A group of us are going to be heading to Boulder Colorado next week. The plan is to leave Phoenix and head up the west side of the Rockies. Once in Boulder we will do a variety of rides throughout Colorado and Wyoming.
In past trips we have always experienced some sort of mishap - crashes, bike drops, broken linkage, run out of gas, even House issues while on the road.
Fortunately no injuries (or not severe).
Will post our exciting trip at the end of it, but in the mean time...anyone have any Most-Do rides that they would like to recommend?
Lots of suggestions:
1. Take one of the three mountain pass routes in the SW corner of Colorado, #145 from Cortez over Lizard Head Pass, #550 from Durango over Molas Divide and Red Mountain Pass, or #149 through Creede over Slumgullion Pass. Each is different from the others, each great, and take your time.
2. Take as much of the following loop ride as you can: From I-50, north on #92 to Hotchkiss, then #133 through Paonia and over McClure Pass to Carbondale and/or Glenwood Springs, south on #82 through Aspen and over Independence Pass, then perhaps connect back south to I-50. If time allows, stay over in Glenwood and swim in the hot springs pool.
3. I-70 through Glenwood Canyon. Spectacular what they did building that highway. Hike to Hidden Lake if time allows.
4. Over Trailridge Road in Rocky Mountain NP. This would combine nicely with a loop up to Walden and Kremmling on #14 west from Fort Collins.
5. Peak to Peak Highway, #119, from I-70 near Idaho Springs to Estes Park.
6. Turn off I-70 near the summit and ride over Loveland Pass, and then ride through the tunnel. You will have to backtrack a bit and do one of these again, but worth it.
Hard to go wrong in Colorado. Take you time, take lots of pictures, and remember that it rains in the afternoons.
She and I are attending a family reunion in Keystone Aug 4-6 and seeing friends in Longmont 7-9. She is driving, I'm riding my Dyna, and will take most of the rides mentioned. I'll have camping gear as I'll be hitting the southern Utah parks (Zion, etc) on the way back. May see you on the road.
For what its worth, I lived in Boulder and Durango through high school and college, and wifey lived in Glenwood Springs and graduated from Paonia HS.
