Colorado bicyclist rescued after using memorial shelter honoring another cyclist who died on same trail
On a day with record-setting heat, a mountain biker suffered a mechanical failure on the Palisade Plunge Trail, which claimed the life of a Colorado Springs cyclist four years earlier.
A mechanical breakdown threatened to strand the unidentified cyclist Monday about 10 miles from the trail's end. Mesa County Search and Rescue (MCSAR) personnel responded and met the cyclist at a memorial shade structure erected last November by the family and friends of Jeff Higgins.
Higgins, 52, died of heat exposure and dehydration on June 11, 2022. He was found unconscious beside the trail by three other cyclists who called 9-1-1 and stayed with Higgins. But those cyclists had also run out of water and needed help.
Monday, nearby Grand Junction broke its record high temperature for the day by three degrees.
Mesa County's rescue team reached the cyclist by driving an all-terrain vehicle up the trail to the shade structure. The cyclist was given water and time to rehydrate before those rescuers hauled that rider and broken bicycle downhill into Palisade.
"We're grateful this mission ended safely and that a space created in Jeff Higgins' memory provided shade and comfort when it was needed," MCSAR stated on social media. "Our hearts are with Jeff's family & loved ones, and we hope it brings them comfort knowing his memory is helping others along the Plunge."
That is certainly the case.
"It's exactly the reason we put it there," said Higgins's widow, Amy. "Jeff would never want to discourage someone from doing something they wanted to do, and still return home safe to their family."
Amy Higgins fought back tears as she described the effort to put the shelter near where he husband passed away - from commissioning a Grand Junction artist, Jeff Bates, to design and build it to coordinating with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, Town of Palisade, and City of Grand Junction for permission to locate it. In November, members of the Palisade mountain biking community joined the family to place the shelter at what she called "the bailout," the last convenient point for cyclists to exit the trail or first responders to reach them.
Less than a year after it was put there, it has already served its purpose, Amy Higgins marveled.
"And I'm really happy for that," she shared.
Jeff Higgins's brother Dan was there when shovels hit the dirt last November.
"We're thankful knowing the structure built in Jeff's honor has now helped a rider," he told CBS Colorado. "That's what it was meant to do."
He noted that section of trail now has much better signage to alert cyclists to the "bailout" point and shelter.
The Palisade Plunge is a 32-mile path from the top of Grand Mesa to Palisade. It opened in 2018.
The Higgins family has been unable to make contact with the three cyclists who stopped to help Jeff Higgins on the trail four years ago. Amy Higgins said she wants to meet them and thank them, if possible.
