Walden, Colorado, population 734, has never ranked very high on my must-see list, much less so on my must-ride-my-bike-to list. But last week I did just that, and I have to say Walden is pretty darn nice, and it proved to be a perfect stop on the inaugural Tour de NorCO bike ride.
Earlier this year, Emily McCormack (the much cuter and less hairy spouse of Mike McCormack) proposed a media bike ride connecting Steamboat and Ft Collins, two communities for which she handles the PR. With our clients in Steamboat—SmartWool, Honey Stinger, Big Agnes and Boa—as well as New Belgium in Ft. Collins, we were eager to participate. Our friends at Moots in Steamboat offered to provide handcrafted titanium steeds for the group. The good folks at Iconic Adventures would handle the ride support.
After a few months of planning, the ride kicked off from the ‘Boat early on Monday morning and headed straight for Rabbit Ears pass, the first big test for the group. Almost all of the writers on the trip came from sea level and riding across the Continental Divide at 9,426 feet is no small feat. But, riding silky smooth Moots bikes, wearing Boa-equipped Specialized S-Works shoes and SmartWool PhD socks, the group cranked up the hill with ease…and then hammered on for another 40+ miles to the small town of Walden. There, our spandex-clad posse joined the only other people in town, a Forest Service wildfire crew and a group of roughnecks from Haliburton, for lunch at the the Antlers Inn. Appetites were big and the food was great.
From Walden we hopped in the Iconic van and shuttled to Devil’s Thumb Ranch near Granby. After another big, delicious meal and too few hours in the lodge’s luxurious beds, a 5am wake up call on Tuesday saw the group prepping for a big day in the saddle—across the Continental Divide again and up the highest continuous paved road in the country, Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park.
We loaded up our pockets with chews, gels and waffles from Honey Stinger and then started the ride right from the visitor center at the park entrance, which included a brief lecture from a park ranger (ride single file, watch out for moose). Once again, the group did not fail to impress as everyone climbed almost 5,000 feet to a summit of 12,183 feet. There were cheers (and a few tears) at the top and then we all bombed down to lunch on the other side of the pass.
Cristina Goyanes all smiles, making it look easy at 12,000 feet
Rachel Sturtz strikes a pose near the summit of Trail Ridge Road
Chris Solomon unpacked his suitcase of courage, rode on the rivet and danced on the pedals to the top of the pass.
Smiles at the summit
Larry Olmsted, Ian, Christopher Solomon and Kari Bodnarchuk
From there, I headed home in the Moots Sprinter van while the journalists continued on to “Fort Fun” where plenty of New Belgium beers awaited them. The planning for next year’s ride has already begun.
The indefatigable Cathy Wiedemer from Moots