Author: David Ramsey
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Want to take a 203-mile, one-day bike ride through the mountains? | David Ramsey
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Taylor Ross was weary. He was pedaling his bicycle toward the top of Pikes Peak, but, as he climbed, the summit looked more distant. “As you climb that thing,” Ross says, “the top keeps getting farther and farther away as you realize how far you have to go.” Oh, there’s one detail I forgot to…
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Supporters of Washington’s discarded nickname make a new promise sure to fail | David Ramsey
Never is here. Dan Snyder roared for years, promising he “never” would alter the name of Washington’s NFL franchise. He even told one writer to put his promise in all caps. “NEVER,” Snyder said. Snyder, owner of the Washington franchise, was defiantly and cluelessly stuck in yesterday. Monday, he and his franchise embraced the reality…
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Righteous Martin Luther King was slandered as a communist | David Ramsey
Martin Luther King Jr. is rightly lauded today as a crusader against the evil of American inequality and segregation. But in 1965, at the height of King’s crusade, his critics, who were many, called him a communist. Be sure of this: Getting slandered with inaccurate names is part of the price, yesterday and today, of…
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Want to take a 203-mile, one-day bike ride through the mountains? | David Ramsey
Taylor Ross was weary. He was pedaling his bicycle toward the top of Pikes Peak, but, as he climbed, the summit looked more distant. “As you climb that thing,” Ross says, “the top keeps getting farther and farther away as you realize how far you have to go.” Oh, there’s one detail I forgot to…
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Pikes Peak library doors open again, and that’s such good news | David Ramsey
The door opened. In our strange COVID-19 summer, seeing an open door was such good news. Branches of the Pikes Peak Library District opened Wednesday, ending 3½ months of closed doors. On Thursday morning, a couple minutes after Library 21C opened, I walked through the doors into a wonderland. If you’re not a library devotee,…
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We’re still reaching for Thomas Jefferson’s ideals | David Ramsey
“If you ever find yourself environed with difficulties and perplexing circumstances … do what is right … Though you can’t see, when you take one step, what will be next, yet follow truth, justice and plain dealing and never fear their leading you,” Thomas Jefferson in 1785 letter to nephew Peter Carr. Thomas Jefferson is…
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Can we clean up the downtown trail along Monument/Fountain Creek? | David Ramsey
When biking the Greenway Trail along the southern edge of downtown Colorado Springs, it’s easy to get lost in visions of what could be a natural treasure beside Monument/Fountain Creek. You can, in your mind’s eye, see a future path jammed with bikers and walkers. A glistening rush of clean water safe for splashing and…
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The ghost of John Chivington should haunt us today | David Ramsey
Should a Colorado town be named after a despicable villain of our state history? Be careful with your answer. It is valuable to remember the evil we want to forget. Col. John Chivington oversaw an 1864 massacre in eastern Colorado and lied about his sinister deeds. He inflamed The Plains Wars, causing hundreds of needless…
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Manitou Incline pioneer seeks to tame the crowds | David Ramsey
Steve Bremner battled to legalize the Manitou Incline, working to transform a battered set of 2,744 stairs into an asset for all, or at least those fit enough to ascend 2,000 feet in a little less than a mile. He served as first president of Incline Friends. “I wanted to make it legal, to make…
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The morning my father transformed from rugged to cuddly | David Ramsey
My yesterday destination is 1165 S. Williams. I walk past the light-brown brick house a few times a year, thinking of the days when seven Ramseys crammed into this cozy 1930s Arts and Crafts bungalow in south Denver. On each walk, I linger in the driveway and return to a Saturday morning from late 1996.…