Putting the Rad In Colorado

Touring

Getting Rad In ColoRADo

It goes without saying that Colorado never disappoints. Some of the best and most beautiful riding I’ve done has been in its mountain ranges and where else can you summit two fourteeners in one day! I try to make it out here at least once a year. This time around, I’ve invited my good buddy Seth to come along…

 

LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN

Getting Rad In ColoRADo

It’s been a ritual that the first ride is always up Lookout Mountain. Aside from its proximity from Denver – approximately a 40 mile round trip – its gorgeous, smooth, and winding roads gives way to some breathtaking views and it’s a perfect way to help us get acclimated to the elevation.

 

BOULDER, COLORADO

Boulder holds a very special place in my heart as my first taste of riding dirt was going up Sunshine Canyon. I’ve done quite a bit of riding around here so I was extremely excited to show Seth around. Knowing we would probably only have one day to spend in Boulder, I created a “Best Of Boulder” route – an 80 mile, 10,000 ft. ride that would take us up its canyons and down to some farmlands. It would have been quite an epic ride but it was definitely overly ambitious of us to think we could finish in a timely manner. At about half way through we decided to cut the ride short.

 

MOUNT SHAVANO AND TABEGUACHE

Last year, I summited Longs Peak, my very first fourteener. I knew this time around I wanted to summit another fourteener. Having done a lot of bike packing and never backpacking, it only made sense to give the latter a try. After some research, we decided that Mount Shavano was the peak to summit.

 

As fate would have it, my good friends, Dave and Lynn, was also in town. Their time in the US was nearing to an end as they were making their brexit back to Scotland. I’ve done quite a bit of “adventuring” with Dave and this hike seemed fitting to say our goodbyes (for now).

The story doesn’t end at the summit of Mount Shavano as Mount Tabeguache was just a few miles away. You can’t summit one and not the other! However, the few miles were very deceiving as the trail or somewhat of a trail, dropped down a thousand feet just to gain another thousand to the top of Tabeguache. The views, however, are always worth it. Always!

 

GARDEN OF THE GODS

A day off the bike means doing tourist things like taking photos of Seth. Not much to see here other than Seth getting rad!

 

Until next year ColoRADo! Stay Rad!

DONALREY NIEVA

Share this article

Useful

Recommended

Latest