Mountain - Plains - Driving from Seattle to NJ mid-May with bike, where should I ride?

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sneekyjesus
03-01-09, 05:33 PM
I'm thinking of driving through Washington, Oregon, North Cali, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, then either gunning it to N. Carolina or just heading straight back to NJ. Anyone in some of this states have some opinions on rides that shouldn't be missed?

DnvrFox
03-01-09, 09:00 PM
What kind of riding do you do and like?

Mtn Bike?

Long road rides over passes?

Trail systems?

In CO, you can have any and all of the above.

There are literally 100's of possible rides,

A new easier ride would be the Rio Grande Trail from Glenwood Springs to Aspen and return - 88 miles total.

Or, the Glenwood Canyon Trail along the Colorado River - about 35 miles round trip.

All of Summit and Eagle Counties have stupendous bike trails, including over Vail Pass, through Breckenridge, Frisco, Keystone, etc.

An excellent and challenging road ride os the Copper Triangle - through Leadville, Copper Mountain, Vail, etc. 3 high passes.

Lots and lots of mtn biking.

The Denver Metro Area has over 600 miles of cement trails - you can go 40 miles without ever crossing a vehicle road, generally along creeks and the Platte River.

See this thread for some pistures of the above.

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=486301

Tell us more.
sneekyjesus
03-02-09, 04:09 AM
I definitely ought to have been more specific. I'm looking for short to medium to long road rides, either really fun or pretty tough or hopefully both. I'm not looking to conquer colorado's most intense, 20k foot 200 mile ride or whatever such stuff, but 30 miles, 1k feet wouldn't be good either. Does that make sense?

DnvrFox
03-02-09, 06:01 AM
I definitely ought to have been more specific. I'm looking for short to medium to long road rides, either really fun or pretty tough or hopefully both. I'm not looking to conquer colorado's most intense, 20k foot 200 mile ride or whatever such stuff, but 30 miles, 1k feet wouldn't be good either. Does that make sense?

I would suggest Summit County Trails, the Glenwood<>Aspen Trail, the Colorado National Monument loop.
bryceepoo
03-03-09, 04:46 PM
Wanna do some climbing? It's hard to beat the views of Denver from Lookout Mtn out of Golden, and it's definitely a local favorite.