get the party started

We're just a few weeks from the first big Colorado bike tour, the Denver Post's  Ride The Rockies. I'm looking forward to a recap from Clay at Clay's Cycling Blog. I'm not crazy about a non-loop tour. More logistics to figure out getting vehicles to the finish or bikes to the start. But I am curious about a tour in it's twenty-sixth year riding some of the best routes in Colorado.

The tour kicks off on June 12 in Crested Butte, heading south to Almont, and east/northeast over Cottonwood Pass on the way to Buena Vista.

I love the route on the second day for several reasons. North from Buena Vista takes you along the Collegiate Range with several of Colorado's "14ers" on your left.

You climb slowly all morning on the way to Leadville, but it makes the afternoon so worth it. After a short climb up Tennessee Pass you're rewarded with a great descent. Another short climb over Battle Mountain Summit leads to one more great descent and it's downhill almost all the way to Edwards.

The Leadville to Edwards portion makes up almost a third of the famous Copper Triangle, and the whole day offers spectacular scenery.

The next couple days head to Steamboat Springs and passes that are unfamiliar to me. But the last day is back in the higher elevations with a ride from Granby to Georgetown over Berthoud Pass.

Here's to hoping Clay and 1999 of his friends have a safe, fun ride, and take lots of pictures to share with us, as well as stories from Ride The Rockies 2011.