Rooted in Resilience: Reflecting on the 6th Annual Bike the Bessemer

With a welcome hint of crisp autumn air cutting through what had been a record-breaking summer, more than 120 cyclists gathered on the St. Charles Mesa for the 6th Annual Bike the Bessemer. The ride brought together a truly multigenerational community, including a half-dozen energetic youth from the Boys & Girls Clubs of Pueblo County through Generation Wild—all pedaling to connect with the land, the water, and the families who feed us.

This year’s theme, Rooted in Resilience, met the moment. Following one of Colorado’s most severe drought years on record, with snowpack at historic lows and unprecedented heat stressing soils across the Arkansas Basin, riders saw firsthand what resilience actually looks like on the ground.

At the historic DiSanti Family Farm, fifth-generation growers shared how adaptation is essential to survival: cutting commodity acreage and installing 85 acres of temporary drip irrigation to ensure their vegetable crops thrived despite water shortages. Riders eagerly browsed the farmstand and picked up fresh produce bags filled with select produce including sweet corn, tomatoes, and green chile.

From the farm, the long string of riders made the barely perceptible climb to the Bessemer Ditch headgate while passing more Disanti fields of corn and pumpkins. With a subtle rush of irrigated water at the headgate, water expert Alan Ward of Pueblo Water and Palmer's Dillon O'Hare unpacked the complex journey of water from mountain snowmelt to farm in an era of unprecedented drought.

The spirit of community carried every mile with conversations among the riders, and the group was bolstered by two Pueblo County Sheriff deputies who kept riders safe and even blasted “Eye of the Tiger” over a squad truck loudspeaker to power cyclists up the route’s lone hill.

Back at St. Joseph's Parish Hall, hungry riders were greeted by a flavorful meal prepared by caterer Jocelyn Martinez of SoulSmile Health & Wellness. Lunch featured traditional dishes served on the Mesa for generations, and most ingredients came from local farms and producers, including over a hundred pounds of freshly harvested veggies.

After engaging conversations over heaping plates of food with locally brewed beer from Brues Alehouse and Shamrock Brewing Co., Dr. Allie Mazurek, a climatologist from the Colorado State University, presented data about the trends that will impact not only farms in the Lower Arkansas Valley, but communities across the West in coming years.

"It's certainly trying times that we're going through right now. And as we saw back in 2002 [the last big drought year], the state responded, and we came together to build new tools, solutions, and forums for discussion to address the drought that we were in at that time—and here we are again," remarked Dillon at the closing of the event. "And so, knowing where we've come from, I have a lot of faith in where we are going to go. It takes the farmers, it takes the cities, and it takes community members like you all to help get us through these tough situations."

Bike the Bessemer reminds us that food security and conservation are rooted in community values and in how we make decisions. When we show up for the land and the people who steward it, we invest in a resilient future for all of Colorado.

Thank you to all of the sponsors who made Bike the Bessemer 2026 such a success!