delux68

I left Florida at the end of June for an around the country bike tour. It has been a mix of biking and rental cars and I have only biked about 500 miles total. I am now in Chicago and planned to continue my tour on August 1st but instead I have been visiting family and just hanging around Chicago. My current plan is to fly to Denver on Sept. 5th, and ride to Breckenridge to continue the ACA TransAmerica trail to Oregon. Is this a bad idea?

gpsblake

I'm no expert but I would think just throwing yourself into such a high altitude environment without getting your body adjusted to it first is a bad idea. Maybe hang around Denver for a week or two, ride your bike often in Denver, then tackle the higher altitudes like Breckenridge.

Aquakitty

Just to clarify, why have you only rode 500 miles? Was this part of the plan or did you originally intend to bike the whole way?

Otherwise I agree with what gpsblake said, assuming you are having fun on the tour. If you rented cars because you didn't like the cycling then i would say ya it would be dumb to waste more money if you don't enjoy it.

delux68

I rode from south Florida to Charleston SC in under two weeks. I got discouraged and was spending too much money for dumpy motels (couchsurfing and warmshowers had not worked out), so I rented a car and drove to Virginia Beach, from there I drove to Illinois with my dad who was driving back from Florida. I planned to ride the whole way but I donno, getting a ride seemed like a pretty good idea at time. I wanted and needed a challenge and adventure. After being here in the chicago sububs I know that I haven't gotten it out of my system yet.

Although the riding was very tough, I enjoyed it and felt pretty good physically the next day. This is my first tour, I never rode more than 25 miles before I left, the bike I'm on had about ten miles (by me) on it before I left. I'm mostly worried about the altitude and the weather, I think I can handle the cold but not snow. I would be sleeping outside most nights.

valygrl

Go for it, but don't wait any longer. You need to be out of Yellowstone by mid/late September. Once you are west of there the weather should mellow out. Weather in CO is freaking AWESOME right now.

You do have a tent, sleeping bag and sleeping pad, right?

Aquakitty

I would not worry too much about cold if you go now and have a good bag. I always bring a bag rated way lower than I think I need, I tend to sleep cold in tents. Also take into account the r-rating of your pad. I was just tenting in 3c with a 35 degree rated bag (Fahrenheit, sorry for the conversions) and I found it cold but tolerable. My main concern would be snow.

delux68

thanks for the replies, I have a cheap tent, a bag rated for 30 degrees f, and a cheap pad. I'm leaning towards going knowing that I will be struggling with the assents, the high altitude, and may not be able to very far in one day.

paul2432

Do you intend to ride out of the airport? If you do, I suggest starting another thread asking for specific routes from the airport to Breckenridge.

Snow is unlikely, but possible. Overnight lows will probably be in the low 30s. Be prepared for wind as well.

I say go for it, but have a bail out plan. Opportunities like this don't come up that often.

Paul

SlimRider

Hey there Delux68!

I say that you'd better be in good condition before you confront that altitude. Altitude can make all the difference in terms of energy and anerobic respiration of muscle tissue. Nothing like having your muscles tense up from being bathed in lactic acid.

You might want to rethink another location....

Good Luck!


Hey there GPSBlake!

Which Walmart bike do you ride?

PS.

I've often suspected that if you place good components on a few of their models, you might have a decent bike...

valygrl

RE: airport - there's a bus that can take you to Lakewood, Boulder, Downtown Denver... it's $13 to boulder, a little less to those other places. Bike is ok either boxed or not. It's called RTD Skyride.

You could ride from the airport, but it would waste a whole (stressful) day getting across the city to the mountains.

delux68

thanks for the suggestions, i was going to use the google maps bicycle route from the airport and stay somewhere in Denver the day i arrive and head out the next day. the shuttle sounds like a good idea, and after some research i think i could just get a shuttle from Denver to Breckenridge and start there.

and Slimrider, I'm not in great physical condition and that really has me worried, i hope it doesn't slow me down to much.

indyfabz

At 7:50 a.m. PST it is 30 degrees in West Yellowstone, MT. 38 in Wisdom, MT. 53 in Steamboat Springs.

gpsblake

Right now, it's a Schwinn hybrid with 700x28 tires, really good components for the price. Probably the best in-store bike Walmart sells. It's designed to a "speed hybrid" as opposed to a "comfort hybrid"

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Schwinn-Va...-Bike/14956324

Still, even with that set up, I went out with a few roadies and I couldn't keep up, and they weren't even going that hard. They were nice enough not to drop me completely though. I ride several 1,000 miles a year, but speed is one thing I'm just no good at, no matter what bike I'm riding. I rode a Walmart bike (Schwinn Sidewinder) from South Carolina to Texas back in 2005....

Walmart bikes aren't for everyone, but if you are willing to do your own maintenance and don't care about fitting in with roadies and don't care about speed, they do the job. I always tell people make sure you inspect the bike real well before riding it. About once a year, I get a new one and donate the old one to Goodwill, not so much that the bike is falling apart, but I like a new ride once a year or so....

delux68

cool! thanks for highjacking my thread.

delux68

Yikes, do i really want to give up my comfortable bed and mild temps??