Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park

View from the top!

Ride Summary: Bucket list Colorado ride up to the top of Trail Ridge Rd.
Distance: 50, with the Fall River Road add-on at Deer Ridge Junction
Elevation gain: 5300+ (my app tracked 5900, but I'm using the override/corrected number )
Roads: paved perfection
Driver tolerance: This is one of the most popular drives in the state of Colorado and RMNP is THE most visited national park. A local cyclist advised me to start early and I was on leaving the Beaver Meadows Visitor Center by 6:15 a.m. I experienced nothing but friendly drivers and relatively few at that. When I headed down at about 9:30, there were considerably more vehicles on the road. I think they would be courteous but it would compromise the experience if you had a lot of traffic.
The bad: $11 entrance fee for cyclist. See note above on traffic. Estes Park itself is kind of a drag to ride through. If you don't like climbing, this one's not for you. Oh, and it hits 12,000' above sea level.

Early morning on the way to Deer Ridge Junction

The good: Spectacular views, varying ecosystems, babbling streams, wildlife, epic descent. Nothing but sheer cycling bliss (unless you encounter tourist traffic hell).


I'll say it again, leave before 6:30 a.m. if you're going to ride this during peak tourist season (July and August) and do it on a weekday (I rode it on a Friday and was fine).

I'll let the photos do most of the talking here. Basically, the ride is pure heaven after you get through entrance gate. You will have already been climbing a bit at this point and it pretty much gets steeper and goes on and on from there, with a couple respites. The first drop is after the Deer Ridge Junction (a mile or two). I believe the steepest climbing of the whole ride starts at the switchback after this drop. You'll go up past an overlook that has a pull-off lot and then it starts to mellow.

Up, up, up you go, through pine forests and with glimpses of the terrain below. Rainbow Curve is a nice spot to take it in and see from whence you came. Continue up and you'll begin to get to the Alpine area where the trees disappear, allowing you to see peaks to the edge of the earth. So, so beautiful!

You'll get to the rock cut and I believe this is the high point, just over 12,000'. You'll get the second respite from the climbing as you drop a bit and rise a bit in this alpine ecosystem on a nice stretch of road that lets you savor the elevation, rather than sending you careening over the other side of a pass like so many other Colorado roads.

Another little drop and you arrive at the Alpine Visitors' Center, where the cacophony of tourists debate t-shirt choices will shatter your blissed out mind. I think I'd have just skipped this if I had it to do over again. Still, it's good to revel in their awe and shock as they realize that, yes, you rode your bike here.

After some photos and maybe a hot chocolate or something, it's time to descend.

How do you describe the feeling of soaring down a mountain for a good 25-30 minutes? I dunno. Give a try and get back to me. Just watch out for traffic, especially around that pull-off and lookout point a few miles after Rainbow Curve (I think it's called Many Parks something or another).

At Deer Junction, I chose to see something different and so took a left on Fall River. This is a great little section and the stuff after exiting the park is fun too (still descending). The only catch is you have to navigate the tourist crowds and traffic in Estes Park, which is about as bad an ending to this glorious ride as you could conjure up. Still, I like Fall River Road.

Bucket list ride for sure...

Lookout Mountain to Idlewilde to Red Rocks and back to Golden

The road up Lookout Mountain, as seen from the top

Back home in Austin after 475 miles and 42+ hours of riding in Colorado. I am so fortunate! I'll detail some rides here, rather than try to summarize all 42+ hours. 

Let's start with my go-to loop in Golden (link to Strava file at bottom). 

I ended up cycling up Lookout Mountain three times and down once. It's a great climb with mild grades that pretty much anyone can do with a decent level of fitness. The ride is especially good once you hit the pines, which happens in the last quarter of the climb (or so). 

Grapevine: pretty but be ready for gravel and rough pavement

Most go right down the way they came up but I prefer dropping down the other side via Paradise Rd or Charros, crossing over I70, then taking Grapevine down to Bear Creek Rd.

You'll drop down on Grapevine from I70 with a fun, short descent, then climb past some fancy homes. Soon the good pavement turns to gravel and crappy pavement and you'll descend sharply down to Idlewilde, through a hodgepodge of homes and some gorgeous views. I did it on smooth, 25mm tires and it was just fine; gravel tires would be better. 

The descent on Bear Creek Road is a beautiful blast through a canyon. I was grinning ear-to-ear the whole way down. This is one of the rides that got me hooked on Colorado road biking and I still love it.

Red Rocks!!

Rather than go through the Morrison tourist hell, I take the second entrance into Red Rocks, tooling around and taking in the majestic beauty that surrounds. There are various paths and roads in Red Rocks and, depending on your time, I recommend forgetting about your destination and just checking some out. The rock formations are amazing and the road provides different vantage points. You can also get close to the performance space and stage. I need to do more exploring here...

Finally, I steel myself for the last 6-7 miles back to Golden on Hogback, US40, Heritage Rd and the bike path. The latter's pretty nice but, as great as the first 19 miles were, those 3-4 miles on Hogback and 40 have me thinking about calling the wife for a pickup. I don't but I think about it. Hogback is a grinding ascent and then 40 to Heritage is a high-traffic descent so be aware.

I don't think I've been on a more diverse, 20-30 mile ride anywhere. If you're in the area, give it a whirl!

Here's that Strava file: