Boulder Reservoir is still nippy, but that won't discourage the dozens of wild and wacky teams signed up to participate in today's 24th annual KBCO/Bud Light Kinetic Sculpture Challenge.The morning's schedule is overflowing: Load up on carbs for $3 at the 7 a.m. pancake breakfast, a benefit for the Boulder County AIDS Project, and then work them off at the 9 a.m. 5K Race Around the Rez. The real fun starts at 11 a.m., when creative, people-powered crafts -- everything from a giant shopping cart filled with rubbish to a yellow submarine -- attempt a course set up on the muddy banks and in the chilly waters of the reservoir. Big Bad Voodoo Daddy and Nickel Creek will entertain spectators on the shore.
"Sometimes they sink; sometimes they crash, and sometimes they actually cross the finish line!" says KBCO's Alison Heller. "It's always a total blast."
Tickets are $5 for those on foot, bike or shuttle bus, $50 per carload and $75 for a stuffed RV. Visit www.kbco.com for details. -- Julie Dunn
Giddyap
SAT 5/3
Bust out your seersucker suit and big straw hat: Today marks the 129th Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs. Enjoy a day at the races at Red & Jerry's Entertainment Center, 1840 West Oxford Avenue in Sheridan, a true racing fan's paradise, with twenty wagering windows, over 300 TVs and a crowd that includes horse aficionados and compulsive gamblers alike. On Derby Day, the venue's two bars will be serving mint julep specials all day. Call 303-783-0655 to reserve a table; they're going as fast as a two-year-old filly. -- Julie Dunn
Bundle Up
SAT 5/3
Nobody will get fleeced at today's Gear & Cheer Fundraiser -- not unless they want to, that is: Patagonia fleece jackets will be among the countless items up for grabs at this beer- and wine-tasting/silent auction of outdoor gear that benefits the Women's Wilderness Institute, an organization that provides outdoor leadership-building experiences for women and teenage girls. Also on the block from noon to 4 at Redfish New Orleans Brewhouse, 2027 13th Street in Boulder, will be fly-fishing courses, massages, and a wealth of name-brand gear from Black Diamond, Kelty, Isis, Marmot, Merrell, Mountain Sports and Smith Optics. Admission is ten bucks; call 303-938-9191 or log on to www.womenswilderness.org for more information. -- Susan Froyd
Freed Trees
SAT 5/3
Lay down your hoses -- they're not going to be of much use this summer, anyway. It's time to protect what's left of your blizzard-wrecked trees and mulch. If you're a Denver resident, mulch is free for the taking during this city's annual Treecycle Mulch Giveaway, today from 8 to 3 at four metro-area parks and the city's Havana Nursery, 10450 Smith Road. And since all those branches that went down in the March blizzard were added to the log larder and chopped into little pieces along with last year's Christmas trees, there should be plenty to go around. It'll be mulch ado about nothing! For details, call 720-865-6810 or log on to www.denvergov.org/ DenverRecycles. -- Susan Froyd
