His favorite time was being out with a storm coming in and watching us running around preparing for it. We worked awfully hard, but we also saw his lighter side there, telling jokes and singing songs. 'I never saw him happier than when he was at hunting camp,'В Ed's son Tim Zink said. With water comes mosquitos, andВ EdВ worked on that problem as a board member and former president of Animas Mosquito Control.ДЄ lover of nature,В EdВ ran Waterfall Ranch Outfitters, an elk-hunting operation, for decades. He was a task force member of the State of Colorado Department of Resource's State Wide Water Supply Initiative. He was the Secretary/Treasurer of the Animas Consolidated Ditch Company for about 25 years and served on the board of the Animas Water Company for about 20 years. Water is a precious commodity in arid Southwest Colorado, andВ EdВ worked to preserve the quality and efficiently manage it throughout his life. Shortly before the World Mountain Bike Championships,В EdВ was a founder of Trails 2000 Now in its 30th year, Trails 2000 builds and maintains numerous trails in La Plata County and the high country, serves as an advocate for trail users with governmental agencies and educates trail users. He was also a member of the Bureau of Land Management's National Mountain Bike Task Force. An honorary official at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics for mountain bikingВ EdВ was awarded the Korbel Cup by USA Cycling in 1997 for Lifetime Achievement in Cycling. He was a member of USA Cycling for 28 years and served on its board for eight years. The IHBC has consistently supported cycling organizations in town, including Fort Lewis College Cycling, Durango Wheel Club and Durango Devo.Д«ecause of his experience with the IHBC,В EdВ served on the board of the National Off Road Bicycle Association for eight years, including as vice president. The experience led to hosting the National Mountain Bike Championships, World Cup and Collegiate National Championships through the almost 50 years since its inception. Because the sanctioning sponsor, the Union Cycliste Internationale, had decades of experience overseeing road bicycling events, but virtually none with mountain biking,В EdВ and his extensive group of sponsors and volunteers found themselves inventing the championships, not just holding them. Once the IHBC was up and running,В EdВ and the organization became involved in holding more events, including the first World Mountain Bike Championships in 1990.

'The Iron Horse came about not because he loved cycling, but because he owned a business downtown (Mountain Bike Specialists) and wondered what Durango could do to have an event in Rio Grande Land to get more people into town at the beginning of the summer,' Brian said. The Iron Horse, which pits bicyclists against the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad in its signature event, now brings in more than 4,000 people for the three-day event. He may be best known for his work in the bicycling community, which not only meant founding and volunteering for the second oldest, continuously running cycling event in the U.S., the IHBC, in 1972, but putting Durango on the map with the national and international biking community. Many people would be recognized for founding one lasting organization.В EdВ founded or co-founded four, the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic, Trails 2000, the San Juan Mountains Association and 4Core. And a big part of his service was being a visionary and a problem solver.' While the valley has been his early neighborhood, it extended to the world beyond. 'He was molded from being born in the Animas Valley at a time when neighboring community problems probably meant more than now. 11, 2019 'Most people know him from a few things, but many don't know everything he did because there was so much,' said his oldest son, Brian Zink.

1997 iron horse bike