Mark your 2009 calendar. Four week-long bicycle tours of the Colorado Rockies already are scheduled for next summer and three have posted their routes online and are accepting registrations.
RAGBRAI might have the history of being the grand daddy of the week-long, mass bicycle tours, but these supported bike tours in the Rockies certainly have bragging rights for vertical achievement.
The Denver Post Ride the Rockies, Bicycle Tour of Colorado, Colorado Rocky Mountain Bike Tour, and High Country Relaxed all promise high passes and amazing scenery.
The oldest of the bunch is the Denver Post Ride the Rockies which got its start in 1986 and has had to award the 2,000 places on the tour through lottery since 1989. That ride is scheduled June 14 through 20, and registration opens Feb. 1. No route is posted yet.
The Bicycle Tour of Colorado has scheduled its 513-mile loop around the Rocky Mountains for June 21 through 28, immediately following the Denver Post bike tour. That's two weeks of mountain climbing bliss for those lucky enough to take in both rides.
This year's BTC begins and ends in Glenwood Springs, with stops in hosts towns Hotchkiss, Grand Junction, Montrose, Crested Butte (2 nights), and Buena Vista. I've scanned this route, and I didn't see any elevations below 4,500 feet.
Some of the features include McClure Pass, a ride along Grand Mesa, the “Tour of the Moon” leg of the Coors Classic featured in the movie “American Flyers,” Blue Mesa Summit, and Independence and Cottonwood passes.
Next up is the Colorado Rocky Mountain Bike Tour, which celebrates only its third year when it rolls out from August 2 to 8, 2009. This ride, limited to 500 cyclists, is serious about climbing, offering 40,000 vertical feet over its 438-mile loop.
The bike tour starts and ends in Montrose, with overnight stays in Gunnison, Creede/South Fork, Pagosa Springs, Durango and Ouray. Bicyclists can add Slumgullion Pass, Wolf Creek Pass, Coal Bank Pass, Molas Divide, Red Mountain Pass and Dallas Divide to their checklist of Rocky Mountain ascents.
The fourth bike tour, High Country Relaxed, is not a misnomer. Offered by Adventure Cycling Association for the first time, the tour explores the central Colorado high country but without long daily mileages from August 5 – 10, 2009. The ride is limited to 60 cyclists and considered a beginner ride.
The tour includes a couple of half-day rides out of Silverthorne, then a slow climb to Vail Pass primarily on bicycle paths. There are visits to Vail, Avon and Gypsum, then a 16-mile ride along the Glenwood Canyon bike path.
If you interested in these or other week-long state bicycle tours, check out my list at Across-State Bicycle Tours. I'm busy updating nearly 100 rides in 47 states that roll out in 2009.
Image above, the road to Red Mountain Pass from Ouray, shot during my 1984 bicycle tour
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