A number of Indy staff headed out today to shoot the USA Pro Cycling Challenge as it hit downtown Colorado Springs as the cyclists crossed the finish line and the winners took the podium.

• Kirsten Akens
• Tyler Farrar for the Stage 5 win.

Here's a slideshow of shots from Kirsten Akens, Matthew Schniper and Fran Zankowski.

After climbing Independence Pass and descending into Aspen yesterday, all Michael Creed could think about was coming back up that pass today.

“The whole time, I’m just like — I was getting depressed,” he says. “I was like, fuck, this is gonna be horrific.”

So maybe he just wanted a distraction this morning, before starting Stage 4 of the USA Pro Cycling Challenge. Regardless, the Colorado Springs-based professional cyclist — who started the day at No. 24 in the race standings — graciously checked in a few hours ago to confirm that his @COFireSale has shattered his $20,000 fundraising goal.

“I think when all is said and done, it’s gonna be on the doorstep of $35,000,” he says.

• OPC
• Michael Creed

Creed says about 70 cyclists and cycling organizations donated a cumulative total of approximately 100 items to the Fire Sale, the post-Waldo Canyon Fire eBay auction he set up to raise money for the Pikes Peak Red Cross. Among them are a few items still for sale online; Creed adds that a few other items came in late and haven’t yet been put online.

One item that has already been claimed is Tejay Van Garderen’s white jersey from the Tour de France, given to the best young rider at the Tour.

“I mean, that was his first year ever having it, so it’s probably a pretty precious item to him,” Creed says. “And he gave it away.”

That jersey alone raised $2,000, a large chunk of the $33,000-plus collected to date.

Creed, who’s lived in Colorado Springs since he was 12, says he initially shot for $20,000 even though the goal seemed “ridiculous”; to hit $35,000 is deeply satisfying.

But he says he’s basically dropped his initial vision of handing over a big check to the Red Cross after Stage 5 ends here tomorrow. For one thing, all the money is going to the Red Cross automatically, through the eBay site. But also, “Ultimately, it sounded kind of selfish,” he says.

Instead, the member of the Optum Pro Cycling presented by Kelly Benefit Strategies team says, “I’m just gonna try to race really hard into town.

“I mean, it’s a long shot to win the stage, ‘cause it’s gonna be kind of a sprinter’s stage, and I’m not much of a sprinter, but I’m definitely gonna try to win that stage, you know?”

If you’re interested in cheering him on, or saying thanks, or both, watch for the black-white-and-orange jerseys tomorrow.

——- ORIGINAL POST, AUG. 11, 2:35 P.M. ——-

Plenty of people are hoping that this year's much-televised USA Pro Cycling Challenge, which will come through the Pikes Peak region Aug. 24, will help potential visitors forget about the scary images from the Waldo Canyon Fire. But at least one local is enlisting the cycling community to help people remember, and raise money.

• ebay
• Up for bid: A Lance Armstrong-signed Tour de France map.

That's Michael Creed, a fascinating and accomplished cyclist in his own right, who's started COFireSale (@cofiresale). It's an eBay auction of high-level gear, signed cycling memorabilia and other stuff, donated by all kinds of cycling types, that will be routing all proceeds to the Pikes Peak Chapter of the American Red Cross.

As Creed, a 17-year Springs resident, put it in an email to us:

To be able to hand the local Red Cross a check for 20k at the finish of the USA Pro Cycling Challenge stage in Colorado Springs would be amazing. To show the local community that the cyclist and bike races are more than traffic delays, and funny men in spandex. We give back when it's needed.

A look at his eBay page shows that a few days remain to make bids. For more, check out this velonews.com story about his effort, which notes that 2011 Pro Cycling champ Levi Leipheimer and Colorado-bred Olympian Timmy Duggan have stepped up to join the donors.

Cafe Velo was hopping last night with a visit by retired Italian pro-cyclist Mario Cipollini.

As part of an open house at the bike/coffee shop that raised dollars for Care and Share Food Bank for Southern Colorado's Waldo Canyon Fire fund, Cipollini signed silent-auction items and made the rounds, smiling for fans' cameras.

• Kirsten Akens
• Cipollini chats while iPhones capture his every move.

For those not familiar with the 45-year-old cyclist, Cipollini was one of the top sprinters of his time. Between 1989 and 2003, he won a total of 42 stages in the Giro d'Italia, 12 in the Tour de France, 11 in the Tour de Romandie, and seven in Paris-Nice. He's recognized as being the rider who developed the sprint train, basically a process by which a team of cyclists work together as they close in on the finish line to keep their team's sprinter at the front of the race — something we'll likely get to see in action here Friday during the final moments of the USA Pro Cycling Challenge's Stage 5

As he told the crowd last night, however, Cipollini feels his greatest accomplishment was winning the 2002 World Cycling Championships.

• Kirsten Akens
• Cafe Velo owner Chris Witt with Cipollini.

Last night wasn't the only chance to connect with Cipollini. Die-hard cyclists who would like to ride with him Friday morning through the Garden of the Gods can do so — for $500. It benefits the Local Organizing Committee of the Challenge, and gives you a bunch of other perks. Details below. Register ASAP by e-mailing here.

Today's the day, people.

You know, the one we were talking about big time here last week.

The 2012 USA Pro Cycling Challenge has arrived.

And live coverage via the tour tracker starts now.

Don't worry about watching it at your desk. We've already talked to all of your bosses and they're cool with it.

Enjoy the ride.

• They're all waiting on you to tune in.

Last night Chris Jenkins, president of the Pikes Peak Cycling Society, kicked off the local 2012 USA Pro Cycling Challenge season with some festivities at Carmichael Training Systems.

• Kirsten Akens
• Chris Jenkins, left, chats with John Crandall, Old Town Bike Shop owner, at the USA Pro Cycling Challenge kickoff.

The event, in its second year, will cross the state between Aug. 20 and 26, beginning in Durango and ending once again in Denver. Colorado Springs will host the finish of Stage 5 on Aug. 24, which will start that morning in Breckenridge and finish with three circuits around downtown that afternoon. While the riders are not expected to hit the Springs until 3 or 4 p.m., the downtown core will begin celebrating at 11 a.m. with music, an expo, the obligatory beer gardens and other activities.

• Kirsten Akens
• The Stage 5 map for Colorado Springs; click to enlarge.

In 2011, the Challenge brought $83 million to the state, and per Jenkins and others at the event, the community is ready for an even bigger year than last. So far, five of the top 10 riders at the 2012 Tour de France have confirmed that they will be in attendance. While TdF winner Bradley Wiggins has not yet confirmed, the Challenge is still in pursuit of the first Brit to win the Tour. "Wiggo" must first tackle winning gold for his country with his four road-racing teammates at the 2012 London Olympics tomorrow.

As for the Springs, the T-shirts are ready.

• Kirsten Akens
• Get ready to don your Colorado Springs Stage 5 tees.

As are the cowbells.

• Kirsten Akens
• More cowbell, please.

Now we just need the riders.

Social media's a wonderful thing, and the Olympics are pretty great too, so enjoy the combination of the two by firing up your typing fingers and hitting one of these Facebook or Twitter sessions. Various athletes from Team USA are available until 3 p.m. MST.

What do tennis, golf and Ultimate [Frisbee] all have in common?

From July 5 through 8, the co-ed, invitation-only tournament will play host to the highest-level Ultimate teams from the U.S., Canada and even Colombia — which, apparently, has a robust Ultimate Frisbee culture, with three of its teams making the journey to the Springs.

Tickets cost $10 per day, with a 4-day pass setting you back $30.

• COURTESY USA Ultimate

One of the teams competing in the Open division is Denver/Boulder’s own Johnny Bravo squad. Co-captain Josh Ackely says he expects a challenge.

“I expect this tournament to be just as competitive, if not more competitive, than the World Championships," he says. "There will be no easy games.”

• COURTESY USA Ultimate

But there’s more to the U.S. Open than just a tournament. More like a, “celebration of our mission,” says USA Ultimate CEO Tom Crawford, “to bring the entire community together.” During the days that follow, coaches, players and other community stakeholders in America’s fastest-growing sport will enjoy a convention at the Antlers Hilton, and host demos of the game for kids, who can then try it out for themselves.

USA Ultimate clearly hopes that some locals will wind up as hooked as Crawford says he was when he first saw the sport played at a high level.

But what story would be complete without tales of the fire mucking up everybody's July 4th plans?

The group had coordinated its first-day festivities to co-inside with the Air Force Academy's Independence Day celebration at Falcon Stadium, including a demo of the sport's best-of-the-best, doing what they do. This, sadly, is one more victim of the Waldo Canyon Fire. The tournament itself was also quickly moved from the Air Force Academy athletic fields to Fountain Valley School in the southeast part of town.

Today is Go Skateboarding Day, a worldwide celebration for anyone brave (or crazy, depending on whom you ask) enough to attempt an ollie, swing a kickturn or grind some rails. Rumors were swirling around Twitter that the new vert ramp and mini-ramp currently being installed at Memorial Park Skateboard Park would be ready in time for revelers to tear it up today, but rumors are sadly often just that. This is what the vert ramp looked like yesterday afternoon:

• This ramp is taking shape, but it obviously needs more than a day's work.

One skater told me it would need at least another week. According to Sk8-Strong, the Colorado Springs-based nonprofit organization responsible for the $200,000 ramps that will be donated to the City of Colorado Springs upon completion, the project will wrap up in July. Construction has yet to begin on the mini-ramp.

While you wait, you can still skate around the completed 40,000-foot park today for its skating competitions, prizes, vendors, food and live music from bands Aesthetic Delirium, Inelements, Tree of Woe and Malakai until 9 p.m.

• From Sk8-Strong's website: conception art of the completed ramps.

• Flickr/ilovemypit
• A view of the outfield walls at Security Service Field.

Security Service Field, where the Triple-A Colorado Springs Sky Sox play, has been a hot topic recently, with Mayor Steve Bach saying he'd love to move the team from its northeast location to downtown. It would be great for locals in the area looking for something to do after 5 p.m., and developers who own land around some of the various proposed sites would cash in like it's payday.

But there's another reason to move the outfields off the outskirts: it's, like, crazy windy out there.

For years, the main problem for the team, as well as its Major League Baseball affiliate in Denver, was the altitude and the mountain climate: It was drying out baseballs, making them imminently crushable through the thin air. The Colorado Rockies installed a humidor at Coors Field about a decade ago and saw a regression from football-level scores, and the Sky Sox finally followed suit this year.

So, all the problem are solved, right? Eh, not exactly.

"This park itself is an absolute joke," Sky Sox pitcher Carlos Torres told the Denver Post on Saturday. "Humidor or not, it's bad. More so, it has to do with wind. If the wind is blowing out, the thing is going to fly out a trillion and a half miles. I never saw pre-humidor, but even with the humidor, the ball is still flying all over the place here."

Batters see the opposite problem, reported the Gazette's Brian Gomez last week.

“The scores of the games are down, and the times of the games are down, so it must be doing something,” Sky Sox outfielder Tim Wheeler said. “It’s good for pitchers, I guess.” Recovered from an injured hand, Wheeler struck a ball Monday “that I hit good enough, a lot of parks, it would have been a homer,” he said. “But the wind was howling in, too.”

So, with the humidor issue taken care of, it seems there are still some downsides out there. This is particularly relevant, because Rockies upper management has mentioned potentially looking at other teams and Triple-A cities to partner with because grading up-and-coming players is nearly impossible considering local outside factors. That would mean the Sky Sox having another parent club to serve as Triple-A affiliate.

Of course, Sky Sox ownership has objected to any kind of move for one simple reason: the park's paid off and doing better than ever attendance-wise.

A press release today from the 2012 USA Pro Cycling Challenge announced this year's race route, mostly touting the record-breaking elevation gains and crazy-ass mountain passes the riders will once again have to endure.

My colleague J. Adrian Stanley already posted on this earlier today, but I wanted to follow up with more details of this year's course finish in downtown Colorado Springs.

The release included a map of the Stage 5 Colorado Springs finish, which will be reminiscent of last year's prologue course, in that it winds through Garden of the Gods and into downtown. But this year's course differs by coming off Colorado Avenue and heading north on Cascade Avenue into Colorado College, before turning back down Tejon Street into a Colorado Avenue finish. Should be great for fitting a ton of spectators comfortably into downtown.

If the screen shot below doesn't cut it for you, take a look here where you can zoom in for detail: 12_COS_Route.pdf

• Matthew Schniper
• In last year's inaugural USA Pro Cycling race, bike enthusiasts turned out in large numbers downtown.

Stage 5: Breckenridge to Colorado Springs – Friday, Aug. 24
Stage 5 will see two returning host cities, but in new roles. A rude awakening is the only way to describe the start of Stage 5 in Breckenridge. After a short flat section through downtown, the riders will have to face the daunting 10-mile climb up Hoosier Pass, which tops out at 11,500 ft. The summit is followed by a fast descent into Fairplay and with that, the high mountains are left behind and a day for the sprinters and breakaway specialists awaits. A fast rush across Colorado’s high plains end with a Sprint Line in Woodland Park where the riders may hit their fastest speeds of the week, and from there they continue downhill to Colorado Springs through the shadow of Pikes Peak. Once in Colorado Springs the route will take a technical uphill run through the Garden of the Gods, home of the 2011 Prologue. >From there the route takes a quick downhill run to downtown for the 2012 race’s only finishing circuits. With the peloton passing through the finish line three times as they blast around downtown Colorado Springs spectators will be treated to a thrilling elbow-to-elbow competition that can reach up to 35 mph.

As usual, it's snowing in Colorado and baseball is starting. Or, it's 80 degrees in Colorado and baseball is starting. Or it's one in the morning and the other by game time.

Point is, baseball is starting. The Colorado Rockies are back and, with the addition of soft-tosser Jamie Moyer, are either popularly thought to be sure bets to win the World Series, or finish fourth in the division — I forget which.

But if you've done the smart thing and bought your tickets to Opening Day early, then you don't need to sweat the fact that they're sold out. (You can still easily find a few, by the way, on Craigslist.) Feel free to sweat the opponent, the hated San Francisco Giants; think about sweating whether the schedule magnet or team towel is a better get; and maybe sweat a few other things you might not know to, um, sweat.

To that end, and with six days to go, here are four tips to further your full enjoyment of Opening Day at Coors Field:

• Come to the ballpark early, as there is expected to be a heavy demand for parking throughout downtown Denver.

• Coors Field parking lots will open at 10 a.m., with gates to the ballpark opening at noon. (Game time is 2:10 p.m.)

• Ignore the above tips and use public transportation for all your travel needs. If you're coming from the Springs, park at an early light rail station and take it all the way to Union Station. See RTD-Denver.com for more.

• The Opening Day Fest begins at 11 a.m. on 21st Street, between Blake and Market streets. Find games, activities, food and live music, which gets going around noon; the pre-game show begins at 1 p.m.

As to who you'll be watching, here's an update from Troy Renck at the Denver Post:

By delaying activating Jamie Moyer until Saturday and Drew Pomeranz until April 15th, the Rockies will open the season with an extra reliever and bench player, clearing the way for Tyler Chatwood, Eric Young Jr., and Jonathan Herrera to make the team.

For all of you bracket-busters out there, the long ride known as March Madness is coming to a close.

Tonight in New Orleans, top-seeded Kentucky and underdog Kansas will play for the NCAA men's basketball championship, tipping off at 7:23 p.m. Mountain Daylight Time on CBS (Channel 11 locally).

Obviously, that final pairing has eliminated the long shots from millions of bracket pools across America. Kansas was a No. 2 seed, but given its history of success in the NCAA Tournament, KU was a popular choice for many bracketeers who didn't want to take the easy pick of Kentucky.

So now, for the Indy's online March to the Championship contest as well as our own inside-the-office pool, the outcomes probably will depend not on who picked the right team to go all the way, but who had the most Final Four teams and/or nailed the title game finalists.

If you're among the 600-plus entrants in the March to the Championship, you should receive your final score by e-mail, then compare it to the standings that will be published in Thursday's issue of the Independent. My prediction tonight: Kentucky, 80-74.

For basketball purists, of course, the college season doesn't end tonight.

The actual grand finale, unbeaten Baylor facing Notre Dame in Denver to wrap up the Women's Final Four, very well might turn into a better game than Kentucky-Kansas. The Baylor-Notre Dame battle starts at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Pepsi Center, televised by ESPN. My pick: Baylor, 68-60.

And it's hard to remember when the city of Denver has ever looked better as a sporting venue than as home to this Women's Final Four. It actually makes you wonder if the NCAA should consider making Denver the permanent host city, or possibly part of a small rotation.