Evan Rau grew up outside Chicago in Joliet, Illinois, riding bicycles and dreaming of living in the mountains of Colorado. After graduating from Southern Illinois University in 2003 with a degree in Journalism, he moved to Colorado Springs, only to reluctantly leave the state a few months later to work for a Department of Defense contractor refurbishing satellite communication antennas on the east coast. Seeking a more stable career in the state he loves, he returned to Colorado and enrolled at Colorado State University, earning his Colorado K-12 teaching license and a Masters degree in English. But fate did not place him in the high school classroom.

Two years after grad school, Evan and his wife, Susan, opened Cranknstein, a bicycle shop, tap house, and cafe they built in part of an old car dealership in north Old Town Fort Collins. After four rewarding but exhausting years, the business sadly closed in 2015, and Evan redirected his bicycle knowledge and passion to work for a company that provides websites and marketing services to over 1000 bicycle shops across the US and Canada. He continues to work for this company full-time from his Crystal Lakes home.

Evan and Susan moved to Crystal Lakes in November 2017, and Evan became a proud member of Crystal Lakes Volunteer Fire Department the next month. He trained as an Emergency Medical Responder the following September and completed EMT training in spring of 2019. Evan became CLVFD’s Training Officer in September of 2019, re-engaging his professional educator skills and drive to facilitate learning. As a Firefighter-EMT, he has fought structure fires in Red Feather Lakes; worked several prescribed burns and wildfires across north-central Colorado, including the Cameron Peak fire; and continually responds as an EMT to medical incidents in Crystal Lakes and Red Feather Lakes. Evan became Fire Chief of the Crystal Lakes Volunteer Fire Department in May of 2021.