Thanks to all participants for a wonderful 2011 riding season. We look forward to touring with you in 2012.
2012 Tours:
New Mexico/Colorado – 10 riding days, one day off in Taos. 35,000 feet of climbing – in effort this ride is similar to the Slum in that there is typically one big climb each day. There is a flat day in the San Luis Valley from Antonito to South Fork. I don’t know why more people don’t ride in NM – there’s great touring to be had in the northern mountains.
Grand Mesa loop – 4 days – starts in Rifle, CO – back road riding to Mesa, CO. Over Grand Mesa (a 5,000 foot climb) to Cedaredge. More back roads to Redstone (a most charming little town). Even more back roads returning to Rifle. Grand Mesa is a big haul – once you’ve got that under your belt, the rest of your riding season will be a piece of cake.
Wolf Creek loop – 4 days – starts in Monte Vista, CO with a flat riding day to a charming guest ranch Doug Barnett introduced us to. Day 2 takes us over La Manga and Cumbres Passes – very nice riding, not too stiff of climbs. Great mountain scenery. Day 3- from Chama to Pagosa Springs, CO over the Continental Divide. Certainly feels like an easy day to be so momentous as crossing the CD. Day 4 – the Big Daddy – crossing Wolf Creek. From the west it is a climb equal to, or stiffer than Grand Mesa. If group interest dictates, we could run this tour in reverse (the easy way over Wolf Creek).
Black Canyon loop – 4 days – starts in Montrose, CO taking back roads to Cedaredge, CO. More back roads to Crawford, CO. Then the highlight of the tour – over Highway 92 on the back side of the Black Canyon. This is one of my top three favorite roads in Colorado. The last day takes us back to Montrose.
Slumgullion loop – remains a favorite.
Slumgullion/Wolf Creek combo – 7 riding days gets you the best of both tours.
We always personally ride each tour before offering it to our clients – you can be assured we are familiar with the roads you will be riding.
→ Next season we will be emphasizing private groups – if you get a group of 8 together, you go for free. We will offer a couple of open registration tours for those not interested in putting a group together of their own. If there is a specific tour you are interested in, please let me know. There are only so many days of summer – first come, first served!
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Slumgullion Tour 2010
Photos courtesy of Ginny Newman.
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