A-10 THE NEW MEXICAN Monday, October 25, 2010
400 Facts
SALIDA, COLO.
Cycling is the new driving
Easy-access trails
offer reason to ride
By Dave Philipps
The (Colorado Springs) Gazette
SALIDA, Colo. — It used
to be that one of the few
times you needed a car in this
mountain town was when you
wanted to go biking.
Not anymore.
Salida is one of the most
bike-friendly towns in the
state. The community of 5,500
people is small and flat, so
everything from work to gro-
ceries is reachable by pedal
power. And finding a parking
space downtown is a pain
compared with finding a bike
rack.
So a number of locals ride
almost everywhere. Old Sch-
winns and custom chrome
cruisers lean against seemingly
every bike rack and light pole.
Creaking townie clunkers and
sleek titanium single speeds
mix with traffic on the streets.
Until recently, the only
things not convenient by bike
were the bike trails.
But Salida is working fever-
ishly to change that. Locals
have been working to create
trail systems that start at the
edge of town. Now many of
the trails are open and ready
for riding, no car required.
“When I first moved here in
1999 there were two choices
for bikers: expert rides that
were far away or a concrete
path,” said Shawn Gillis,
owner of Absolute Bikes in
Salida. “We wanted to find
something in between.”
He spotted the answer out
the back door of the bike
shop: dry, grassy hills dotted
with juniper, across the roil-
ing Arkansas and just blocks
from downtown.
Gillis and other locals, who
call themselves Salida Moun-
tain Trails, started drawing up
a network of trails and learn-
ing the language of local and
federal land managers in 2004.
“It was five years before we
put a shovel in the ground,”
said Gillis.
Environmental studies had
to be done. Money had to be
found. Plans had to be sub-
mitted and approved. But lit-
tle by little the Arkansas Hills
Trail System took shape.
On a recent afternoon, a
group of riders meeting in
downtown Salida had only to
pedal a few blocks past the
Boathouse Cantina, and over
a bridge spanning the Arkan-
sas, to hit narrow dirt trails.
Leading the group were
Chaz Golin, 11, and his sister
Melia, 13, followed by their
father, Daniel Golin, one of
the army of volunteers who
made the trail system a reality.
The kids had just gotten off
Ariz. to disclose some execution drug info
The Associated Press
PHOENIX — Arizona’s
response to a federal judge’s
order will disclose the May
2014 expiration date of the
knockout drug to be used
in an execution, but not the
drug’s manufacturer, a pros-
ecutor said Sunday.
The response today also
will say that the state got its
supply of sodium thiopental
through processes authorized
by federal Customs and Food
and Drug Administration
officials, Assistant Attorney
General Kent Cattani said.
Also, it will ask U.S. District
Judge Roslyn Silver to recon-
sider her order for disclosure
of additional information,
including the manufacturer of
the sodium thiopental, which
is in short supply nationally.
Death row inmate Jeffrey
Landrigan’s lawyers contend
that use of an ineffective
drug could violate his rights
by causing him to suffocate
Today’s question: What popular
on Santa Fe
Courtesy of the 400th
Anniversary Committee
Daniel Golin rides above the new Arkansas Hills Trail System in Salida, Colo. Salida is
one of the most bike-friendly towns in the state, with everything from work to groceries
reachable by pedal power. PHOTOS BY CHRISTIAN MURDOCK/THE GAZETTE
school and rode their bikes
straight to the trails. Friends
joined them for the ride.
They turned onto a trail
called Frontside that tacks up
the south face of a 600-foot
hill called S Mountain — so
named because the residents
of Salida built a big white “S”
near the top.
Then they sped onto a trail
called Backbone and flew
along a fast, contouring chain
of turns that weaves through
the junipers. They stopped
to catch their breath at an
overlook of the grid of streets
below and the mountains
beyond.
Salida’s new trail system is
designed a bit like a ski resort,
with wide, easy “green” trails
near the bottom, intermediate
“blue” trails slightly farther
out, and expert “black” trails
up at the farthest reaches.
Every intersection is clearly
signed and the trails are
designed with no water bars
or other features that could
deteriorate over time.
“This used to be the domain
of just a few gnarly mountain
bikers with secret trails. Not
anymore,” said Daniel Golin.
“The kids love it, and not just
the kids. People run up here.
They walk their dogs up here.
It is so accessible.”
The community cobbled
together the eight-mile sys-
tem. The trail group holds
regular Saturday “shindigs”
where volunteers dig trail and
are rewarded with barbecues
and punch cards good for dis-
counts at local businesses.
The city has also chipped
in, spending at least $20,000
on professional crews to com-
plete portions of trail. Church
and school groups, as well as
large trail-focused nonprofits
such as Volunteers for Out-
door Colorado, all lent a hand.
There is even a prison work
painfully if he isn’t rendered
unconscious before receiving
other execution drugs.
Barring a stay, Landrigan is
scheduled for execution on
Tuesday.
Silver’s order issued Sat-
urday night said information
about the sodium thiopental,
including its maker and expi-
ration date, aren’t covered by
a state law requiring confiden-
tiality of executioners and oth-
ers involved with executions
to protect them from harass-
ment, as the state had argued.
“It is simply incongruous to
suggest this law prohibits dis-
closure of either the manufac-
turer of the drug or packaging
information such as a lot
number or expiration date,”
Silver wrote. She ordered
the required disclosures to
be made “immediately” but
didn’t set a specific deadline.
The state’s response to be
filed early today will argue
that Silver’s order goes too far
because a 2008 U.S. Supreme
LOCAL & REGION
pre-Territorial gambling pastime
did women in Santa Fe enjoy?
Check back tomorrow for the answer.
Chaz Golin, 11, front, and Gunnar Shore, 12, foreground,
ride the Backbone trail toward Salida, Colo., on Sept. 29.
crew planned to swing some
picks this fall.
Overall, volunteers have con-
tributed more than 1,500 hours.
“They have done tremen-
dous work,” said Gillis. “I can
look out the back of the bike
shop on a summer day now
and see more riders in one
afternoon than I did in the
first year I lived here.”
The benefits of the system
are two-fold. First, it gives
locals a convenient way to
ride, run or walk in hills that
for years were barely visited.
Second, it offers visitors some
options.
“Not everyone can ride
the Monarch Crest,” said
Gillis, referring to a demand-
ing route on the Continental
Divide that often graces lists
of best mountain bike trails in
the country. “It used to be we
Court decision on Kentucky’s
execution protocol said courts
aren’t to become “boards
of inquiry” into execution
details, said Cattani, the state’s
top death penalty lawyer.
The disclosures in the
state’s response will cover all
three execution drugs used by
Arizona, he said.
The state had refused to
release much information
about the supply, initially
saying only it had obtained
enough from a lawful source.
Then Cattani said during
questioning by Arizona
Supreme Court justices dur-
ing a hearing Wednesday that
the drug wasn’t made by the
sole U.S. manufacturer.
The state Supreme Court
refused to order the state to
make disclosures sought by
Landrigan, and his lawyers
filed a federal lawsuit Thurs-
day.
Landrigan was sentenced
to death in 1990 on a felony
murder conviction for the
Yesterday’s question: Which building in Santa Fe is named for a Native
American president and where is it? Answer: The Wendell Chino building (1220
S. St. Francis Drive) is named for the influential and controversial president of the Mes-
calero Apache Nation who was born in 1923 (one year before the U.S. Congress granted
American citizenship to all Native Americans.) To learn more about this topic, read New
Mexican Lives: Profiles and Historical Stories, by Richard W. Etulain, UNM Press, 2002.
only had that or some pretty
boring bike paths.
“The Arkansas Hills are
something intermediate, but
fun. This way, if you come
with a group of riders, some
can spend a day on the Crest
and some can ride here, then
maybe meet in town to get a
bite to eat.”
The push to expand trails
is not limited to the Arkansas
Hills. This fall a hired crew is
building a five-mile beginner
trail, called Little Rainbow,
through the hills on the south
side of town.
And the group hopes the
network will keep expanding.
There’s already a trail snaking
northwest from town toward
the Pike-San Isabel National
Forest. How vast and intercon-
nected it could get is anyone’s
guess.
1989 strangulation and stab-
bing death of Chester Dyer of
Phoenix in a killing that pros-
ecutors said was motivated by
robbery.
Landrigan’s lawyers said
the state’s disclosure that its
sodium thiopental came from
a source not authorized by
the federal Food and Drug
Administration means it
came from a foreign source
and raises questions about the
drug supply’s effectiveness.
In her order Saturday
night, Silver said she hadn’t
yet decided whether to
grant Landrigan’s request
to block the execution or
even whether Arizona can
use a drug from a non-FDA
approved source. She said
she needs more information
about the drug supply to
make those determinations.
Silver’s order also canceled
a hearing she had scheduled
today on the drug issue.
The execution would be
Arizona’s first since 2007.
Police notes
The Santa Fe Police
Department is investigating
the following reports:
u Officials of Campanilla
Compound Association, 334
gating the following reports:
u An unidentified teenager suf-
fered a laceration to his neck
Saturday when he was struck
with a bottle by another person
Otero Road, told police over the
weekend that the company lost
at a party on County Road 62
north of N.M. 599. No details
$1,000 to someone who gave
false information to get hired
were available.
u A bicycle, a spool of copper
and then fraudulently used a wire and an aluminum camper
company credit card. shell were stolen recently from
a home on Boneyard Road near
u Margarito Delarosa-Perez, 33,
of Santa Fe was arrested Satur- Arroyo Seco. It is unknown
day on charges of aggravated exactly when the items were
assault and battery on a house- taken. The value of the property
hold member after he allegedly was estimated at about $1,500.
held a knife to the throat of a u Mesha Delgado, 40, of Espa-
woman and threatened to kill ñola was arrested Saturday on a
her. The victim was hit and charge of battering her ex-boy-
scratched on the face, accord- friend during an argument at a
ing to the police report. home on La Puebla Road near
u Two bicycles worth a total U.S. 84/285.
of $2,800 and jewelry valued
at $2,500 were stolen late Fri- DWI arrest
day or early Saturday from a u Jose Reyes-Salgado, 33, of
home in the 600 block of Alarid Santa Fe was arrested by Santa
Street. Fe police Friday on charges of
u A woman told police recently driving under the influence and
that someone with the same
failure to have a driver’s license
name used her information to after reports say he was pulled
obtain medical attention. over on Cerrillos Road after
u A CD player was taken Satur- weaving from lane to lane.
day from a 1992 Subaru Legacy
parked in the 800 block of Speed SUV
Los Lovatos. The suspect was
described as a skinny male in u Today’s location of the Santa
his mid 20s, about 5-foot-5 with Fe Police Department’s mobile
a long, narrow face. speed enforcement vehicle: Ata-
u Someone stole a bank laya Elementary School, 7:25 to
8:15 a.m. and 2:10 to 2:55 p.m.,
deposit bag with an undisclosed
amount of money Saturday then on Gonzales Road.
from an office at Milagro 139,
Help lines
139 W. San Francisco St.
u Justin Guilez, 19, of Santa Esperanza Shelter for Bat-
Fe was arrested Saturday on tered Families hot line: 800-
a charge of aggravated bat- 473-5220
tery and assault with a deadly St. Elizabeth Shelter for
weapon after he allegedly men, women and children:
attacked a woman at a home in 982-6611
the 100 block of Mann Street. New Mexico suicide preven-
u Eduardo Sandoval, 18, was tion hot line: 866-435-7166
arrested Saturday on suspicion Solace Crisis Treatment Cen-
of possession of cocaine, drug ter: 986-9111, 800-721-7273 or
paraphernalia and being a minor TTY 471-1624
under the influence of drugs or Police and fire emergency:
alcohol. 911
The Santa Fe County Sher- Graffiti hot line: 955-CALL
iff’s Department is investi- (2255)
Funeral services
and memorials
Express Your
Condolences
Visit obituaries online to
read or sign guestbooks,
donate to charities or send
flowers or gifts.
legacy.com/obituaries/
santafenewmexican/
JOE B. SOSA
Joe B. Sosa, 86, passed
away on September 29, 2010.
Those who wish to send con-
dolences may do so at
www.danielsfuneral.com. Joe’s
care has been entrusted to:
Daniels Family
Funeral Services
7601 Wyoming Blvd NE
Albuquerque, NM 87109
(505)821-0010
PABLITA “POLLY” BACA
Passed away on Thursday, October 21, 2010,
at her home in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
She was preceded in death by her; father: Es-
quipula Baca; mother: Teresita Baca; sister: An-
nie Gonzales, and brother: Felix Baca.
Polly is survived by her; sister: Filomena Baca;
son: David Baca (Alexandra Nelson); daughter:
Patricia Romero (Alvin); grandsons: Jesse Benavi-
dez (Tabitha Aguino), Vincent Romero; grand-
daughters: Rebecca Romero, Sarah Romero, and
Rachel Romero; special niece: Frances Moreno
(Fred) of El Paso, TX; many more loving nieces
and nephews, relatives and friend, and her dear friend Louisa
Varela.
Polly was known as a very hard worker, a wonderful cook and for
her love of flowers and especially for her wonderful sense of hu-
mor. She will be greatly missed by all who knew her.
A Rosary will be held Monday, October 25, 2010, 7 p.m. at
McGee Memorial Chapel. Mass will be celebrated on Tuesday, Oc-
tober 26, 11 a.m. at St. Anne Catholic Church. Interment will fol-
low at Memorial Gardens Cemetery.
Arrangements are under the direction of
Berardinelli Family Funeral Service
1399 Luisa Street, Santa Fe, NM 87505
(505)984-8600
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