john bono

Ok, here's a question for tourers who live on the east coast, but have ridden in the rockies.

I'm still looking at doing my 1000 mile tour this summer, doing some variant of the western express + transam. My home base is NW CT, but I haven't ridden west of the Appalachians at all. How does riding in the Rockies compare?

valygrl

Maybe I am not supposed to answer, b/c I live in the rockies.... But I have ridden in Pennsylvania, does that count? For the big mountain passes in Colorado, like Independence, Monarch, Loveland, the grades are less steep but way longer. A typical rockies pass is 2500-4000 feet of climbing in 8-25 miles. Grades are generally around 6-8%, with occasional short stretches of 10-12%. You can't sprint up them, you have to settle in and spin it out, for a few hours.

I averaged about 55 miles/day on a tour I did of colorado continental divides.
map of tour, highly recommended by me:
https://tinyurl.com/2yhg9g

You might want to do some research about western express in the summer - I hear it's a little warm. Lewis & Clark is also excellent, (I've only done west of Missoula part). And do one ever talks about the Great Parks route that ACA maps ... I have done quite a bit of that, and I would recommend it highly.

Don't be scared of the rockies, they are big but gradual. And super pretty.

Roughstuff

I've lived in both, and ridden in both, as well as the Cascades and Sierra. You will find the rockies easier to ride in (1) because the air is cooler and drier; (2) because the roads are newer and more carefully graded...very often the grades are less then 5%. Some are far steeper...Teton Pass is 12% for i forget how long! But these are the exception. Most grades are exaggerated for tourist purposes, focusing only on the final sprint to the pass over the last few miles; when in fact you will often climb noticeable grades for many miles beforehand.

In the appalachians ya can grind up steep grades and get tired, then RACE down the other side ya don't have enough time to recover and start the next climb. In the rockies, your climbs will often be for hours, and so may your descents.

It is a tough comparison, but you'll love the rockies. You might make 1 climb of 3000 vertical feet over 30 miles. In the appalachians you might make ten 300 foot climbs in the same distance. Ouch.

roughstuff

Peaks

We did the Northern Tier. The northern Rockies didn't significantly impact our typical daily mileage. What was different was that we spent all morning cranking up the long climb, and then came down the other side much faster, so the net result was about the same daily mileage.

We found some of the steapest grades in western Maine. Thankfully, they were short climbs.

Machka 

I have ridden in both the Rockies (Canadian Rockies) and Vermont.

The roads in the Canadian Rockies are quite doable ... long and gradual (for the most part). A 5-8% grade is common, the steepest you'll see is about a 12%.

Lightly loaded, I can cover about 400 kms in 24 hours in the Rockies. When I'm more heavily loaded, I prefer slowing it down to about 80 kms a day. Plus, on a tour, rather than a randonnee, I want to stop and take more photos.

staehpj1

We averaged 60 miles per day for the summer, but strangely seemed to do often do longer days in the Rockies. We had more longer days in the mountains than made much sense. I have no idea why.

In any case we loved the Rockies and generally made fairly good mileage while in them. We had some short days like the day we did Hoosier pass, but that was because we spent more than a half day being tourists in Breckenridge.

jamawani 

Maria and Hans are cycling to Farmville, twenty miles away.
There are two possible routes - both 20 miles long.
One is level - the other is half uphill and half downhill.
Maria chooses the level route and averages 10 mph.
Hans averages 5 mph on the uphill section and 15 mph on the downhill.

Who gets there first?

Dellphinus

20 mi @10 mph = 2 hrs
(10 mi @ 5 mph = 2 hrs) + (10 mi @ 15mph = .67 h )= 2.67 hrs
Maria wins, but has a really boring ride.

jamawani 

But, it goes to show that - even if you "make up time" going downhill - a tour in the mountains is usually going to produce a lower overall mileage than a tour in the flats.

And as for Maria's boring ride - perhaps she did it here:

VeloVeg

Long time member--been out of circulation this past year (in Africa), forgot my login info so I've re-registered. Anyway, it's great to be back online.

To your question--all of the answers you've gotten so far have been right on. Eastern mts. are short and intense, with high summertime humidity. The 4 mile climb (on a loaded bike) from Vesuvius, VA (sp?) up to the Blue Ridge Parkway is one such example of eastern mtn. intensity. The Rockies, on the other hand, offer near-zero humidity, higher elevation=thinner air, cool temps near summit, less grade, longer pleasure

If your modified Western Express leads you into Utah, you will experience some of the most awesome cycling in the lower 48 states. Of course Utah is also well known for its many 14% grades. It can also get a little warm during the summer months.

Our very own California Sierra Mts. offer perhaps the most extreme conditions, with high elevations, long climbs, with Ebbetts and Sonora passes presenting at 24 and 26 percent grade. But don't worry, the Western Express traverses Carson Pass which only has 8-12% grades.

BTW, the Western Express is an absolutely awesome ride, especially when modified to take in even more of the fantastic scenery.

Enjoy the planning. Enjoy the trip.

john bono

If that's the case, by summer, I shouldn't be in bad shape then. My main concern is that the miles I ride now in preparation for the tour this summer will prepare me adequately enough. Last summer I did a five day loaded tour of eastern long island, which, except for the first and last 20 miles, I found much easier than riding at home in CT. My avg speed was faster pulling a BOB through LI than unloaded in CT(that included time spent reading maps). I would not want to wind up on the west coast, miles from anywhere, and find out that golly, while I was doing 40 miles/day in CT, out west, that only translates to 25 or so in equivalent effort. That's my main worry, and it looks that as long as I'm comfortable doing 50 miles/day through NW CT, I should be ok doing the same distance in UT and CO.

nancy sv

Don't worry - you'll do fine. Just accept the fact that you won't be able to see the top for a long, long, long time and pedal. You'll make it!

valygrl

Woah, where is THAT? And are there any hilly roads there, or just that boring flat stuff?

FlowerBlossom

Sigh. What a wonderfully boring ride this would be.

I have a photo of me in the foreground in about that same spot.

I haven't seen those beauties in too many years.

coldfeet

And when you do get to the top, take a minute or two to make sure everything is stowed properly and look at the tires, wheels and brakes.

You do not want to find out something is wrong at 50mph and setting up to brake at the first curve. Don't ask me how I learned that one OK?

Roughstuff

I train on stairmasters at the gym, the ones where your two feet can move independently, though of course one DOES tend to be pushing while the other foot has its exhaust stroke. I peak out at 40 minutes per day on these things. Not only do they make your legs INCREDIBLY strong, they also greatly expand your breathing capacity and efficiency.

roughstuff