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Tim Watkins’ last ride: Unresolved murder of Palmer Lake mountain biking icon leaves community deeply unsettled
On his last ride on the mountain he loved, Tim Watkins set off on an unseasonably warm September morning up the grinding, steady climb of well-traveled Mount Herman Road. From there, he had options.
He could grip his handlebars and take Stoopid Trail, the rocky and rollicking descent back into Monument. Or he could pedal on and drop into Limbaugh Canyon, where golden aspen and towering ponderosa sheltered meandering Monument Creek and a trail alongside it built for speed.
Not only had Watkins traversed this backcountry hundreds of times, he helped develop and maintain these very trails. He was the man, in fact, who'd drawn the area's best-known map.
And he cared for this terrain like a pastor for his parish - a devotion born of a horrific Forest Service accident he suffered years earlier that mangled both of his feet and ankles, leaving him barely able to walk, much less run or hike.
On two wheels, he found his spirituality and inner peace.
And on this particular ride, there is every reason to think his spirits were buoyed. After an extended period of seemingly intractable disagreement, he and his wife, Ginger Chase-Watkins, were freshly reconciled and had made plans to visit one of their favorite places, Crested Butte, where they hoped to start anew.
He set off on the ride Thursday.
Their wedding anniversary was the coming Monday.
Tim Watkins never came back.
[...]
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On his last ride on the mountain he loved, Tim Watkins set off on an unseasonably warm September morning up the grinding, steady climb of well-traveled Mount Herman Road. From there, he had options.
He could grip his handlebars and take Stoopid Trail, the rocky and rollicking descent back into Monument. Or he could pedal on and drop into Limbaugh Canyon, where golden aspen and towering ponderosa sheltered meandering Monument Creek and a trail alongside it built for speed.
Not only had Watkins traversed this backcountry hundreds of times, he helped develop and maintain these very trails. He was the man, in fact, who'd drawn the area's best-known map.
And he cared for this terrain like a pastor for his parish - a devotion born of a horrific Forest Service accident he suffered years earlier that mangled both of his feet and ankles, leaving him barely able to walk, much less run or hike.
On two wheels, he found his spirituality and inner peace.
And on this particular ride, there is every reason to think his spirits were buoyed. After an extended period of seemingly intractable disagreement, he and his wife, Ginger Chase-Watkins, were freshly reconciled and had made plans to visit one of their favorite places, Crested Butte, where they hoped to start anew.
He set off on the ride Thursday.
Their wedding anniversary was the coming Monday.
Tim Watkins never came back.
[...]
Thread #1
Thread #2
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