A great trip to brag about to your fellow cyclists. Questioning if you can handle the climb and elevation? Call us and we will give you some helpful hints that will help to make it doable.
This is a great trip for someone looking for a challenge. Once completing this trip, one can proudly tell their family, friends, and self, that they biked the highest paved highway in the United States! This trip combines a challenging ride with the distraction of beautiful scenery.
On the last day of the trip we will climb 14,264 ft. high Mt. Evans on the highest paved highway in the U.S. The climate and vegatation on this climb can be compared to a trip north of the arctic circle. Examples of the various forms of vegetation on this climb are fertile meadows, Aspen trees, pine forests, Douglas firs, and tundra. As we climb these high mountains, we pass the point where trees no longer can grow due to temperature extremes and wind. This imaginary line is called timberline.
There's also an optional narrow gauge railroad ride which can be taken in the nearby town of Georgetown. Don't worry if you want to view Georgetown without taking the train ride, for we will be biking through this town. We also will spend the night at the resort town of Copper Mountain.
While climbing the mountain passes, there will be ample opportunity to view the two highest peaks of Colorado, Mt. Massive and Mt. Elbert. Mt. Massive rises to an amazing 14,421 ft. and Mt. Elbert slightly surpasses at 14,433 ft. The mountains we bike are also rich in crystal clear mountain lakes. Each one offers beautiful reflections of the mountains, pines, and cloudy skies. A more popular example of one of these lakes is the gorgeous Echo Lake. Another one of these lakes around which we will bike is Turquoise Lake. This lake has an 18 mile perimeter road. As you can imagine, some of the scenery around this lake is almost beyond description.
Examples of the wildlife which inhabit this area are mountain goats, mountain sheep, elk, deer, marmots, beaver, coyotes, black bear, badger, and wolverines.
