I need out of here! So I’m thinking of planning a trip up to CO for a weekend to train. My plan is to head for the mountains and go straight up and up and up as long as I can and have some fun in between. My instincts tell me to go to Boulder, but I here Colorado Springs is nice.
I’m looking for a town near safe, scenic and lightly travelled roads (by cars) up and into the mountains. I’m assuming these would be well used by local bikers and triathletes. Also, any recommendations on where to stay for cheap, where to swim, any good coffee shops, what to do and local tri shops? Any advice is appreciated!
if you come up to “The Springs” your best places to stay are central/western part of town. The northside & eastside have crap traffic. There’s a group ride (mostly roadies, but a few triathletes) on Sat & Sun at 10am at Acacia Park . There are tracks at Colorado College (under construction) and Cheyenne High School. Swimming at Colorado College. Good masters program at Cheyenne HS . Can run also on the Santa Fe Trail. A North-South vein through town. Do a few climbs up Cheyenne Canyon . Colorado Cyclist & Old Towne are probably the best bike shops. No tri specific shop. Pike’s Perk downtown has good coffee. I’m going there now for a grande mocha.
My recommendation would be to go to the Breckinridge/Frisco/Dillon area. Not cheap, but there are some good roads/trails in the area with good climbs. One trail runs parallell to I-70 between Frisco and Vail. Other good rides might be Hoosier Pass, between Breckinridge and Fairplay, or Fremont Pass, between Copper Mountain and Leadville. Take your MTB too if you have one. The town of Frisco has a good website (www.townoffrisco.com) for lodging and amenities. My sister Theresa is the Assistant Town Manager.
depends on where you are coming from… and how you get there… but, the further north or south you are from I-70, the better the riding. The arride air south and west works for me, there is plenty of altitude wherever you go. Trails are everywhere if you want off-road.
I have done a circle (noth ways) that included, in order, denver, boulder, estes park, winterpark, breck/frisco, leadville, salida and colorado springs. That is one jam packed week but you get to see and ride a lot of stuff and it is all easy to get to. Downside - lots of tourist as it is via I-70.
i’d probably go to the boulder area. there plenty of places to stay although it might be cheaper to stay in louisville or longmont(both a short distance from boulder). boulder does have a couple hostels that might be worth checking out. there is plenty of good riding. one favorite is taking left hand canyon(nw of boulder on us 36) up to ward, get on the peak to peak highway towards estes park, then back down through lyons to the 36 and back in. if you start in boulder, it’s about a 60-70 mile loop. good sustained climbing and nice scenery. if you wanted to add some more climbing, go up over lee hill or old stage road first which can be accessed off of us 36 as well, although you’d need to check a map as the directions aren’t totally straight foward.
So Bosco, where did you end up going? I am going to be in CO later this summer and would like to hear about your rides. BTW, I found some ride info on www.coloradobicyclerides.com.
I ended up going to Boulder and staying at the hostel there. I kind of had my heart set on it and knew I couldn’t go wrong. I’d recommend Boulder. It was a great time. For riding, I would either hook up with the boulder triathlon club (www.boulder triathlonclub.com…they have a group ride on saturdays posted on their site.) or going out NW on US 36 like mcaml2 (?)mentioned in his/her post. The group ride was great! There were almost 30 triathletes of all abilitys and they could not have been nicer. They were fun to ride with and we went a good 60-70 miles to Carter Lake and back at a nice pace. It was flat as can be, the roads were great and the scenery was beautiful! I’m not as big a fan of biking, but that day I felt like I could have ridden forever! But if that doesn’t work for you, heading out on US 36 will lead you to good routes that you can make up as you go. You can’t miss the mountains. If you get lost you can wait 5 seconds for even more bikers to come by and ask them. Thay are all over the place! Hope all goes well. I can’t wait to go back.
Other than that, be sure to hit Illegal Petes…the Chicken Pesto wrap is perfect after a long ride!
Oh yeah, watch out for pedestrians at the crosswalks, bring a spare tube AND a tube and wear sunscreen!!! I will next time.