The Dragon Wagon Rides Again

Blunck riding single speed from Denver to CB

By Dawne Belloise

This year marks the 20th anniversary of Adaptive Sports’ Bridges of the Butte, the costumed event that has townie bikes looping around the bridges of Crested Butte this September 8. During this four-hour townie tour, locals and others turn out to raise funds for the Adaptive Sports Center, which has helped hundreds of disabled, from burn victims to paraplegics to veterans with PTSD and others, get their lives and confidence back by showing them that life can once again be a fun adventure.

Michael Blunck, the father of the Dragon Wagon designed by his wife, Lisa, has raised significant funds for Adaptive over the years. This year, he’s taking on an even greater challenge as he’ll be riding from Denver’s Craig Hospital, Adaptive’s partner where many of the Adaptive participants have spent time in recovery and rehabilitation from their injuries. Michael will pedal approximately 235 miles to the Bridges of the Butte base camp in CB. The trip is expected to take eight days although Michael says he’s giving himself an extra two days to complete his course.

Going south to Chatfield Reservoir in southwest Denver, Michael will then head to Sedalia, Woodland Park, Hartsel and Buena Vista, from there, he’ll make the arduous climb up Cottonwood Pass, “The scariest part will be coming down Cottonwood in full Dragon with coaster brakes,” he says with a grin. Michael is leaving from Craig Hospital on Friday, August 30, with a planned arrival in CB on September 8, the last day of Bridges of the Butte. His Team Dragon support will be his wife, Lisa, and Scarlet the Mutt, following in their 25-foot Winnebago. 

To date for this year’s fundraiser, Michael has raised over $30,000 with another $11,000 committed. His goal is $100,000 during his historic ride. Michael tells that Dragon is a nickname slapped on him when he loudly chewed out one of the ski coaches who then admonished him with, “Whoa, Dragon.” After that, his sons and sons’ friends started calling him that, “Aaron would introduce me and say, ‘This is my dad, Dragon.’ All the kids still call me that,” he laughs. 

Unlike a lot of people in this town, Michael confesses that he’s not into costumes, “But I can dress my bike up,” says the self-described introverted geek who proudly dons the Dragon for Adaptive’s cause. About 15 years ago, he first rode the Bridges of the Butte 24-hour fundraiser for just a few hours. He then decided to ride the full 24 hours the following year. “I got into it,” he says, and that first year of circling for 24 hours put him at about 230 miles, close to his mileage coming from Denver this year. Michael says that 2019 was the last 24-hour event and Adaptive changed it to a two-week virtual challenge tour to accommodate COVID. “Either you could come up with your own challenge or they could.” For example, he tells that one kid rode the alphabet, one street per letter. “My challenge that year was to ride two hours every day on the bridges course,” and he’s done that for the last four years. “I’m trying to keep the spirit of the Bridges of the Butte alive, on my full Dragon bike.” 

Michael’s involvement, inspiration and dedication to Adaptive’s cause began 15 years ago. “A middle school friend of mine and his wife had their first child, Leo, who was born with severe cerebral palsy. He couldn’t walk or talk but he’s brilliant. Leo is now 15 and he became my inspiration to raise money for people with disabilities, realizing he’s going to have challenges his entire life. Having recreational opportunities provides both physical and mental benefits for him. Over the years, we’ve met other Adaptive participants and we’ve skied with them. We’ve watched peoples’ lives get better because of what Adaptive does.”

Michael feels strongly about the positive effects of Adaptive Sports’ programs and the money that the Bridges of the Butte raises definitely changes people’s lives. “I just heard a story about a guy who came with the Texas Shredders, a group of paraplegics who have been coming for a number of years. This guy came for the first time a year or so ago and since then has landed a dream job for himself from the confidence built by skiing and being a part of Adaptive. He has moved on from his life of being in a wheelchair,” Michael tells.

“The first time I ever saw the power of Adaptive was years ago when we had the Disabled American Veterans (DAV) come in and I was a lift op at the time. I met a guy who had been injured in Iran, and he was as depressed as a person could be when the local VA hospital asked him to give the DAV event a try. He didn’t want to, but by the end of the week, this soldier came up to me again and asked if I wanted to go skiing. We skied down Peachtree and he fell. I raced down to see if he was ok and looked up at me with a snowy smile and said, ‘Of course I’m ok, I’m a paraplegic and this is the most fun I’ve had, I’m having fun again.’ He realized he could still have fun and do things and have adventures again. And that’s what Adaptive does, it gives people the chance to live again and enjoy the things that some of us take for granted.”

Michael figures he’ll have some struggles riding from Denver, but he feels, “If these people can push their wheelchairs up the mountain at elevation, I can push my bike up Cottonwood Pass.”

 

Bridges of the Butte and the Adaptive Sports Center info can be found at adaptivesports.org. To donate to Michael Blunck’s Dragon ride fundraiser for Adaptive, go to give.adaptivesports.org