County team trains for mountain bike emergency response

Mountain Bike Training

Brendan Murphy, a member of the Larimer County Search and Rescue Mountain Bike Team, rides on a trail during training at the Larimer County Emergency Services Cache in north Fort Collins.

Photo by Reporter-Herald/Sam Noblett

By Pamela Dickman
Loveland Reporter-Herald
Publish Date: 10/26/2010

Colorado is a mountain bike mecca.

But for search and rescue, the two-wheeled transportation has remained untested.

Until now.

Seven members of Larimer County Search and Rescue are training with International Police Mountain Bike Association to put their pedaling skills to use during emergencies and searches.

Being in Colorado, I would think this would be common in search and rescue, said Jim Rabold, head of Larimer Countys new mountain bike search team.

But what were finding is this is very new.

We have high hopes.

Saturday is the last of four eight-hour training sessions for the seven-member team. If they all pass a test given by instructor Robert Montoya, they will be certified to search on two wheels.

Team members have been practicing handling their bikes at slow speeds, in confined areas and even over logs scenarios they may face in emergencies.

In Colorado, many paramedic and police agencies have bike teams. But while search and rescue bike teams are common back east, they are uncommon in Colorado, Montoya said.

In fact, he believes Larimer County is the first.

Its an interesting concept, said Montoya.

I think you are going to see it come to the forefront in the future because of the accessibility in areas that vehicles cant go.

For example, he said, the tornado that leveled areas of Windsor in 2008.

A bike team could go in the search area and clear the houses, I think, a lot quicker than on foot, Montoya said.

Rabold anticipates the team scouring urban areas for missing Alzheimers patients more quickly, searching rugged terrain that vehicles cannot reach and even carrying equipment more quickly to rescue scenes.

The bike team also could quickly set up a radio relay on missions where communication is spotty, he said.

Larimer County's Search and Rescue has discussed a mountain bike team for years but needed some standardized training to set the wheels in motion.

Rabold connected with Montoya, who works for South Metro Fire and Rescue and is a certified International Police Mountain Bike Association teacher.

Then, the Overland Mountain Bike Club, based in Fort Collins, gave the team $2,500 to pay for the training.

After three consecutive Saturday classes, the seven team members will have their last session and certification testing this weekend.

Then, Rabold said, the team will be ready to pedal in when needed.