It is that time of year again - the Bicycle Tour of Colorado! We signed up and headed to Breckenridge for our first night. This year
the tour starts/end there. Day one goes to Leadville. Day two to
Carbondale. Then to Hodgekiss...Crested Butte, Salida and back to
Breckenridge. In total, the tour was 427 miles, 24,500' in elevation
gain and seven passes. We rode for six days.
Many people ask "is this Ride the Rockies?" No it's not. It's similar in length, passes, days, etc. Two major differences. First, Ride the Rockies follows a line. That is one starts in city A and ends in city B. Then you have to figure out how to get back to city A where your car is likely located. The Bicycle Tour of Colorado (BTC) is a loop so it begins and ends in the same place - where our car is located. Second major difference is that the RTR has 3,000 riders. BTC has about 650. I think many would say RTR has many more amenities. Still, we prefer BTC for its simplicity and fun.
We got to Breck and set up our tent at the school hosting us. We then had time to troll around the city.
As you can see we got to town a bit early and were able to chose the best tent locations.
Superb tent set up by Dave. :)
Like much of Colorado, the creeks were raging in town.
The weather was solid. This would be the norm for the entire trip while we were riding.
At the school where we set up camp was a skate/bike park.
Hard to believe we didn't see any broken bones.
Nice looking school.
Can't really beat the view here either. Breckenridge is only 5 square miles and sits at an elevation of 9,600 feet.
Breck is home to 4,540 population enjoying a nice view.
We got a good night of sleep and headed out early the next day.
As is the norm, the mornings started off cool. In short order though, things heat up.
The ride took us to Copper Mtn the over Freemont Pass. Here is Dave at the pass.
Freemont Pass sits at an elevation of 11,318. This first day was a short day with 39 miles of riding. We have ridden this segment of road a few times before in the Courage Classic. We'll be doing it again in July too!
Dave carried the camera. We didn't jockey for position under the pass signs.
Great views on this and every ride.
We ended the day heading into Leadville Co which has the distinction as being the highest incorporated TOWN in the USA.
Beautiful views everywhere you turn.
Ama, is an incorporated municipality that is actually higher - still Leadville is the highest town at an elevation of 10,152 feet.
We wandered into town for a quick bite to eat and some really good seltzer water!
Camp was in a great place, and as is usual, the Monkey flag was flying!
Our view for the night. Tomorrow we head to Carbondale, CO.
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