BTC 2009
I just came back from the 2009 Bicycle Tour of Colorado. This was a 515 mile long (excluding an optional segment to the Colorado National Monument) loop ride from Glenwood Springs, Colorado with over 1700 other riders from all around US and a few other countries. We started the ride on June 21 from Glenwood Springs, and went through Hotchkiss, Grand Junction, Montrose, Crested Butte and Buena Vista/Leadville. Overall, I climbed over 27000 ft, and three passes – McClure Pass, Cottonwood Pass, and Independence Pass. Another massive climb was to the Grand Mesa near Grand Junction, which is the largest mesa in the world. Here are the logs and pictures.
- Day 1: Glenwood Springs to Hotchkiss, 84 miles, 3700 ft climb
- Day 2: Hotchkiss to Grand Junction, 94 miles, 6600 ft climb
- Day 3: Grand Junction to Montrose, 69 miles, 2500 ft climb
- Day 4: Montrose to Crested Butte, 96 miles, 6200 ft climb
- Day 5 – rest day in Crested Butte
- Day 6: Crested Butte to Buena Vista, 77 miles, 5000 ft climb
- Day 7: Leadville to Glenwood Springs, 97 miles, 3700 ft climb
I took most of the pictures while riding, which explains why most shots show backs of riders ahead of me.
great pictures! definitely want to do it next year, looks like a lot of spectacular riding with good support and good company! congrats for making it!
[Reply]
subbu Reply:
June 30th, 2009 at 2:23 pm
Yes, if you ever consider doing a long ride, I would highly recommend BTC. I have ridden it twice in the past, and they do an extremely good job at logistics and aid stations.
Given that weather conditions change at high altitude fairly quickly, they try to take good care of the riders. For instance, on the day we rode to Cottonwood Pass, several hundreds of riders were caught up at the pass in freezing cold rain, and they managed to shuttle them quickly down. Some folks got hypothermic, and they had some trained volunteers taking care of them along the way that day.
Best of all, it is quite challenging, and you won’t be disappointed :)
[Reply]
dret
30 Jun 09 at 2:18 pm