Cycling activities in Rocky Mountains
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Adventure Cycling HQ
The HQ for America's premier nonprofit bicycle travel organization is something of a pilgrimage site for cross-continental cyclists, many of whom plan their route to pass through Missoula. They're always afforded a warm welcome and plenty of cycling info.
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Cycling
Cyclists can ride on public roads and a few designated service roads, but not on the backcountry trails. The best season is April to October, when the roads are usually snow-free. From mid-March to mid-April the Mammoth–West Yellowstone park road is closed to cars but open to cyclists, offering a long but stress-free ride.
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Mountain Biking
From steep single-track to scenic road rides, Durango is a national hub for mountain biking. The easy Old Railroad Grade Trail is a 12.2-mile loop that uses both US Hwy 160 and a dirt road following the old railway tracks. From Durango take Hwy 160 west through the town of Hesperus. Turn right into the Cherry Creek Picnic Area, where the trail starts.
For something a bit more technical, try Dry Fork Loop, accessible from Lightner Creek just west of town. It has some great drops, blind corners and vegetation. Cycling shops on Main or Second Ave rent out mountain bikes.
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University Bicycles
There are plenty of places to rent bicycles to cruise around town, but this has the widest range of rides and the most helpful staff.
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CS West Bikes
Based in Old Colorado City, they rent high-quality mountain bikes, do repairs and will suggest the best mountain bike trails in the area. A terrific resource.
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Midland Trail
A two-mile stretch of the Front Range Trail System that branches off the Pikes Peak Greenway at America The Beautiful Park (formerly Confluence Park) and heads into Old Colorado City.
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Government Trail
Accessed via Buttermilk Rd in Aspen, this 12-mile single-track trail runs all the way to Snowmass. The round trip can take 3 to 4.5 hours, but as long as you're in Snowmass, why not ride the gondola up and bomb down the mountain before coasting back to Aspen town. You'll have earned it.
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Challenge Unlimited
An Old Colorado City-based outfitter who for 20 years has lead cyclists on the lovely, fully supported downhill ride from the Pikes Peak summit into Manitou Springs. There are rides twice a day - in the morning and afternoon. Advance reservations are a must. They have a handful of other Colorado cycling itineraries too.
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Ute City Cycles
A high-end road and mountain bike retailer, this place also offers limited rentals from its demo fleet – there's nowhere else in town that you can rent $6500 Orbea road bikes or $2700 Yeti mountain bikes. Rentals are $75 per day with a 2-day maximum; no reservations. Staff can also point you in the direction of Aspen's best cycling.
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Aspen Bike Tours & Rentals
Easily the most laid-back bike shop in town – shaved legs and lycra bravado are nowhere to be found here. Along with premium road and mountain bikes for rent, it also has a network of private guides who can set you up on terrific mountain-biking tours onto trails seldom glimpsed by tourists. Allow 24-hours' notice for staff to set it up.
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Pikes Peak Greenway Trail
Colorado Springs' primary paved bike path follows Monument Creek south from the Air Force Academy (where you can link with the New Santa Fe Regional Trail) for 14 miles into the city where it links with the rest of the Front Range Trail System an additional 20-plus miles of trails that connect Colorado Springs, Old Colorado City and Manitou Springs.
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Cycling to Maroon Bells
According to the Aspen cycling gurus this is the most iconic road-bike ride in Aspen, mainly because it climbs a lung-wrenching 11 miles to the foot of one of the most picturesque wilderness areas in the rockies. Most folks drive it or take the bus - the Maroon Bells road is actually closed to incoming car traffic after 9am - but if you crave sweet, beautiful pain, let your quads sing.
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Breckenridge to Vail Bike Path
Summit County's tremendous system of paved bike paths connects Breckenridge to the system's hub in Frisco 11 miles away via a smooth rolling trail that parallels the Blue River. From Frisco you can hump the gorgeous Ten-Mile Canyon Trail through auto-free road-bike heaven over Vail Pass to Vail Village and Lionshead.
If you don't want to ride all the way back, hop on the Summit Stage.
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Owl Creek Trail
This scenic, unpaved but quite smooth roadside trail connects Aspen with Snowmass Village, cutting through groves and open meadows as it navigates the substantial Owl Creek-Brush Creek pass. From Snowmass to Aspen it is mostly downhill. The trail is 4.4 miles long, beginning at the Buttermilk Ski Area. From Buttermilk into Aspen, take Cemetery Lane to the Rio Grande Trail, which will lead you to Rio Grande Park downtown.
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Rio Grande Trail
In 2008, more than 10 years after this former railroad corridor was initially slated to be converted to a contiguous bike trail, the Rio Grande Trail was completed. It rambles for 41 mostly paved miles (there's still a gravel section near Aspen that requires road bikers to ditch the trail for a heartbeat), from Aspen through Basalt and Carbondale, and into Glenwood Springs. You can download a map from the RFTA website (www.rfta.com).
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Vail to Breckenridge Bike Path
- Vail, USA
- Activities › Cycling
From the West Vail Market you can ride along N Frontage Rd, crossing I-70 at the pedestrian overpass to Lionshead. On the south side of the freeway, a paved bike route extends from W Gore Creek Dr through Cascade Village, Lionshead and Vail Village and continues east on the 10-Mile Canyon Trail through auto-free road-bike heaven over Vail Pass to Frisco.
From the road closure at the east end of Bighorn Rd, 6 miles from Vail Village, it’s an 8-mile climb to Vail Pass; there you can turn back or continue 11 miles to Frisco, the hub of Summit County bike trails and the gateway to Breckenridge.
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Hub
Arguably the best of the Aspen bike shops. This place offers a cycling school, sponsors a weekly road race and bike club, and acts as a booster for local talent, pointing out that Aspen is home to some of the best cyclists in the US, including two top-five time trialists and a dude named Lance.
It rents cruisers, full-suspension mountain bikes and carbon fiber road bikes, and will offer advice on the best road routes and single tracks plying Aspen and Smuggler Mountains, the Montezuma Basin, and Pearl and Independence Pass, but staff aren't always sweet about it. Their motto? 'It's not rude. It's the Hub.'
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Bike Valet
- Vail, USA
- Activities › Cycling
Based in Lionshead. In winter it's run as Ski Valet and offers some of the best discount ski rentals on the mountain, and overnight repair service. But in the summer, it's known as Bike Valet, one of two independently owned bike shops in Lionshead. Rent path bikes, road bikes, electric bikes, as well as full-suspension mountain bikes for the hardcore.
Owner-operated, Bike Valet will gladly offer riding tips, repair your bike, and they do tours for all levels as well. The Shrine Pass tour includes a vicious two-mile ascent and a twelve-mile coast down the backside of Vail mountain into Red Cliff. The Vail Pass downhill tour on the bike path is also popular, especially with…
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Boulder Creek Bike Path
The most utilized commuter bike path in town, this fabulously smooth and mostly straight creekside concrete path follows Boulder Creek from Foothill Parkway all the way to the spilt of Boulder Canyon and Four Mile Canyon Rd west of downtown – a total distance of over 5 miles one-way. The path also feeds urban bike lanes that lead all over town.
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