MONTE VISTA — Two more artisan bicycle racks were installed on Wednesday, Aug. 24, one on Adams Street in front of Rainbow’s End Thrift Store, and one at the skate park in Monte Vista.

The racks were sponsored by Tara McCarroll, who has H&R Block offices in Monte Vista and Alamosa, and Mike and Marie Mccolm of Monte Vista.

There are now four artisan bike racks in Monte Vista.

“It looks really good in front of Rainbow’s End,” McCarroll said, “and I like the idea of it helping to promote healthy living for people. Any way I can help the community, it makes me feel good. If this can affect one person in the community that would be great. Something great in my eyes.”

Mike Mccolm was excited about the bike rack.

“The bike rack that my wife and I sponsored is being placed at the skate park,” he said. “Kids go there all the time. My wife is all about children and helping make things easy and safe for them. We love our kids and want to help the kids where we live also. Our community can benefit from these bike racks. It's a really great idea.”

The idea for the sponsored racks originated with Laura Conchelos and Jennifer Nearing. The women presented it to the OptiMystics Citizens Action Network with the belief that it would be a way to encourage residents of Monte Vista to ride their bikes more and become more active in their community. Nearing is a bike enthusiast who loves to ride her bike everywhere, and Conchelos also liked the idea of the bike racks.

The OptiMystics proposed the idea to the City of Monte Vista in December of 2021. The idea that they presented to the city council was that the bike racks would benefit residents and make them more active and also help businesses by giving residents who rode bikes or had motorized devices place to put their bicycles.

Each of the racks is unique, no rack is alike. Artist John Patterson creates the racks, and the sponsors choose how to have the racks decorated, painted, or displayed. Each rack is to be placed at a business or park in Monte Vista.

There is talk that a fourth and fifth Artisan bike rack will be installed soon. For more information on the project, visit OptiMystics.org.