Cyclists Image, Courtesy of Abe Medina

Shrikes and Bikes Mural, Credit Joni Mitchek

Cyclist at Homestead Farms Entrance, Credit Dan Skeeters

Union Pacific Roundhouse, Credit Jay Cooney

Bikes at Barn, Credit Jay Cooney

Native Grasses Display at Homestead Farms, Credit Jay Cooney

Success Story of the Month: Shrikes and Bikes

On June 6, Colorado’s inaugural Prairie Day, the Eastern Colorado Grasslands Coalition (ECGC) held a scenic gravel cycling experience through Lincoln County’s shortgrass prairie and the working lands it sustains.

This event, called Shrikes and Bikes, brought together 75 cyclists who connected with community members, observed prairie wildlife, learned from local agricultural producers, and experienced historic preservation sites along the way. One aid station was held at the fourth generation, family-run Homestead Farms, where riders had the unique opportunity to speak with the owners about the unique considerations of dryland farming in this semi-arid region. Shrikes and Bikes reflected the strong partnerships formed by the ECGC and demonstrated how stewardship is championed by the communities who call the prairie home. As part of the Regional Partnerships Initiative, the ECGC helps advance Colorado’s Outdoors Strategy and its vision for a future where our outdoors, people, community character and ways of life endure for generations to come. The next Shrikes and Bikes event is scheduled for June 4-5, 2027.

July Story

Societas Coloradensis Activitatum Subdialis (Colorado Outdoor Partnership) credit duces per Civitatem collaborare et res novas creare debere ut terrae et aquae nostrae privatae et publicae salubres maneant, ad sustentandas diversas nostras bestias, patrimonium externum et agriculturae, et salutem oeconomicam. Pollicemur promovendae momenti et curae terrarum et aquarum publicarum et privatarum ad sustentandam conservationem habitaculorum sustinendam et recreationem externam responsabilem. Pollicemur sustentare, emendare et corroborare pecunias publicas et privatas ad conservandas has opes. Nostra obligatio collaborativa significat Coloratum locum pulchrum et salubrem mansurum ad vivendum, laborandum et ludendum per futuras generationes.