East to Colorado! Or, few roads traveled.

by John Hess

Katherine and I took part in the Davis Bike Club tour to Colorado this year and this is a short recap of the trip. The main reason for writing this is to tell everyone about the wonderful bike paths and closed roads that the tour used. 

This is a teaser; some of it will appeal to your right brain (logical) and some your left brain (artistic). The whole point is to get you so interested in taking part in the tour that you volunteer at Foxy’s Fall Century and the 2015 Davis Double Century, so as to accrue maximum volunteer karma. With maximum karma, you’ll be more likely to be accepted into oversubscribed tours. 

The tour began in Glenwood Springs, Colorado, a small town in the Colorado River canyon that is home to interstate 70, a cross country rail line, the river, and a very nice bike path. A few of us from the DBC took Amtrak from Davis to Glenwood Springs. We opted for a sleeper car. The total bill (RT) for this was $900, split roughly 50:50 for tickets and roomette. What is not immediately apparent on the Amtrak web page is that meals are included in the roomette charge. So, getting on in Davis at 11AM, Katherine and I got lunch, dinner, breakfast and lunch again before getting off in Colorado. And for us, one surprising thing was that the food is very good (honestly better than we expected). Breakfast was roughly $10 per person, lunch a bit more and the signature Amtrak Steak was listed at $25. At the end of each meal, there’s no bill; you’re supposed to leave a tip based on cost of your meals, but you don’t pay for food. Alcohol you pay for at something like restaurant prices. But, if you bring your own on, and are discreet, it’s likely you’ll be permitted to consume it without a corkage fee. 

Katherine climbing Vail Pass

We left Davis on a Monday, arrived on Tuesday, and had Wednesday night in Glenwood Springs. Thursday AM we left for Edwards. Wednesday night, we went to a city park , chatted with Jeanne Golay (US Bicycling Hall of Fame inductee) and listened to country music, including a soon to be country classic “Because of the Zombies (I want you to stay)”. Thursday we were “portaged” by car past a washed out section of the bike path and rode the rest of the way to Edwards. But, because of our preliminary ride on Wednesday, we were introduced to the incredible bike path infrastructure that exists in this part of Colorado. 

Fabulous riding along a paved path under the freeway, along the river. Wonderful conditions, quiet, with no cars rushing by and the river and the river canyon to look at. 

Friday, after a bit of a rain delay, we rode Vail pass on a closed road, old highway 6. Great not so steep gradient, with no cars! We could sometimes see the highway, but a wonderful climb (did I just write that?). The descent was equally nice, with signs warning of turns, sharp urns and basically making it so pleasant to go downhill that there was no worry. Following that descent was another ride along a bike path into Frisco, where we stayed for 3 nights.   

Katherine and Bruce Wilson on a trail somewhere around Dillon Lake

As might not surprise most DBC members, Katherine and I were distracted by a beerfest being held in Keystone, so we rode over on Saturday. A few others followed us. Again, another bike path led from Frisco to Keystone. Again, no roads were used to get to Breckenridge the next day. Also on Sunday, we got a tour around Dillon lake from locals Phil and Karen, friends of Bruce and Marilyn Dewey.  

 From Frisco, it was up and over Fremont pass to Leadville. Again, not a steep climb, but a much longer one than typically found in the English Hills of Winters. The Delaware hotel in Leadville is in a historic building and the rooms were pretty small. For the second time, I don’t think our tandem would have fit in a CO tour hotel room, but since we rode singles, that wasn’t a worry. Bikes were stored overnight at a local bike shop and retrieved early in the morning for a timely departure.

From Leadville, we faced the big climb: Independence Pass. We spent some time on a highway with cars buzzing us, but as we got closer the start of the climb, the speed limits dropped and so did the traffic volume.

Katherine, Dan and Cid B. climbing Independence Pass

Yes, the climb took quite awhile, but again, it was not so steep, just long. The descent was (IMO) fine, and even longer than the climb. 18 miles downhill into Aspen. 

We spent 2 days in Aspen which gave us time to see the Maroon Bells, a park outside of Aspen. It’s a very pretty place and should be visited. Some folks rode bikes, others of us took a bus. Either way, we all pretty much made it back before a midday thunderstorm. We sat in the open window, well back from the eaves, of a good local beer bar-restaurant and watched the rain.  The final 2 days were mostly downhill. The penultimate day had us on the Rio Grande bike trail toward Glenwood Springs, but we turned at Carbondale and rode uphill to Redstone. Part of the ride was on a path, part of it was on a road. On the last riding day, we tracked to the Rio Grande bike path and took it directly into Glenwood Springs. 

Katherine on the trail back to Glenwood Springs