The Des Moines Register owns the granddaddy of all cross-state bicycle tours. The Iowa tour, RAGBRAI, has come to be known for its partying as well as the generosity of the host towns.
The Denver Post has its own, slightly less famous, Ride the Rockies, known for its breath-taking scenery as well as the leg-bursting climbs.
Ride the Rockies begins today for its 19th year. I checked out the 405-mile route (click map for larger version) and much of it follows where my friend Bruce and I were riding 21 years ago, except in the opposite direction. They'll ride through Montrose, Gunnison and Salida along Route 50, just like we did, and struggle up the long climb as Monarch Pass — 11,312 feet. On the last day, they climb Fremont Pass — 11,318 feet — into Breckenridge.
The Denver Post reports on a fella who has bicycled every one of the 7,767 Ride-the-Rockies miles the past 19 years. The interview another guy, Mike Dallas, who spurred the Denver Post into hosting a cross-state ride after he participated in the Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa.
Of course it's way too late to join the Rockies tour, registration closed back on February 25. But there are other week-long cross-state bicycle tours available this year.
Check out the Biking Bis list of 63 week-long bicycle tours in 39 states. For instance, there are two week-long rides coming up in Idaho at the end of the July and August, and a ride this October in Arizona.
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