Bicycle Touring in Colorado

Colorado has the paths, lodging, sight seeing and luxuries that make this a great vacation destination. In sheer numbers the mountain men–those with the high altitude conditioning required–are the dominate force in this state. The Valley Girls–those of us who prefer flat land and lots of oxygen–can find a part of Colorado to their liking though

Colorado is naturally endowed with rock cliffs, wild flowers, paleantological and archeological treasures. It is recently enhanced with mountain bike trails too numerous to mention. Volumes have been written on the subject.

The Southwestern part of the state is the particular favorite of mountain bikers. Towns like Crested Butte, Durango, Gunnison, and Telluride are trail rich meccas for mountain bikes. These towns are also becoming ever more popular with tourists.

The Colorado Trail

The Colorado Trail Foundation of Golden

The most notable bike path in the state and probably one of the longest in the country is the Colorado Trail. This is largely the result of volunteer efforts and was begun in a grass roots effort to celebrate the state’s Centennial. This 470 mile (752 km) trail was completed in 1987 and cuts a rough diagonal across the state from Denver to Durango. It is broken up by six wilderness areas which do not allow mountain bikes.

Extensive information on this route and its smaller segments can be obtained from The Colorado Trail Foundation of Golden, Colorado. Basically, this trail starts in the Rampart Range South of Denver and heads west just south of the KenoshaMountains. It continues to wind north of the MosquitoRange to the south of Vail. It wraps south to pass west of Leadville then east of Aspen.

Then the Colorado Trail parallels the SawatchRange staying east of Gunnison and west of Salida. It veers south and west above the Cochetopa Hills.Staying north of Creede and the San Juan Mountains the trail continues south of Ouray and Silverton. Finally, the Colorado Trail Curls east of the LaplataMountains and south to Durango.

The Colorado trail is probably best divided into smaller tours or segments of out and back rides. It does serve the purpose of sampling the variety of grades as well as flora and fauna which change dramatically throughout the state. It is possible for an extremely well conditioned rider to complete the tour in one gulp–say the month of July for instance. A nice easy going one month schedule would allow for a fair amount of site seeing.

The most common hazards along the way will include lightening, hypothermia, dehydration and critters.

Compare Colorado’s Past and Present

Here’s a thought. Do a little looking around in Denver for a leisurely view of this state’s largest and most contemporary city. Then when the full 470 miles have been ridden take a detour to MesaVerdeNational Park about 35 miles (56 km) west of trail’s end in Durango.

It is a pretty good contrast between the vibrant city to the north end of the Colorado Trail and the ancient ruins of the city near Cortez.Mesa Verde includes 3500 sites spread over 80 miles (128 km) of terrain. It was in use from AD 550 to 1300. These two sight seeing excursions would be a good contrast between Colorado’s ancient Native American cultures and its contemporary society.

Always Travel Well Equipped

If you are planning this sort of trip then I won’t insult you with a description of the kind of equipment or gear that you’ll need along this trail. I will suggest you bring the following:

• Manners! This is a culturally diverse area (both Ute and Navajo reservations exist near Mesa Verde). Some tension exists between traditional ranching and the burgeoning tourist trade. Further tension can occur between the various tourists and their favorite sports. Share trails and respect the others using them. This is especially true with horses. Animals spook easily and can be hard to calm. Additionally, when taking highway routes stay to the farthest possible right of traffic. Lots of RV trailers here can’t stop on a dime.
• Extremely good mountain bike conditioning. There are many mountains in excess of 14,000 feet throughout this area of the Rocky Mountains. Cling to marked trails because there are many opportunities for disaster othe rwise. This is very rugged terrain.
• An awareness of the local climate. It snows as late as June and as early as September. Many roads are closed to all traffic as early as October.

• Lots of cash. Mountain biking won’t cost anything; everything else will. There are gourmet restaurants and five star accommodations in surprisingly remote areas. Tiny towns have bike shops and mechanics. Colorado has become the play ground of the rich and famous. Prices reflect that fact.