mcallaghan

My Wales tour was very successful. My legs were a bit sore after the first two days and a heavy-rain-front on Day 3 meant that my optional day was a day off (though given how dead of a town Brecon is, I kinda wish I had gone for a ride) which let me stretch the legs and recover. I think I averaged 42 miles a day on the trip, the short being 30 and the long being 55miles (the last day). Quite proud of myself for doing it without needing to bus/train any of the area.

I am back to being out of shape. Hopefully, now that winter is upon us here, I will XC Ski to work every day and downhill ski on the weekends. Maybe do some dumbell exercise/cycle-trainer in the evenings too.

But since I am broke, it looks like I am going to stay local and do a Colorado tour this time. I will be able to pick the date a bit better, so that will give me the spring and half the summer to get some decent rides in. I certainly did a fair amount of riding (for me) this past summer, so will aim to do even more this coming summer.

Does anyone know the general camping rules? Looking at a potential route, camping seems the best option this time. More flexibility with mileage each day (20 mile downhills might mean being able to go further). Actual campsites are few and far between, though, and I have no idea how wooded the areas will be. Is it legal to pitch a tent along the side of the road (figuratively speaking) or do I have to do true stealth-camping to remain undetected?

antokelly

I ofter wonder why you guys don't tour so much in your own country it's only stunning and your almost guaranteed great weather.
here in Ireland as you well know the weather is hit and miss most of the time same in the UK ,
nah give my asunny tour any day of the week.

fietsbob

After my Irish Scottish tour I Moved to a pretty similar seasonally wet but rarely that cold corner of the states.

property ownership an willingness to share a place to camp varies a lot , as do individual personalities.

so to know for each Individual parcel and Person Owning It>>> Ask.

mcallaghan

Its more about the 'exotic' location. Just like camping in your backyard is no fun, you see that stuff all the time...going somewhere new and foreign holds a certain draw. Its also much easier touring at sea level then it is at 8,000 ft elevation - which makes touring my neck of the woods a bit more troublesome.

Our country is bigger, yes, about the size of Europe, but there is a lot more history and culture and other things crammed into Europe. A 4 hour drive in the UK essentially takes you the length of the country. A 4 hour drive from where I live is how long it takes you to get to the nearest city. You also have to travel quite a ways to get anywhere in our country, so why not travel somewhere foreign? I have also visited the vast majority of the big things to see out here when my family moved here when I was little. Again, it covers a lot of ground, so I would need more time off to complete a journey then my annual 2 weeks.

My planned route will take about a week just to cover Colorado, and it will have a lot of climbing involved.

Ty0604

Do what I did; email every town you're passing through on your trip and ask them about camping in their city parks while explaining you'll be on bike tour. Google the city name and use the contact info on their website. It's time consuming but I did this for my 2016 trip (sent emails to over 600 cities between my starting point of Portland, Oregon and my ending point of Portland, Maine). A majority of them (60%) are allowing me to camp in their city park for free since I asked them. They just requested I let them know when I arrived into town so they could let LEO's know I was there. The others, who said no, suggested ideas on where I could camp at for either free or cheap.

Good luck!

hueyhoolihan

that's a damn good idea!

DropBarFan

Congrats on the tour, those hills looked intimidating. Used to live in Colorado & visited a lot, did some car-camping. So much state/Fed park areas that "stealth" camping can be easy esp with trad Colo tolerance. Last time I camped in mountains over Aspen, was amazed on the beauty & privacy despite parking next to the main road into town. No hassles or fees.

mcallaghan

The hills were amazingly steep -especially loaded down on a tourer. If you read the blog, you'll know I had to get off and walk in several places until it eased up a bit and I could get back on the bike. I do wish I had stopped to take more photos.

A lot of my planned route goes out into unmarked areas of CO, which I think are going to be farm-based. I will post a tentative route up here sometime this week.

Ty0604

Looking forward to seeing it. Will be posting my route here soon too.

mcallaghan

Here it is: COloop - A bike ride in Aspen, CO

300 or so miles. I am thinking about adding on this route too: ColoradoLoop - A bike ride in Aspen, CO though obviously would need to edit it a bit.

Ty0604

That looks good! I'm not familiar with that app so if the red is your route, what is the purple? If you're ever in Portland, Oregon hit me up. There's a route from here to Eugene called the Willamette Valley Scenic Bikeway, about 250 miles of riding using the route I use. Mostly flat. 4 days/3 nights is what most people do it in. Can be done quicker but I stop a lot.

mcallaghan

Red is my route. Purple are bike paths I believe.

Ty0604

Got it