Mountain - Plains - Elephant Rock Century

Anyone else planning on doing this ride? I've been off my bike for a couple of months so I needed a goal and this is going to be it. I'm putting together a "team" from my office which should help my motivation.

I might do it with my wife and some friends. We are going to run the Bolder Boulder together the week before. My friends tell me Elephant Rock can be fun, but I am a climber so I am up in the air about it. The course seems a bit flat.

From what I hear it's rolling hills for pretty much the entire course. The century I did last summer was all rolling hills (on RAGBRAI) and it was tough. 5,200 feet of climbing spread out over the day.

It's not flat and not mountainous - some rollers, some false flats, not really very much actual flat. My altimeter said 5600 feet of climbing (in 92 miles of it, my computer shut off for a little while), lots of rollers, one steep climb (unfortunately, on a rather heavily trafficed road) - it's rather scenic, actually, in a pleasant non-spectacular sort of way. Nice views of Pikes Peak. But not like the P2P or anything.

It's very very well supported - tons of rest stops. Definitely a good chatty ride.

The biggest downside of this ride is that it's HUGE. Many cyclists of with a variety of group riding skills, including none at all. If you're up for that, it's pretty fun.

It is a fun ride with nothing too amazing or difficult. My one complaint is that the residents are less than friendly occasionally. This compounded with the fact that groups of cyclists ignore the rules and ride three deep or more makes for an interesting time. It is one big ride.

I would still recommend it.
I rode it the last two years and plan on sitting out this year but that could change.

By "a bit flat," I did mean a bit flat for me. I just like to climb. My wife thinks I am crazy and she will like the course. I certainly won't hate it and it will give us a chance to ride together because we climb at very different speeds.

I've done it the past two years and will likely do it again this year. As others have said it's got a lot of rolling terrain. Can be windy at times as well. Last year it seemed like there was a constant headwind for much of it.

Can you guys tell me how far this is from Colorado Springs? I may be there that week of June and was thinking about doing the century if it wasn't too far.

Can you guys tell me how far this is from Colorado Springs? I may be there that week of June and was thinking about doing the century if it wasn't too far.

About 40 miles

Hi all,
Driving in from Chicago for a 3 week riding vacation across Colorado with some freinds, this ride looked like it would be a fun way to get some sweet mountain roads under the wheels. I've been too long on the wrong side of the Missisippi river, June is too far away.

Elephant Rock actually passes through extreme northern Colorado Springs. Since I live in the Springs I start the ride here instead of driving to Castle Rock.

Hi all,
Driving in from Chicago for a 3 week riding vacation across Colorado with some freinds, this ride looked like it would be a fun way to get some sweet mountain roads under the wheels. I've been too long on the wrong side of the Missisippi river, June is too far away.

Don't be misled. Some folks are not aware that, pretty much. CO is flat as a pancake east of the Rockies - about a third of the state - except for a few places such as the "Black Forest" section (through which some of the the Elephant Rock goes). So, these will not be the typical mountain roads that most visualize as being Colorado.

But, the view of Pikes Peak, and the front range is quite striking.

Just a heads up - I got an email from the Ride organizers that said they're putting a cap on riders this year. I think the cap for the century is 4500 riders.

I did it last year. Rolling hills weren't too difficult and it was well supported. I thought that there were too many people and it seemed like a meat market at rest stops. But, that can be good for the single folk. They also had great prizes afterwards. Excellent food too. IMO, well worth the price.