Biking in the Rocky Mountain National Park???

[Fer]

We intend to bike (on bicycles) in July next year from Granby, Co to
Denver: The Trail Ridge Road/ US 34/40/72 from Granby to Nederland; than
Highway 119 to Central City; the US 6 to Golden and then to Denver. What
do you think about this plan? If you think it is crazy because the car
trafic please advice me about an alternative..
Thanks in advance, Fer.

 

[mark]

Fer wrote:
> We intend to bike (on bicycles) in July next year from Granby, Co to
> Denver: The Trail Ridge Road/ US 34/40/72 from Granby to Nederland; than
> Highway 119 to Central City; the US 6 to Golden and then to Denver. What
> do you think about this plan? If you think it is crazy because the car
> trafic please advice me about an alternative..
> Thanks in advance, Fer.
>
>
Trail Ridge Road and the road onward to Nederland is a very scenic ride,
but I would strongly suggest doing the ride during the week instead of
on a weekend. There will be a fair bit of traffic any time in July, but
weekends tend to be worse. Bicycles are not allowed on US 6 through
Clear Creek Canyon (that's where you would go to get from Nederland to
Golden because of the tunnels. This stretch of road is heavily traveled
by tour buses going to the casinos in Black Hawk and Central City. Even
if it were legal to ride here or if you ignored the law the heavy
traffic, narrow shoulders and tunnels would make it a very unpleasant
and dangerous ride.

The easiest way to get to Golden from Highway 119 would be to go down
Golden Gate Canyon (CO Highway 46), which will take you into the
northern end of Golden. Central City is just an ugly collection of
casinos, you're not missing anything if you don't go there.

Trail Ridge Road goes to just over 12,000 ft above sea level (~3600 m),
so be ready for strong sun, dehydration, and possibly some altitude
sickness. Watch the weather carefully, afternoon thundershowers and
summer snowstorms are both very possible in July. It's a very pretty
ride, though, and it's not nearly as steep as some of the roads I've
seen in Europe.

mark

 

[[email protected]]

On Nov 2, 7:21 pm, mark <[email protected]> wrote:
> Fer wrote:
> > We intend to bike (on bicycles) in July next year from Granby, Co to
> > Denver: The Trail Ridge Road/ US 34/40/72 from Granby to Nederland; than
> > Highway 119 to Central City; the US 6 to Golden and then to Denver. What
> > do you think about this plan? If you think it is crazy because the car
> > trafic please advice me about an alternative..
> > Thanks in advance, Fer.
>
> Trail Ridge Road and the road onward to Nederland is a very scenic ride,
> but I would strongly suggest doing the ride during the week instead of
> on a weekend. There will be a fair bit of traffic any time in July, but
> weekends tend to be worse. Bicycles are not allowed on US 6 through
> Clear Creek Canyon (that's where you would go to get from Nederland to
> Golden because of the tunnels. This stretch of road is heavily traveled
> by tour buses going to the casinos in Black Hawk and Central City. Even
> if it were legal to ride here or if you ignored the law the heavy
> traffic, narrow shoulders and tunnels would make it a very unpleasant
> and dangerous ride.
>
> The easiest way to get to Golden from Highway 119 would be to go down
> Golden Gate Canyon (CO Highway 46), which will take you into the
> northern end of Golden. Central City is just an ugly collection of
> casinos, you're not missing anything if you don't go there.
>
> Trail Ridge Road goes to just over 12,000 ft above sea level (~3600 m),
> so be ready for strong sun, dehydration, and possibly some altitude
> sickness. Watch the weather carefully, afternoon thundershowers and
> summer snowstorms are both very possible in July. It's a very pretty
> ride, though, and it's not nearly as steep as some of the roads I've
> seen in Europe.
>
> mark

Good advice.

Awesome ride; ditch the Peak to Peak Highway prior to casino land.
Note that Golden Gate Canyon is not just an easy coast down but
includes some climbs that can be surprising. Coal Creek Canyon also
has a substantial climb.

 

[Bob]

On Nov 2, 8:21 pm, mark <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> Trail Ridge Road goes to just over 12,000 ft above sea level (~3600 m),
> so be ready for strong sun, dehydration, and possibly some altitude
> sickness. Watch the weather carefully, afternoon thundershowers and
> summer snowstorms are both very possible in July. It's a very pretty
> ride, though, and it's not nearly as steep as some of the roads I've
> seen in Europe.
>

It can also get pretty darned cold especially when you hit the winds
above treeline. It is a beautiful ride but be prepared for significant
temperature fluctuations. Temperatures in the 80 deg F range as you
start to climb and a drop into the 30 deg F range at the highest point
isn't at all unusual.

Regards,
Bob Hunt

 

[cycledork]

Sounds like a blast. Keep in mind what Mark said about riding on a
week day. And when you go over Trail Ridge start early. Try to be at
the top by 11 a.m. or so. Thunder storms tend to pop up early on
summer afternoons. Much of the ride on Trail Ridge is above tree line,
making cyclists higher points, and potential lightning targets, at
that altitude.
cycledork.blogspot.com

 

[cycledork]

Sounds like a blast. Keep in mind what Mark said about riding on a
week day. And when you go over Trail Ridge start early. Try to be at
the top by 11 a.m. or so. Thunder storms tend to pop up early on
summer afternoons. Much of the ride on Trail Ridge is above tree line,
making cyclists higher points, and potential lightning targets, at
that altitude.
cycledork.blogspot.com