We're a group of 120 avid mountain-biking Summit County seniors who enjoy singletrack riding several times a week in groups of 10 to 30. Needless to say, we cover many miles of our county's trails in a summer of riding.

We'd like to say "Thank you" to many people for providing us and all the residents of the County with such fantastic recreational opportunities! Summit County Government, from the BOCC down to the Planning Department, deserves a huge thanks for prioritizing both manpower and funding for open space and trails, which otherwise would be inaccessible and sacrificed to development.

Likewise, the towns, especially Breckenridge, have had a large impact on trail maintenance and development. We're able to ride and hike many miles of trails in the town of Breckenridge that long ago would have been lost except for the foresight of the Town Council and the hard work of the Open Space and Trails Department. Recently, several of us worked on a trail-building project in the Golden Horseshoe and had the good fortune to meet Scott Reid, Breckenridge's Trails Planner.

On Tuesday he guided a group of 20 of us on a wonderful bike tour of the new trail and gave us a good overview of the future of the Golden Horseshoe. The tour really drove home to us the deep level of commitment to open space and trails embraced by our local governments.

We'd also like to say thank you to the Forest Service for making the most of their thinly-funded budget, while still keeping trails in the national forest accessible and maintained. Finally, to the legions of volunteers who give thousands of hours each year on trail maintenance and building, we salute you and thank you for being so generous with your time.