Colorado Cycling Routes & Resources

[FrankMoritz]

Hi, all !

Late last Fall, the 41-mile Rio Grande rail-trail between Glenwood Springs and Aspen was officially completed.

There is now a map of the trail available online at: http://www.rfta.com/trailmap.pdf . There are
reportedly about 8 miles of unpaved surface remaining on this trail, but there are alternate paved roads that
can be used as a work-around.

[Katiebikes]

Hi all,
I've bicycled and triked this trail twice last summer and love it! From Glenwood to Basalt it is RR grade, flat and gently uphill. It's so nice to be totally off the Highway. Then from Basalt to Aspen, it gets hilly and fun.

The best lunch stop is Woody Creek Tavern in Woody Creek about mile 32. Then you have a choice of some hills up Mesa Rd. and seeing the mega-mansions of Aspen or a gravel trail along the river with less hills. I've done both. The gravel trail wouldn't be too bad for road bikes, but I preferred doing the Mesa Rd. on my road bike and seeing the scenery. It's a killer hill after lunch but at least it's short.

On my trike ( a Trice NT) the gravel was no problem at all. I run Marathon tires on the three wheels.

Once in Aspen, visit the Aspen Bakery. Then get ready for a Looong lovely downhill. The latest ACA magazine describes the ride, but she gets the return mileage wrong from Carbondale to Glenwood.  It's not 5 mi. its 11 miles.

We stayed in the Carbondale Days Inn to ride several days, one day to Aspen, one day to Glenwood and the Glenwood Canyon trail.

It's a great resource and great trail.
Katie