Colorado Kick Some Pass
My son and I just got back from the Colorado Kick Some Pass tour during which we climbed a different mountain pass on 6 successive days through the Colorado Rockies. We had a terrific time – beautiful scenery seen from the seat of a bike, great lodging, great food, craft beer from Colorado, attentive and helpful guides, a fun group of fellow riders from all over the country, and challenging cycling.
We cycled through Rocky Mountain National Park, Glenwood Canyon, over Independence Pass, visited the Maroon Bells, and spent time in cool towns like Glenwood Springs (including a dip in the Glenwood spring), Grand Lake, Carbondale, Redstone, Leadville, Red Cliff, and Breckenridge.
This was a challenging tour. We rode 300+ miles and climbed a total of ~24,000 feet in 6 days. During the rides we enjoyed cool crisp weather mostly (although is was pretty warm on a couple of days) and saw moose, elk, and bighorn sheep.
Don’t attempt this tour unless you’ve spent time conditioning and are comfortable riding out on the open road with vehicular traffic! Wilderness Voyageurs provided excellent pre-trip information including a suggested “advanced” training plan. I followed the plan, logging approximately 1,000 miles of cycling in the 10 weeks before the trip, and was able to complete all the rides.
Our guides, Betsy and Montana, were terrific. During rides one was in the SAG (support and gear) van and the other was on the road with us riders. The guide in the van would drive ahead and set up support stops roughly every 20 miles for rest and refreshments and very tasty lunch breaks. They schlepped our gear, kept the bikes in perfect working order (most of our group had brought our own bikes but WV rents excellent Cannondale Synapse bikes as well), coordinated lodging and most of the evening meals at well chosen restaurants, and were a great source of knowledge regarding Colorado and cycling.
This was my 3rd cycling trip with Wilderness Voyageurs and they’ve all been great. I’m already thinking about riding with the company again in the future.
If you’re up for a cycling challenge and want to experience the beauty of the Rockies on a road bike, I highly recommend this tour.
Rating: Excellent *****
Arthur Stern
Indianapolis, IN
This is Arthur’s third adventure with us! He has cycled our Maryland Chesapeake Bay Bike Tour, our Cycling Colorful Colorado Bike Tour, and now our Colorado Kick Some Pass Bike Tour.