Colorado Tour

Eva Simons told our hiking group about the below, being organized by Mike Perakis of Westerville Bicycle Club.  You can reach Mike at bobbsbags@yahoo.com

COLORADO!!

Yep, it's time to start planning your summer vacation!

Join us for a week long, fully supported bike journey through the Rocky Mountains.

The 21st annual Bicycle Tour of Colorado begins Sunday, June 21st and ends Saturday, June 27th. The loop ride starts and ends in Breckenridge, with stops in Leadville, Carbondale, Hotchkiss, Crested Butte (two nights), and Salida. See the website for more route information.

www.bicycletourcolorado.com 
Colorado is a wonderful place to ride, with some of the most spectacular scenery in the country. We ride on paved highways that were designed and built for cars and trucks to drive over the mountains. The climbs are normally 4% to 6%, can take a couple hours to ride, usually with a water/snack stop along the way, and almost always include lunch at the top. They always include plenty of places to take photos.

The tour is limited to 1500 riders, most of whom camp at the schools, fairgrounds or city parks that we'll be visiting. There are some gymnasium spots available as well as some hotels (See the tour website). For January, the entry fee is $460, and it goes up to $475 in February. BUT, for every 5 riders, the 6th is free!!!  We'll be starting a list and every time we get 6 riders, I'll send in registrations for that group of 6.

As in years past, I'm driving to Colorado the week before with truck and enclosed trailer and will transport bikes, camping gear and bags for $200 per person, round trip. I'll be at the start in the morning on Saturday the 20th. Your bike will be transported inside, in style, using a fork mount. Your gear will also be inside the trailer as well. Your gear includes your camping equipment (indoors or out), bike clothes, street clothes, helmet and whatever else you want to bring. Typically, this bag is the one you load onto the luggage trucks each morning.

Most people fly into Denver and either rent a car or take the CMEX up the mountain. Many folks team up to rent a car for the week.

The first step is registration. You can register online, but you miss out on the ability to save $92 (we share the free registrations with the previous 5 people on the list). There are many extras available for the tour, including gym sleeping, jerseys, meals, sherpa services and even some hotel packages. So, download the entry form, make all your choices and get the form and your check to me.

We'll have a meeting in April or May to get to know everyone and talk about any last minute details. I'll also keep everyone who registers informed about any logistical stuff.

This will be a terrific week!!

Mike Perakis