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.
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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]