BikeDenver is pleased to introduce you to Broox Pulford, our March choice for Bike Hero of the Month!  Our Bike Hero awards help showcase the diversity of citizen-cyclists and the people who support them in Denver.  BikeDenver’s Bike Hero of the Month Program highlights one person each month, and helps encourage people to bike by telling their personal story.

 

Meet Broox Pulford: Broox is a founder and organizer of Denver’s weekly Loops ride, a Tuesday night bike ride in central Denver, and he’s also the mastermind behind XRockstheSpot, a website that helps unite the bike community and share information about biking, art and entertainment.
What’s the Loops ride?  The ride covers approximately 15 to 20 miles and makes 3 to 4 stops along the way. The route changes every week, and riders are encouraged to ride at their own pace and then meet at the stops that are posted on xrocksthespot.com the day of the ride. The ride meets every Tuesday night at Crema Coffee House (29th & Larimer). Though it is often called a “fixed-gear ride”, cyclists of all ages and types are encouraged to come, and every week there are people on any variety of bicycles.
 
What is XRocksTheSpot?  The site was created by Broox to be an outlet for everybody in the Denver community to share what is happening in their world and provide a place to promote local bands, events, and companies.  While Broox uses the site and brand name to promote bike events that he organizes, he says the main purpose of the site is to be inclusive and share information.  Anybody can contact Broox to get a username and password for the site to get the word out about shows, bike events or other ”happenings”.  
Why Broox rides:  Broox says “I ride a bike to commute and for fun. I enjoy riding because it helps me to block my mind from all the other things I’ve got going on. It helps me to concentrate on one thing,  pedaling, and for some reason that is very peaceful for me. I like learning new tricks and thinking about how I can pull off new tricks that I’ve been working on. When I’m riding I’m getting some exercise without even really considering it “working out.” Overall I like it because it’s something that is almost completely free entertainment that I can enjoy with my friends. Over time bicycles have become an obsession of sorts for me. Buying new components, figuring out how to replace the old one with the new one, swapping out a 16T cog for a 15T cog just to feel the difference. This obsession has pushed me to continue to ride Loops and pushes me to put on big free events that promote cycling because it is truly something that everyone can enjoy.”
Broox on the benefits of bicycling and the bicycle community:  ”I like to support and encourage other people to ride because if everyone rode a bike there would be less green house emissions, it would lessen our dependency on oil, and there would be less of a problem with obesity in our country. I encourage cycling because I love riding so much I might as well share that with my friends. I’m a big supporter of group rides because I figure instead of paying money to sit and watch a movie, go bowling, playing golf, etc… we could go ride our bikes for free and enjoy each other’s company on a peaceful plane of existence with our cadence synchronized like a living organism’s heartbeat. The Loops ride often feels like that, a living organism that depends on its cyclist counterparts to continue breathing. I think the cycling community is a community of camaraderie where we all enjoy watching one another excel and push one another to be better.  Another great thing about bicycling is that as an individual you can choose how much or how little you’d like to ride. If you choose you can pretty much ride every single day (especially in Colorado) or you can ride once a year and it is still a healthy way to have a little fun.  
Background on Broox: Broox is from Albuquerque, NM but moved to Denver to attend The Art Institute and earn a degree in Graphic Design. He lives in Capitol Hill and at this moment, there are 6 bicycles taking over the living room of the apartment he shares with his girlfriend, their roommate, and their dog, Captain. All are avid bicyclists and spend most of their free time working on, talking about, staring at, or riding their bikes. If they made a bike a dog could ride, Captain would assuredly bicycle around town with them.
BikeDenver’s Executive Director Piep van Heuven says: “We introduced the Bike Hero awards because we want to encourage a friendly environment for and public image of bicyclists in Denver.  One of the ways we can do this is to showcase the different faces of and great stories about people in our community, like Broox, who ride bikes and help others get out there and ride.  The Bike Hero awards will help BikeDenver honor bicyclists of all ages and walks of life, from the first time bicyclist to the rain or shine bicyclist!  We all know people (our neighbors, co-workers, family members or community leaders) who inspire us to reach for the handlebars instead of the car keys. Take a moment to look around you and help BikeDenver recognize the people in our community who are making a difference for Denver, one ride at a time!”

To nominate a Bike Hero, please send a photo and a brief description of why you think they should be recognized (100 words or less) to info(at)bikedenver.org.

Our Bike Heros get a nifty certificate, the public notoriety of being named a Bike Hero, and a $50 gift card from supporter Bicycle Village!

BikeDenver is Denver’s bicycle advocacy organization. BikeDenver promotes and encourages bicycling in Denver and works to make Denver a better place to ride your bike. Why? Because it’s healthy for you, and healthy for Denver. www.bikedenver.org
Bicycle Village has been a Colorado owned and operated business for more than 30 years. From modest beginnings in an 1800 square ft. building in West Denver, Bicycle Village has grown into the largest bicycle retailer in the Rockies. www.bicyclevillage.com
See BikeDenver’s PSA’s and learn about the great reasons to ride in Denver: “Priceless” “Why I Ride”
You can help make Denver’s streets safer for people like Broox by becoming a BikeDenver member: Join BikeDenver!  Want to hear our zippy new radio PSAs? Click here.