Colorado Will Ruin You For Biking Anywhere Else / COME TO LIFE 4 AMAZING EVENTS Our biking-events calendar is nirvana for riders and fans. Look for large events like the new Colorado Classic (Aug.), Ride the Rockies (June) and the Leadville Trail 100 MTB (Aug.),as well as dozens of smaller events each year. Longtime favorites like the Elephant Rock Cycling Festival (June), Colorado-Eagle River Ride (July) and the Fort Collins Tour de Fat (Aug.) are joined by newer events like the Pikes Peak Cycling Hill Climb Gran Fondo (Aug.), Copper Triangle Bicycle Tour (Aug.), Pedal the Plains and the West Elk Bicycle Clas-sic (both in Sept.). COLORADO.com/Events 6 GO FOR THE GOLD! Colorado has more gold-or platinum-rated bike communities than any other state, ac-cording to the League of American Bicyclists. Boulder and Fort Collins are ranked platinum, while Breckenridge, Durango, Crested Butte, Carbondale and Steamboat Springs are gold. Silver status goes to Aspen, Vail, Colorado Springs, Denver, Salida, Golden, Gunnison, Arvada, Summit County and Longmont , while Castle Rock, Greeley, Lakewood and Grand Junction take the podium with bronze. CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: LEADVILLE TRAIL 100 MTB; MOUNTAIN BIKING, ASPEN CHAMBER RESORT ASSOCIATION; BICYCLIST, JACK AFFLECK; ROAD CYCLING IN FRUITA, MILES/DENISE CHAMBERS; BOULDER B-CYCLE. 5 TOWN CONNECTS Connection rides between cities are well-traveled by bikes and lightly traveled by traffic (read: plenty of shoulder room). For starters try the new Boulder to Westminster route, Wolcott to Steamboat Springs , Las Animas to Lamar (with a stop at John Martin Reservoir State Park), Aspen to Glenwood Springs , or Fort Collins to Mishawaka Amphi-theatre (ok, The Mish isn’t a town, but when there’s a concert on, it’s close). The ultra-popular Boulder-to-Golden route was recently improved with a larger, paved shoulder for bikes. Try the Grand Junction to Palisade “fruit loop” route, which starts at the botanical gardens, then winds riders through the rows of peach trees and grapevines the area is famous for. 7 BIKE SHARES Is red a really, really popular color for bikes in Denver and Boulder ? The cities’ B-Cycle program has taken off in recent years and received national attention, placing dozens of bike stations and hundreds of (mostly red) bikes on the roads year-round. Visitors and locals alike can “check out” a bike at a station, pay with a credit card (or buy a pass) and cruise from station to station. The Fort Collins Bike Share runs a similar program — but their bikes are white! denver.bcycle.com , boulder.bcycle.com , bikefortcollins.org WANT MORE? COLORADO.COM/CYCLING 8 WE MAKE ’EM OURSELVES Handcrafted to get riders wheeling on all the terrain Colorado can serve up, more than 30 companies are keeping things local for Centennial State riders, from Durango Bike Company to Alchemy Bicycle Company in Denver, Yeti Cycles in Golden and many others. COLORADO.COM / 73
Colorado Official State Vacation Guide 2018: Page 73
