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Colorodo Climb Routes
Hi everyone .. thinking about a trip to Colorado next summer to ride some US
climbs. Been over all the French and Italian big passes, time to check out the home front. Can anyone suggest some good resources for some good climbs ... preferably loops, but that's not as important. Also, if you were going to ride for about a week doing climbs, would you pick Colorado, Utah, California, or Montana ? Or somewhere else? Thanks Doug |
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Colorodo Climb Routes
I don't live in Colorado and have never ridden there, but I was in the Vail
region a couple of weeks ago on business. The place is absolutely beautiful, and everywhere you look - whether you're in a bustling town/city or way out in the mountains - there's a bicycle path. I'd imagine that means there's some good mountain biking, too. Even if it's all just bike paths (which I don't think it is) I would say there are some really nice climbs and some extraordinary views to be enjoyed there. |
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Colorodo Climb Routes
On Aug 31, 4:26 pm, "Doug" wrote:
Hi everyone .. thinking about a trip to Colorado next summer to ride some US climbs. Been over all the French and Italian big passes, time to check out the home front. Can anyone suggest some good resources for some good climbs .. preferably loops, but that's not as important. Also, if you were going to ride for about a week doing climbs, would you pick Colorado, Utah, California, or Montana ? Or somewhere else? Thanks Doug I just finished a San Francisco to Milwaukee ride and can comment briefly on CA and Utah, though I speak from the standpoint of one who tried to minimize climbing: My CA route had a steep climb on 121 of maybe 2000 feet from the Napa Valley to Sacramento Valley. Then after going north to Marysville I took 20 east through Grass Valley and Nevada City and beyond to where it joins I80, then I80 over the Donner summit (7200 ft plus). There were a lot of big ups and downs throughout, and plenty of opportunity for more had I ranged north and south in the Sierras rather than east into Nevada. Going east from Salt Lake City, I wasn't allowed on I-80 in the Wasatch foothills, and so had to take Emigrant Canyon Rd. Then near the top of that climb, when I could have gone down and picked up I-80 I mistakenly continued north on East Canyon Road, which climbed to - it seemed to me - not far below the peaks in the area, which were a little under 9000 feet. Then I continued generally north on route 65, with quite a bit of up and down including one short stretch steeper than the referenced canyons. |
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Colorodo Climb Routes
Ron Wallenfang wrote:
I just finished a San Francisco to Milwaukee ride and can comment briefly on CA and Utah, though I speak from the standpoint of one who tried to minimize climbing: My CA route had a steep climb on 121 of maybe 2000 feet from the Napa Valley to Sacramento Valley. Then after going north to Marysville I took 20 east through Grass Valley and Nevada City and beyond to where it joins I80, then I80 over the Donner summit (7200 ft plus). There were a lot of big ups and downs throughout, and plenty of opportunity for more had I ranged north and south in the Sierras rather than east into Nevada. Going east from Salt Lake City, I wasn't allowed on I-80 in the Wasatch foothills, and so had to take Emigrant Canyon Rd. Then near the top of that climb, when I could have gone down and picked up I-80 I mistakenly continued north on East Canyon Road, which climbed to - it seemed to me - not far below the peaks in the area, which were a little under 9000 feet. Then I continued generally north on route 65, with quite a bit of up and down including one short stretch steeper than the referenced canyons. Ron, glad to hear you made and survived your ride. A longer TR would be very welcome. Bill __o | Look to the past and remember no empire rises _`\(,_ | that sooner or later won't fall. (_)/ (_) | --Al Stewart |
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Colorodo Climb Routes
Doug wrote:
Hi everyone .. thinking about a trip to Colorado next summer to ride some US climbs. Been over all the French and Italian big passes, time to check out the home front. Can anyone suggest some good resources for some good climbs .. preferably loops, but that's not as important. Also, if you were going to ride for about a week doing climbs, would you pick Colorado, Utah, California, or Montana ? Or somewhere else? If you're in it for sheer altitude, you want to go to Colorado. They have plenty of very high roads, mostly through routes: Trail Rider, Berthoud, Loveland, Independence, Monarch, and Wolf Creek Passes are all over 11,000' (3300 m). Road conditions vary with the season, of course. There's also Mosquito Pass, high like the rest but dirt, so fewer cars and more of a trail bike experience. Some of these routes (Independence, Trail Rider, and Loveland) are narrow and winding. Others, like Monarch and Wolf Creek, are long, comparatively gentle grades on major highways, mostly with good, wide shoulders. Colorado also has the Mount Evans Highway, a steep, narrow, winding road that's scary even in a car. My 1.7 liter four-banger barely made it up. It ends up at 14,200' (4330 m) - the highest road in the USA. A couple of cyclists at the summit saw my empty bike rack and promptly begged me for a ride partway down. Utah has more varied (i.e., not all alpine) terrain, with only a few roads over 10,000'(3050 m), but lots of canyon and desert routes. Bill __o | The American fascist would prefer not to use violence. _`\(,_ | His method is to poison the channels of public information (_)/ (_) | --Henry A. Wallace |
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On Sep 1, 3:54 pm, wrote:
Ron Wallenfang wrote: I just finished a San Francisco to Milwaukee ride and can comment briefly on CA and Utah, though I speak from the standpoint of one who tried to minimize climbing: My CA route had a steep climb on 121 of maybe 2000 feet from the Napa Valley to Sacramento Valley. Then after going north to Marysville I took 20 east through Grass Valley and Nevada City and beyond to where it joins I80, then I80 over the Donner summit (7200 ft plus). There were a lot of big ups and downs throughout, and plenty of opportunity for more had I ranged north and south in the Sierras rather than east into Nevada. Going east from Salt Lake City, I wasn't allowed on I-80 in the Wasatch foothills, and so had to take Emigrant Canyon Rd. Then near the top of that climb, when I could have gone down and picked up I-80 I mistakenly continued north on East Canyon Road, which climbed to - it seemed to me - not far below the peaks in the area, which were a little under 9000 feet. Then I continued generally north on route 65, with quite a bit of up and down including one short stretch steeper than the referenced canyons. Ron, glad to hear you made and survived your ride. A longer TR would be very welcome. Bill __o | Look to the past and remember no empire rises _`\(,_ | that sooner or later won't fall. (_)/ (_) | --Al Stewart Bill - Thanks for your interest and for your earlier advice. I'm working on a long trip report but it will likely be a few weeks before I get it posted. Essentially, the bottom line is 2131 miles, beginning in San Francisco before dawn on Aug. 10 and reaching home in metro Milwaukee at 1:00 p.m. Aug. 26. Aside from a short last day when I needed only 77 miles to get home, my worst daily mileage was 92 on Aug. 16, coming up out of SLC to Evanston WY - shortened by an incorrectly perceived absence of motels ahead - and my best day was 186 on Aug. 20, from Douglas, WY to Gordon NEB. Going through WY and SD means that I've now biked in all 48 contiguous states. I found a motel every night but had two close calls for spending a night outside. I'm not a real good climber and had to walk the bike up parts of three hills - one on 121 east of Napa; the other two on East Canyon Road east of SLC. But I did the whole trip without any motorized transport. I got wet only once, about 50 miles of riding in the rain in IA; two flat tires. Ron |
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On Sep 2, 9:18 pm, Ron Wallenfang wrote:
On Sep 1, 3:54 pm, wrote: Ron Wallenfang wrote: I just finished a San Francisco to Milwaukee ride and can comment briefly on CA and Utah, though I speak from the standpoint of one who tried to minimize climbing: My CA route had a steep climb on 121 of maybe 2000 feet from the Napa Valley to Sacramento Valley. Then after going north to Marysville I took 20 east through Grass Valley and Nevada City and beyond to where it joins I80, then I80 over the Donner summit (7200 ft plus). There were a lot of big ups and downs throughout, and plenty of opportunity for more had I ranged north and south in the Sierras rather than east into Nevada. Going east from Salt Lake City, I wasn't allowed on I-80 in the Wasatch foothills, and so had to take Emigrant Canyon Rd. Then near the top of that climb, when I could have gone down and picked up I-80 I mistakenly continued north on East Canyon Road, which climbed to - it seemed to me - not far below the peaks in the area, which were a little under 9000 feet. Then I continued generally north on route 65, with quite a bit of up and down including one short stretch steeper than the referenced canyons. Ron, glad to hear you made and survived your ride. A longer TR would be very welcome. Bill __o | Look to the past and remember no empire rises _`\(,_ | that sooner or later won't fall. (_)/ (_) | --Al Stewart Bill - Thanks for your interest and for your earlier advice. I'm working on a long trip report but it will likely be a few weeks before I get it posted. Essentially, the bottom line is 2131 miles, beginning in San Francisco before dawn on Aug. 10 and reaching home in metro Milwaukee at 1:00 p.m. Aug. 26. Aside from a short last day when I needed only 77 miles to get home, my worst daily mileage was 92 on Aug. 16, coming up out of SLC to Evanston WY - shortened by an incorrectly perceived absence of motels ahead - and my best day was 186 on Aug. 20, from Douglas, WY to Gordon NEB. Going through WY and SD means that I've now biked in all 48 contiguous states. I found a motel every night but had two close calls for spending a night outside. I'm not a real good climber and had to walk the bike up parts of three hills - one on 121 east of Napa; the other two on East Canyon Road east of SLC. But I did the whole trip without any motorized transport. I got wet only once, about 50 miles of riding in the rain in IA; two flat tires. Ron Whoops! That was 2313 miles |
#8
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Colorodo Climb Routes
Good discussion ..
How about Durango vs. Denver areas? Both seem to have some good rides. wrote in message ... Doug wrote: Hi everyone .. thinking about a trip to Colorado next summer to ride some US climbs. Been over all the French and Italian big passes, time to check out the home front. Can anyone suggest some good resources for some good climbs .. preferably loops, but that's not as important. Also, if you were going to ride for about a week doing climbs, would you pick Colorado, Utah, California, or Montana ? Or somewhere else? If you're in it for sheer altitude, you want to go to Colorado. They have plenty of very high roads, mostly through routes: Trail Rider, Berthoud, Loveland, Independence, Monarch, and Wolf Creek Passes are all over 11,000' (3300 m). Road conditions vary with the season, of course. There's also Mosquito Pass, high like the rest but dirt, so fewer cars and more of a trail bike experience. Some of these routes (Independence, Trail Rider, and Loveland) are narrow and winding. Others, like Monarch and Wolf Creek, are long, comparatively gentle grades on major highways, mostly with good, wide shoulders. Colorado also has the Mount Evans Highway, a steep, narrow, winding road that's scary even in a car. My 1.7 liter four-banger barely made it up. It ends up at 14,200' (4330 m) - the highest road in the USA. A couple of cyclists at the summit saw my empty bike rack and promptly begged me for a ride partway down. Utah has more varied (i.e., not all alpine) terrain, with only a few roads over 10,000'(3050 m), but lots of canyon and desert routes. Bill __o | The American fascist would prefer not to use violence. _`\(,_ | His method is to poison the channels of public information (_)/ (_) | --Henry A. Wallace |
#9
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Colorodo Climb Routes
Doug wrote:
Hi everyone .. thinking about a trip to Colorado next summer to ride some US climbs. Been over all the French and Italian big passes, time to check out the home front. Can anyone suggest some good resources for some good climbs .. preferably loops, but that's not as important. Also, if you were going to ride for about a week doing climbs, would you pick Colorado, Utah, California, or Montana ? Or somewhere else? There are plenty of easy ways to create loop rides in Colorado that go over well traveled, as well as not so well traveled passes. Just being lazy, I can point you to a book - http://bicyclecolo.org/itemdetails.c...0&catalogId=34 Some suggestions: Start in the I70 corridor - west of Denver - and ride up and over Loveland Pass (highway 6, not the tunnel on I70), then into Dillon. Take the bike path from Dillon to Copper Mountain to go up highway 91 and over Fremont Pass to Leadville, go back north on 24 over Tennessee Pass to Vail and then the bike path over Vail Pass back to Frisco. And/or ... from Frisco, take highway 9 over Hoosier Pass to Fairplay and then to Buena Vista and over my favorite Pass - Cottonwood Pass (14 miles of dirt road, downhill from the summit) and go visit Crested Butte. If you're fine riding on more dirt mountain roads - go west from Crested Butte to highway 133 (end of dirt) and go north or south. I'd go north to Glenwood Springs (just to see the place), but you could head into Aspen and go over Independence Pass. You could also leave Crested Butte on the road (the way you came in), go back to highway 50 and ride east over Monarch Pass - not a ride I really recommend, though. Of all that, the quickest and best way to do many passes in a loop would be from my first paragraph. Like I said, Cottonwood Pass is a personal favorite (as is the town of Crested Butte). Cottonwood Pass has very little traffic and an often serene ride over 12,000+ feet with great scenery. Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park is awesome. There are ways to create a route involving Rocky Mountain National Park and the "Steamboat Springs area" as well. -- ***************************** Chuck Anderson • Boulder, CO http://www.CycleTourist.com ***************************** |
#10
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Colorodo Climb Routes
Doug wrote:
Good discussion .. How about Durango vs. Denver areas? Both seem to have some good rides. Durango is near Wolf Creek Pass ("way up on the Great Divide," famous in the old C. W. McCall song), a major highway (US-160) but recently upgraded over much of its length, one of those long, relatively gentle routes I mentioned. From Durango you could also do the very challenging "Million Dollar Highway" north to Silverton and Ouray. You are in the San Juans here, one of the greatest concentrations of alpine scenery anywhere. There are high dirt roads, e.g. Engineer Pass, all over. More scenic than the Denver area, and less congested. I have never been over the hill from Ouray (pronounced "YOU-Ray" BTW) to Telluride, but I hear it's spectacular there as well (if maybe a little "Aspeny") Bill __o | Hummer: 10 mpg _`\(,_ | Bicycle: uses no oil at all. (_)/ (_) | So, who are the patriots? |
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