Colorado Trail III: Mountains & Mountain Towns

I slept uneasily in the eerie nightscape. In the morning it was a short ride into Breckenridge, where amidst the hustle of town I did the various rituals of necessary chores and featured enjoyments. At City Market I bought more food than planned, cycled thru town with a quart of chocolate milk in one hand, bought a huge bearclaw pastry at Daylight Donuts, sweated in my rain gear while doing laundry, listened to a local transient man chat up strangers in the town square, almost fell asleep over my beer at Breckenridge Brewery, took a nap in the town park and waking up enjoyed another beer at Broken Compass Brewery on my way out of town. A few miles up the Trail I came upon Tumbleweed and with night approaching we decided to camp together. Across the fire’s embers we traded tales of past outdoor adventures. Five days into the trip and it was nice to have someone to chat with.

The next morning the Trail continued to climb up into the Ten Mile Range. Oh gosh! in my estimation this was the worst sustained climb of the whole Trail! 3,500 feet of elevation gain and above treeline the Trail was nothing but large rocks, forcing me to push and shove my loaded bike uphill. The climb dragged on and left me exhausted. When I reached the crest, the wildfire smoke filling the valleys made the views look more like the Smokey Mountains. It was a nice downhill though to Copper Mountain where I couldn’t resist the urge for a quick detour to a nearby gas station for treats. Then I cycled past the ski resort, resisting another urge to veer off-trail two hundred yards for a burger and beer. The gentle grade up the alpine meadow along Guller Creek was incredibly scenic! I fully enjoyed it, taking a mid-day nap beside the creek, before cycling over Searle and Kokomo Passes before making camp.

The next day was a quick descent into historic Camp Hale, training grounds of the 10^th Mountain Division during WW II. Then up Tennessee Pass before a much too long three miles (by trail thirty minutes, where the road would have taken only five) before beginning the bicycle detour around Mt. Massive Wilderness. In the valley I cruised along the pavement trying to outpace the dark clouds looming overhead.  In Leadville (my first place of residence in Colorado back in 2004) I ate lunch at the infamous taco truck, before heading to the hostel. After a much-needed shower, I wandered about town, seeing the familiar sights. Later when Tumbleweed got into town we had pizza and salad at High Mountain Pies, drank beer in the historic and eclectic Silver Dollar Saloon, and finished the night at Periodic Brewery. The next day was a full day of the bike, resting and eating and enjoying this amazing mountain town. 

Colorado Trail II: Heat and Smoke

It was a typical cool mountain morning as I broke camp before the sun reached camp, eager to get an early start on the Trail. Five minutes later I was pushing the bike, sweating up a steep hill. After cresting the hill, I reached a burned-out treeless stretch and the day was already heating up. I don’t do well in heat and the next few days the forecast places temps in the mid-eighties. I finished off my first segment of the Trail, then joined by hikers and cyclists out enjoying Labor Day weekend. Still fresh to the Trail, it was nice when I left the crowds behind at the trailhead. At the end of segment 3, I stopped beside the creek and chatted with Tumbleweed from Austin, TX. It was a cool spot so I took a siesta to avoid the mid-day heat.

After the nap, I began the first bicycle detour of the trip (cyclists follow the Colorado Trail, except for detours around wilderness areas, where motorized and mechanized vehicles are prohibited). The Lost Creek Wilderness bicycle detour is the longest: seventy miles along dirt and paved roads, with over eight thousand feet of climbing. I pedaled onwards, putting in a few more hours of riding before night set in. Exhausted, I found a great camping spot near a grove of Aspens and settled down for the night.

Day two of the wilderness detour, and within a few miles I was cycling on pavement, thirty miles of it, the longest stretch of pavement the whole trip. Fortunately, traffic was light on County Rd-77 and I made good time, stopping only briefly at a campground for water and Tarryall Reservoir for scenery. Just before the route turned back to gravel I passed a small outpost and enjoyed a cold chocolate milk. It was delicious on such a hot day! Then the route climbed on the gravel roads and I was dismayed by the heavy recreational traffic that coated me with dust as vehicles sped past me. Ten miles of this and I was relieved to be back on Trail, where another mid-day siesta was in order. Awake from my nap Tumbleweed walked by, fresh out of the Wilderness area. The mid-day heat having past, I cycled above South Park Valley, a wonderful combination of high plains and surrounded by mountains. I regretted not lingering longer to take in the views; low on water and wanting to cross Kenosha Pass. Oh, the descent through the Aspen grove was surreal!

The next day began the climb up Georgia Pass, my first crossing of the Continental Divide, and where the Colorado Trail and Continental Divide Trail joined paths. The view from the top was beautiful, yet obscured by smoke from Western wildfires. After a morning toiling uphill, the seven-mile flowy descent was one of the most incredible stretches of mountain biking! It was followed up by a steep thousand-foot climb and then camp outside of Breckenridge. With smoke hanging dense in the valley the sun burned red above my camp beside the local Blair Witch Trail. The night had an eerie feel…  

Colorado Trail: Part I

My Colorado Trail (CT) pre-trip planning was brief, much like any other weekend jaunt through the woods. While some people may spend months planning for a short vacation; I feel perfectly comfortable finding an interesting spot on the map and quickly packing gear into the car. My CT preparation was simply a week cycling to work (it’s hard cycling during the hot humid Michigan summer), baking a fresh batch of granola bars and tossing gear into the car. Yes, I packed for one of the penultimate bikepacking trails in about an hour.

Two days later I was in Denver, having made the long drive. After one relaxing day to acclimatize to the altitude, I laid in bed trying to sleep. Realizing that it has been six years since my last extended bike tour and this would be my first bikepacking trip longer than four days I was a lit anxious. Ok, I was freaking out a bit. I would definitely be relying heavily upon experience and muscle memory to get me through the next challenging two weeks. The two Colorado Trail bike route stats giving me worry were 540 miles with 72,500 feet of ascending. According to Bikepacking.com “The Colorado Trail is one of the longest, more arduous, yet most rewarding bikepacking routes in the US”.  So yeah, I was a little worried about my short training rides.

In the morning, a bit short of sleep I packed up the bike. Yes! all my gear plus food fit on the bike so I was off to a good start! After buying new brake pads I boarded the light rail to Littleton, a few miles Southwest of Denver. Still thirteen miles from the Waterton Trailhead, I enjoyed the relativity flat bike trails that served as an amazing warm-up to the Trail. Around 2 pm I reached the trailhead and was mystified to find the gate locked. The posted sign said the Trail was closed due to a nearby wildfire; definitely not how I imaged starting my CT adventure! I hadn’t planned on this so I did some quick thinking of a plan B. Unfortunately, I hadn’t download the surrounding area on my Gaia GPS app so I couldn’t find a reroute. There was state park a few miles away, but being Labor Day weekend, all the campsites would certainly be booked. After riding a few miles up a steep hill I was relieved to find a public library. On the computer I worked out a reroute for the first section of Trail around the wildfire… hopefully.

Backtracking on my route, I took a left turn and began the long grade into the mountains along West Deer Creek Canyon Road. The smooth pavement made the climb easier, but my plus size bike tires meant road cyclists passed me quickly. The afternoon heat was in the 90s, but I had nowhere to go, but up. It was a tough initiation day! Hours later I dropped down into Conifer and filled my water bottles at the gas station. I cycled a few hundred yards on Hwy 285, cruising past cars stuck in Labor Day weekend traffic. Even though it was amusing to pass cars, I was even happier to turn off the highway onto quieter backroads along the Platte River. Having spent the last few hours slugging uphill in the heat, the gradual descent along the Platte River in the cool evening was a pleasant change. I reached the junction with the CT and made my first trailside camp. It was a grueling day, yet there will be more ahead. I cooked dinner and enjoyed being within the wonderful embrace of the Colorado Rockies again!

Colorado Trail Gear List

I can’t recall if I’ve ever published a packlist, so maybe it’s about time I did. This list has been developed over many years of outdoor adventure and I’ve done a fair amount of research on each piece of gear. Yet, it is important to remember the focus should be on the adventure, not the gear. Go with what you have and get outdoors!

The packlist doesn’t change much from trip to trip, so this is pretty representative of my typical bikepacking packlist. For the sake of organization, the list has been separated into 3 categories: gear, bike build, and bikepacking bags. A few points I took into consideration:

• Added gloves, leg warmers and down jacket for cool mountain temps.
• Tarp without bugnet, because of the late season bugs were not an issue.
• Large Olympus camera was a luxury, but I wanted great pictures. A smaller camera would have been fine, except for the many scenic opportunities in the San Juan Mountains.
• Water bottle on downtube and 2-liter water bladder were not needed.
• Reading book was a luxury, but given the lengthening Fall nights a book helped fill the dark hours. Podcasts or reading books on iPhone could have sufficed.
• Casual shorts were great, especially for comfort during extended hike-a-bike and around camp.
• Bike gearing: given the mountain terrain I spent a long time in low gears. A 30 tooth chainring might have been more ideal.  

Gear list (from top left to bottom right)

Pearl Izumi bike shorts	OR Helium II raincoat	DIY silnylon rainpants
GSI Soloist cookset	Platypus 2 liter water bladder	MSR Pocketrocket stove
Toiletry kit	DIY wallet	Sunscreen & bug spray
Bike lock	Petzl Tikka headlamp	Spike the dog
S/S tech shirt	Hat and headband	Gloves
Pearl Izumi leg warmers	DIY tarp w/stakes	Emergency & First Aid kits
Leatherman multitool	Spork & knife	Chamois butt’r x3
Hand sanitizer	Compass	Pearl Izumi headband
Socks- 2 pair	Cycling gloves	Boxers x2
Icebreaker midweight L/S shirt	Icebreaker midweight bottoms	Tyvek ground cloth
Visor	Electronics kit	MSR water purification
Bandana	CO Trail Databook	Reading book
Olympus M10 II camera	Iphone 5 (for Gaia GPS)	Bike repair kit
Shorts	Thermarest ProLite-small sleeping pad (not shown)	Western Mtn Summerlite sleeping bag (not shown)
	Journal (not shown)	Arcteryx Cerium LT down hoody (not shown)

Bike build

Advocate Cycles Hayduke frame	Rockshox Reba 140 fork
King Cage top cap and bottle cage	Cane Creek Forty headset
Shimano XT brakes, rear derailleur, 11-46 cassette	Jones H handlebar
White Industry hubs built with WTB Scraper i45 rims	Schwalbe Nobby Nic 27.5x3 tires
Praxix Works Cadet crankset and bottom bracket	Thompson Elite seatpost
Time XC8 carbon pedals	Brooks Cambium 17 saddle
Lezyne Microdrive Floor HV pump	Lezyne Power bottlecages

Bikepacking bags

DIY handlebar pocket                 OR 10-liter stuff sack           Bedrock Bags Tapeats (handlebar)
DIY framebag                             Modified camera bag            Bedrock Bags Dakota (top tube)
Oveja Negra Gearjammer seatpack

So enough out the gear... my next post will delve into The Colorado Trail adventure!