California and Colorado bicycle tour dates announced

Is your 2012 bike tour going to be a Rocky Mountain High? Or are you California Dreamin'?

In either case, you have a dozen multi-day bike tours scheduled this summer in Colorado and California from which to choose.

Some are mass bike rides with hundreds of cyclists, such as Ride the Rockies presented by the Denver Post. Others are more intimate affairs with fewer than 20 riders offered by Adventure Cycling Association.

I'm updating the list of Across-State Bicycle Tours for 2012, so there are dates and host cities for many of these multi-day rides. In the current format, California and Colorado share the same page.

The “grand-daddy” of them all, Ride the Rockies, is celebrating its 27th year in 2012. The dates are June 10-16, although the route won't be announced until Feb. 5. There will be a website upgrade that day as well.

Right on the heels of RTR is 2012 Bicycle Tour of Colorado, which rolls out from Fort Collins on June 17 and returns June 23. In recent years, Tour of Colorado has started close to the location of RTR's finish.

For the sixth year, the Colorado Rocky Mountain Bicycle Tour is returning. Capping at 500 cyclists, it visits the San Juan Mountains region in the southern part of the state.

The nonprofit Adventure Cycling rounds out the offerings with two rides in the Silverthorne area — Family Fun – Colorado and Colorado Wildflowers and Rivers.

In California, the 2,350-strong AIDS Lifecycle from San Francisco to Los Angeles is scheduled to roll out between June 3-9, 2012. The 545-mile annual ride has raised $13 million for HIV/AIDS services for the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center and San Francisco AIDS Foundation over the past 11 years.

Another big bike tour between San Francisco and Los Angeles is the California Coast Classic Bicycle Tour, a charity ride for the Arthritis Foundation from Sept. 9-16.

The Sierra to the Sea Bicycle Tour is presented by the Almaden Cycle Touring Club. Limited to 140 cyclists, the challenging ride starts at Lake Tahoe and winds through the Sierra and coastal ranges to Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, June 16-23.

Meanwhile, Adventure Cycling offers three 6-day bicycle tours — Death Valley Loop — in March. Each ride covers about 320 miles with van support.

Watch for more updates in Across State Bicycle Tours.