Boulder Bike Tours - Cycle and Mountain Bike

Another great week biking and cycling with boulder bike tours every day this week. Our guests favorite choices were the Boulder Sandstone Classic, Switzerland Trail, and Magonlia Single Track.


In reviewing the local news this week, we came across two good stories:
1) Boulder is Wired for Biking - article
2) The Boulder Bike Story - Video

Check out the article Boulder is wired for biking
http://303cycling.com/boulder-is-wired-for-biking

The Boulder Bike Story. This video gives insight into the Boulder bike community and the paths and trails developed over the past 20 years. Also, included are footage or Boulder Creek Path, Boulder Open Space single track - our Boulder Sandstone classic route, and some of the classic Boulder hill climbs.
http://vimeo.com/6666520

Another great coming Boulder attraction with be the Valmont Bike Park. This new park, still under construction, will be the largest city bike park in the US. Close to our office, we will help warm up the trails each morning and have been closely monitoring the daily progress.

Valmont Bike Park - a place for off road bikers to come together for fun, learning, and racing.
HomePage: http://bma-mtb.org/valmontbikepark/
Park Blog: http://bikevalmont.blogspot.com/

Colorado and Boulder Bike Tours - How to chose the right bike tour for you!

Thinking of biking?
We have many exciting tours for both the road biker "aka. roadie" and mountain biker.

Our bike tours are set up as 2, 4, 8-hour and multi-day tours. If you know the type of rider you are then our site has much of the necessary information for you to make a decision which tour is right for you. Information includes: a) length of ride, b) difficulty, c) origination site, d) cost, e) what to bring, f) what to expect, g) description, h) weather, and more. Although much information is available, we still get many calls from potential guests about which tour is right for them.

Included here is information on helping to evaluate how to chose a bike tour.
1) The first question is whether one is interested in road biking vs. mountain biking. The reason this is important is because road and mountain biking require different skill sets. For road biking, tours or rides are evaluated in terms of a) elevation gained, b) ascent grade, c) distance, d) altitude (important in Colorado especially for those from sea level) and e) terrain. Although technical skill is required, generally choosing a road tour does not take in consideration this requirement. Yes, steep down hills require extra skill, but having a relative consistent surface negates some of the additional technical skills that are required in mountain biking when compared to road biking.

Both road and mountain biking are tremendously rewarding and can provide tremendously satisfying experiences; However, mountain biking generally requires more technical skills. As a result, when evaluating or choosing a mountain bike tour, technical ability should also be included in the equation.

So how is trail difficulty rated and what skills are necessary for mountain biking?

In terms of trail rating systems, there are a few different systems available. One that is internationally accepted by many users is the one attached here by the International Mountain Biking Association (IMBA).

For more information, please check out their site: 

http://www.imba.com/resources/trail_building/itn_17_4_trail_difficulty.html

As for riding skills, here is a small list of skills that should be considered when evaluating mountain bike trails and terrain:

RIDING SKILL 

•  Steep uphills 

•  Water bars, logs, rocks 

•  Turns, switchbacks 

•  Steep downhills 

•  Shifting 

•  Walking a bike 

We as a guide service use this criteria in addition to a multitude of other factors as described above plus fitness level, age, previous experience in classifying our tour difficulty ratings. An important part of our job is providing education for our patrons to better understand mountain biking and road biking and the skills sets necessary to ride specific trails and road.........

Here are a few pictures of some of our recent mountain and road bike tours:

The Switzerland Trail: Moderate mountain biking difficulty due to altitude, distance, fitness level, elevation gain, and more. Easy in terms of technical ability.

This is one of our flag ship 4-hour rides. For novice riders, doing the whole route can be an 8-hour ride as well. For even more fun, ride all the way back to Boulder for a great and long descent.

For more mountain bike trips and tours we offer, please check out out: http://www.coloradowildernessridesandguides.com/mountainbiking/index.html

Rocky Mountain National Park's Grand Lake Descent:
Road bike descent from Trail Ridge Road (highest continuous road in the US) at 12,000'+ to Grand Lake.

This a great 4000+' descent road bike descent. The main skill required here is braking and cornering. Remember on big down hills, when in doubt grab your rear brake rather than your front break!


As of now, we are only one of two bike tour companies authorized by Rocky Mountain National Park Service to provide bike tours and descent in the park.

Americas Best Mountain Ride:
Riding from Nederland to Estes Park along Peak to Peak Scenic highway (Colorado oldest scenic highway). Almost 60 miles of breathtaking scenery and high mountain riding.

For more mountain bike trips we offer, please check out:

For more road bike trips we offer, please check out:
http://www.coloradowildernessridesandguides.com/roadbiking/index.html

Colorado Backpacking, Rocky Mountain National Park.

Colorado Backpacking: Rocky Mountain National Park and Roosevelt National Forest (Indian Peaks Wilderness Area and James Peak Wilderness Area)
The next two months will be prime time for backpacking in the Rockies and Rocky Mountain National Park. We have departures from Boulder, Estes Park, and Denver.

This past week brought the summer 'hatch' of mosquitoes. So if you are traveling around rivers / meadows and or camping between 8500' - 10800', plan of having many small guests. We have been having our guests put on long pants, long sleeve shirts, and keep on hats immediately after getting to camp in order to help protect from the onslaught. Although our last group from southern Arkansas said "these bugs were nothing compared to the birds we have home". They are still very annoying. Every year the hatch starts off like this and in about three weeks time, things should quite down some.

Some back country wisdom we have been passing to our guests include: 1) The mosquitoes go away when the sun goes down until a little after sunrise when the air temperature rises; 2) Make sure to have your morning bowel movement before the mosquitoes rise. The same logic applies to the evening in reverse; 3) Be quick when taking a mid day dip in the rivers or lakes; 3) Take breaks in windy or sunny spots to limit the bugs; and if possible take a head net. By early August mosquitoes are significantly less in Colorado.

We have three different length Colorado backpacking trips we are offering in 2010: 2-day, 3-day; and 6-day options. All of our trip traverse the Continental Divide (a.k.a. the divide). One route crosses the divide in the central part of Rocky Mountain National Park, while the other traverses the southern part of the park. The 6-day option traverses the divide twice along the Continental Divide Trail.

For those that want a more luxurious trip, want to see back country not easily accessed without backpacking, or those that are active but do not want to carry the 30-50 lbs of gear normal for backpacking trips, we are offering a European option. We are doing 2-3 day trips ranging from 20-30 miles, but one only needs to carry a day pack. The loads are carried by pack animals and camps are set up when one arrives. Our last trip even had Filet Mignon, although this comes with a higher price tag than other back country foods. If you are active and want to experience some great amazing scenery and terrain, bring a group of your friends and have all your gear transported for you. All you have to do is hike! 
http://www.coloradowildernessridesandguides.com/backpacking/index.html

Ever wonder what makes the continental divide so unique or what it is? The 'divide' is the division of watersheds in North America. Water on the west goes to the Colorado River and the Pacific Ocean, while water to the east goes to the Mississippi and the Atlantic Ocean.

We also are offering backpacking trips to Roosevelt National Forest (Indian Peaks Wilderness Area and James Peak Wilderness Area).

What is this flower? This is the Colorado State Flower. The answer will be given on our next post.

Mt Shasta Veteran Training Weekend

Colorado Wilderness Rides And Guides is a sponsor of Veteran Expeditions. Nick and Josh have been working hard and closely with Stacy and Jordan to make the 2010 Vet Ex Mt. Shasta Climb a success.

The Training weekend update:

Everyone really seemed to come away from the weekend "pumped, jazzed and excited." A lot of work preparing, but great to get such an amazing group of people into the back country and set up to train for the September 11th summit attempt of Mt. Shasta.

For more information and sponsorship opportunities, please check out VetExpeditions website: http://vetexpeditions.com/

I felt lucky to have the opportunity to work with such motivated men and women who gave so much to our country. Fortunately, for me (Joshua Baruch), my mother Heidi Baruch (a Vietnam Veteran) was a participant on the training. My mother has been instrumental in me developing a deep love and respect for the mountains and wilderness. Getting her outside, with the many great guys, was a real treat! 

This was something special to share the mountains together!

Here are some pictures by Caleb Bury of the training weekend:

_http://burycm.smugmug.com/Events/Shasta-training-Weekend/12926309_zA7vF#934204371_NVTsu

Please continue to follow Vet Expeditions in their pursuit of climbing Mount Shasta in September and future expeditions! The cause is not only motivating, but inspiring!

Summer is in Full Swing - Colorado Park

The 4th of July was a busy day! We had 5 separate trips out: Boulder Mountain Biking, Boulder Hiking, Rocky Mountain National Park Sightseeing, Boulder and Rocky Mountain National Park Fly Fishing. All tours were lucky with the weather and returned before being hit by the evening rain that hit much of the Boulder, Estes Park, and Denver Area. We had many great trips this week as well; two Rocky Mountain National Park Photography tours, three Rocky Mountain National Park (aka Estes National Park) sightseeing Tours; four mountain bike tours, and 2 Colorado backpacking trips.





Prior to the 4th of July, we had a very successful training weekend with Veterans Expeditions. Please check them out! They are currently looking for additional sponsorships for their September 11th Mt. Shasta Climb and beyond.

Thank you all for joining us in the mountains this past two weeks to make this a successful jump start to the Summer. For those visiting Boulder, The Summer Boulder Estes Park Shuttle is now operating four days a week, Thursday - Sunday, advanced reservation required. $59 per person round-trip. 

Please check out our website for more information. http://www.ColoradoWildernessRidesAndGuides.com

Because we have been doing so many trips between Estes Park and Grand Lake supporting our guided tours, we have added unscheduled shuttle service between these two towns and their respective trailheads. If people are hiking or backpacking between these areas and need transportation, please contact us for availability and dates. Since we are authorized with the Colorado Public Utilities Commission, we are can transport people between these areas. The National Park has been referring many people our way. Thank you!



We are in the process of adding many other great services and our blog will mention these as they become available. Some of these include the Boulder Bicycle Shuttle, The Boulder Sunset Mountain Tour, the Downtown Boulder Walking tour (in conjunction with the Boulder History Museum).

Our goal for this summer is to post a blog two days a week. If there are specific subjects you are interested in, please let us know and we will try to include posts about the subjects of interest.

We look forward to seeing you out on the trails, mountains, roads, and steams of Colorado!