as their backdrop. For Pastor Kevin Feldotto, it is a time to be with God - of prayer, meditation, and developing next week's sermon in his head. 

Originally from Nebraska, Kevin moved to Colorado Springs in 1989 to help start a church. A few years later, he started trail running and eventually did the Pikes Peak Marathon. And then, he did it eleven more times. 

Little Bear/Blanca Traverse

Even after all the trail running, it didn’t dawn on him to start climbing Fourteeners (a 14,000 ft. peak) until 2013. Nine years later, he’s done Pikes Peak 75 times.

As a pastor, he has Fridays off…and while his wife worked, he often would make a quick summit of Pikes. It is one of his favorite Fourteeners as he has met lots of interesting folks on Barr Trail and at Barr Camp.  

By summer of 2022, Kevin had completed 48 of the 58 Fourteeners.

At first, he did the easier ones - afraid of those with lots of exposure. But as he honed his skills as a rock climber, he gained more confidence to do the class 3 and 4 Fourteeners. Even as an experienced hiker now, he still does a ton of research on each Fourteener, is careful not to be overconfident, and always takes someone with him on the more difficult climbs. 

This Fall (2022), he is taking a sabbatical and hopes to do the rest of the Fourteeners, including the last one with his daughter and son who are in their 20s. When he hikes with others, it is still a rejuvenating time of introspection and enjoying God’s creation. At age 63, he will become one of roughly 1,400 people who have climbed all of Colorado’s Fourteeners. 

Northstar

Kevin is a campus pastor at Woodmen Valley Chapel Southwest.