Dalai

Having ridden in Europe the last two years, I'm leaning towards heading to the USA in 2013 with the bike. Especially as I haven't been to the States since 98, it is slightly closer so cheaper airfares, and the AU$ is going gangbusters against the US$.

So hypothetical 3 week road trip - does the following sound feasible?

Arrive possibly late August to early September. Flying into LA and drive to CO via Tuscon AZ to ride Mt Lemmon and Mt Graham. Hit some Colorado climbs before the snows arrive. Then drive back to the west coast via the East Sierra's finishing off the last week and a bit riding the hills around San Francisco and LA/San Diego? I realized it will involve alot of driving, but I've checked my available leave and I'll only have just over 3 weeks saved up by late August so can't stay for longer.

Suggestions for car / van hire would be great. I'm currently looking at something like a Dodge Caravan / Chrysler Voyager as the back seats fold into the floor so could sleep some of the time in the van. Or possibly hiring a small campervan? Also suggestions on the climbs or popular loops with a good selection of climbs; the better towns to stay in including accommodation tips will be greatfully received!

Have already just ordered The Complete Guide to Climbing (by Bike) CO and CA editions to research climbs.

halfspeed

Also in Tucson, consider Kitt's Peak and Gates Pass.

beatlebee 

^agreed!

And if you have more time in Tucson, ride the Saturday Shootout and when in Green Valley, head to Madera Canyon which provides another great climb up to the base of Mt. Wrightston, the highest peak in S. AZ.

Feel free to PM me for more info.

Rowan

We've just driven the Rim Road of the Colorado National Monument (yeah, we're lazing it at the moment). Highly recommended steady climb of around 11 miles with an incredible vista of canyon after canyon. Probably best to start from the west side, and once finished, you can loop back into Grand Junction along the bottom. Truly magnificent, in my opinion.

We're also driving through the USA at the moment in a Dodge Caravan. The distinct advantages are excellent mileage, and being able to remove the back seats so we can sleep in it and carry the bikes without removing the front wheels.

ericm979

In Colorado you can do Mt Evans- 14,100' elevation.

In the Eastern Sierras of California the most scenic are:
Horseshoe Meadows
Onion Valley
Whitney Portal
White Mountains

There's also South Lake/Sabrina Lake, Pine Creek, and Mosquito Lake.

In the SF bay area Mt Diablo has a very large viewing area- you can see a lot of terrain from it. When the air is very clear you can see into Yosemite Valley about 100 miles away. But it's only that clear in winter.

RobertHurst

Gotta ride the Million Dollar Highway from Durango to Ouray. Then turn around and go the other direction. The best section is between Silverton and Ouray, Red Mountain Pass. That's what you're looking for. Or, make a big loop out of it (Gunnison, Lake City, Durango, Ouray, Montrose and back to Gunnison) but there is a bit of non-exciting road between Montrose and Gunnison.

Dalai

Appreciate all the suggestions plus offer to PM robabeatle. Will do some more research and will take you up on that.

Please keep the suggestions coming.

For CO, only climbs I know of so far and are on the tick list are Mt Evan's and Independence pass, so the Rim road looks good as does the Million Dollar hwy if only for the name alone! Making a loop to Gunnison is too far though as I will be unassisted and only doing day rides and not touring So probably 200km is about the longest ride per day I'll be looking doing as all rides will include climbs ...

B. Carfree

In NorCal Mix Canyon and Gates Canyon are not to be missed (Near Vacaville off Pleasants Valley Rd). Add in Mt. Diablo, Mt. Tam and Mt. Hamilton if you want longer, less steep climbs.

Jumping a bit further north, check out the climbs on the Lost Coast. Wildcat Ridge out of Ferndale, AKA The Wall (backside), Wilder Ridge out of Honeydew, and you can connect the dots with one more climb whose name I can't remember, but just check out the route sheet for the Tour of the Unknown Coast. There are cheap campgrounds all over the area.

BykOfALesserGod

Climbing in the summer is interesting.

Nachoman

If you get as far south as San Diego, when you're in Southern California, there's Mt. Palomar. Although at around 5,500 feet it seems pretty small compared to some of the other mountains referred to above.
Maybe you can do Palomar repeats?

bikerjp

+1 on CNM. I did that in March. I suspect it will be quite hot in Aug or September. I don't think you will hit any snow anywhere in CO at that time but at high elevations anything can happen. I've been snowed on in July climbing a 14er. With respect to CNM, I would do it from both ends - two trips or an end to end. Each side is a long, steady climb. I camped in the monument and rode to one end turned around and rode to the other and back to the campground. I'd post the ride but my average was embarrassingly slow . Of course, I stopped to take pictures and I was "enjoying the scenery".

For other rides, you might just look at the US Pro Challenge course. They covered a number of good rides. I'd also suggest a trip to Summit country (Breckenridge/Frisco area). Some good rides there plus ride over to Vail and back. Most of that ride is bike path or closed road so no traffic. There is also the Copper Triangle ride. I haven't done that yet but it sounds great. There is an organized event in August, I think, but you can ride the roads anytime.

https://www.coppertriangle.com/course.html

sharp

+1! I've only ridden Durango to Silverton (IHBC) but I've driven the rest and it is awesome! If you get to Prescott in AZ THERE's a nice little climbing ride I like....Prescott/Prescott Valley to Clarkdale/Cottonwood by way of Mingus Mtn (summit 7023) and Jerome. If you go over, down and back it's a good 5000+ ft climb. Also as a former Tucson resident I can tell you the Mt. Lemmon climb would be great all though I've never ridden it (wasn't a cyclist back then).

DXchulo

You should come through Reno. There are some good climbs around Lake Tahoe and some others around Markleeville, CA. From Reno my best suggestion would be to start at the 395/431 junction, do the ~15 mile/5% climb to the Mt. Rose Summit, then keep going straight and descend down to Lake Tahoe. Head towards South Lake Tahoe if you want more miles and maybe add Kingsbury Grade.

Check out deathride.com for some climbs around Markleeville. Ebbetts is my favorite of those.

Let me know if you want maps, elevation profiles, pictures, etc. I've ridden just about every climb in the Reno/Tahoe area.

valygrl

For CO, August is perfect, September can be great but you start getting into possibility of weather in the mountains, so you might want to go there first. Mt Lemnon and Mt. Graham are probably too hot in August & September. Hell, Mt. Graham was too hot this April. CA is good the whole time.

CO:
Copper Triangle - easy to self-support, great scenery. Stay in Frisco, eat pastry at The Butterhorn, or stay at the very friendly but high-altitude hostel in Leadville. If you stay in Frisco, you can ride from there, it's about 100 miles, you'll want to go Copper - Vail - Minturn - Leadville, because Vail Pass is a b*tch going west-to-east.
Trail Ridge Road - either side is good, from Estes Park or Granby. Or over and back all the way if you get a good weather day.
Mt. Evans is OK, but it's more of a "can get to say you did it" rather than a great actual ride. The pavement is so bad that the descent is no fun at all. Would not make this a destination. In contrast, Trail Ridge was repaved over the course of the last few years and is awesome. If you want more rides out of Estes Park, you can do a great loop including Devil's Gulch, some flatter roads leading to Lyons, and back up on S. St Vrain (hwy 7) to the Peak to Peak highway.
Grand Mesa - looooong climb to a 10,000' plateau. I've only done it from North to South, plan on riding on top. Start off I-70 at the hwy 65 exit, or ride from Palisade (few miles on the freeway).
Independence Pass is best from the Aspen side. There's a hostel in Aspen, and lots of VERY expensive hotels. If you are there, may as well do the Maroon Bells road too, it's short but there's a big scenery pay-off at the end.
Cottonwood Pass, head West from Buena Vista
Durango to Silverton (Million Dollar Hwy), you might possibly be able to do it one way and take the train back.
Wolf Creek Pass - from Pagosa Springs, head north on 160
Colorado National Monument is OK, the scenery is spectacular, but it's rather short - a good shorter ride, but I wouldn't go there just for that, and yeah it's really hot there in August.

Wyoming: Beartooth Highway, the Big Horn Mountains, Chief Joseph Pass/Sunlight Basin Road. Don't bother riding in Yellowstone, too many cars.
Montana: Going to the Sun Road

CA - that stuff EricM said, plus in the Bay Area, start around Redwood City/Woodside/Palo Alto, ride up over the coast range to the coast, and back. There are a ton of ways to do this, a good loop includes Old La Honda, Pescadero, Old Stage, San Gregonio, Tunitas Creek, Kings Mountain. THere are a million bike shops on the Peninsula south of S.F., you can get maps/ride recommendations locally. THere is some really nice riding in the Santa Cruz mountains as well, and then there is the Big Sur coast, south of Carmel.

In SoCal, Santa Barbara has great riding, and there are spectacular steep climbs in the mountains near Malibu - I stayed in Agoura Hills and did some insane loops off of Mulholland Drive, last year. I don't know my way around there so much, though, so hopefully someone else can chime in.

You should probably go to Yosemite to see it (I'm biased) but don't plan to ride in the valley, too many cars. Just east of there, Tioga Road (hwy) 120 up from Lee Vining, west to at least Olmstead Point and back is good.

Dalai

Thanks for the tips. Please keep them coming.

Given a few posts are saying it will be too hot especially for Tuscon, when would be ideal to be able to still ride the high CO climbs and also manage the warmer spots? I only thought early September for CO, as the last time I was in CO many years ago we got caught in a severe blizzard and then multicar pileup heading to Denver from Rifle in October! And this year I had sleet on the Passo dello Gavia mid September and it wasn't the most enjoyable conditions to ride in...

Train return for the Million Dollar hwy sounds good. Wouldn't have thought of that!

CNM does sound great though a bit short. But I could loop both ways for an easier day in the saddle as I make my way back towards the west coast?

Going to Yosemite would be bitter sweet so I don't know if I could visit again. My whole life years ago revolved around climbing (both my previous USA road trips were for rock climbing) and I had to retire due to reoccurring injuries. Therefore it would be hard to be in the valley again and not on those magical walls…

beatlebee 

come to Tucson in mid to late October

Lightingguy

Ditto the Colorado Durango to Ouray and back, though as it's 104 total, I'd maybe skip the first 27 from Durango to Purgatory Ski Are as it's flat'ish or gradual and you don't really climb till you start up Coal Bank.

FWIW I'd skip the Silverton to Durango train. Slow and expensive and BORING. I'd rather ride the road.

Wolf Creek from Pagosa Springs is nice also.

In New Mexico, Albuquerque to Sandia is great, 54 RT and +5700 ft., starting from somewhere around Tramway and Central. Santa Fe has the ski basin climb which is a short but often steep 14 one-way, +3000 ft.. Then there's the ski basin in Taos, also about 30 RT and 3,000 ft.

As note, you should start in the north (CO) and the higher climbs, then head south to NM and AZ. It'll still warm, but be prepared for foul conditions above 8,000-9,000 in NM in Sept.

aztimm

It is never too hot to ride in AZ

I live in the Phoenix area, which is usually 5-8 degrees F warmer than Tucson, and I ride through the summer. Yes you'll need to wake up early and be out by 5-5:30am max. Yes, you may be a little slower. Getting out early, you'll be done by 11am max, and the temp shouldn't be too horrible.

We have some climbs in the Phoenix area, but it sounds like there's more down south.

Dalai

Only planned to head to CO via Tuscon was to use these climbs as a warm up for the higher CO climbs. The highest point on mainland Australia is only 2228m above sea level, so I thought riding a few 3000m peaks prior to Mt Evans would be a good idea...

I could head straight to CO and ride a few lower altitude climbs there as a warm up, then head back to the west coast via NM and AZ?

aztimm

Most of the good climbs in the Phoenix area are NE of town. Heck, you could even take the Beeline (AZ-87) all the way to Payson if you want (and there's a guy on here who has!).

I did a Gran Fondo in Scottsdale a few weeks ago, this has a sample of some of the good climbs (although I didn't think they were that good while I was doing them):
https://app.strava.com/activities/26242974

DXchulo

You could always start around Salt Lake City, UT. Elevation there is ~4,000 feet in the valleys and there are some decent climbs in the area.

mje

The Pikes Peak road had a pilot bicycle program in September this year. If that was successful and they open the road to bicycles at all next year, make it a priority. It is a fantastic climb! Oh, and much of the pavement is new.

Rowan

This would make sense. I'm still not quite acclimatised to the altitudes here despite being above 4000' for most of the past week to 10 days.

Rowan

Pikes Peak will never be the same after the Ari Vatanen climb.

Racer Ex 

Mt Baldy/GMR in SoCal. Tour of California have done them the last two years. Baldy is right out my front door.

Tioga Pass is the most scenic ride in the eastern Sierras. You have a top view of Yosemite and you really should visit the park...

Mt Rose, Gieger Grade and Waston Peak out of Reno before you turn east. Ride in the tire tracks of Greg Lemond and check out Lake Tahoe.