Rocky Mountains, USA: Road bike tours in Colorado - Grandiose road bike tours in the Rocky Mountains

The state of Colorado is located in the central to western part of the USA, the capital is Denver with around 600,000 inhabitants. The highest part of the Rocky Mountains, which are around 5,000 kilometres long, runs north-south through the middle of the state. The highest mountain in the Rockies is Mount Elbert (4,402 m), 150 kilometres southwest of Denver. The touring area stretches along the eastern edge of the mountain range between the towns of Boulder in the north and Colorado Springs in the south. This is where the so-called Front Range runs, a mountain range in front of the main ridge. Impressive: the Front Range rises abruptly over 2,500 metres above the 1,600 metre high plateau around Denver. The average altitude in Colorado is 2,073 metres. There are many national parks in the central Rocky Mountains, the nature is immense and extremely lonely away from the main routes.

The Rocky Mountains are a high mountain range. The roads on Mount Evans and Pikes Peak end at around 4,300 metres above sea level. However, the differences in altitude on the climbs are similar to those on major Alpine passes. The gradients are a different story. Many passes in the Rockies are gentle giants; on Mount Evans the gradient hardly ever exceeds the five per cent mark. However, there are exceptions, such as on the much steeper Pikes Peak or on the dirt tracks in the Boulder hinterland. The most strenuous thing in the Rockies is the thin air. Even tours through the foothills often climb to over 3,000 metres above sea level. A rescue sprocket on the rear wheel primarily helps to compensate for the loss of physical performance in oxygen-depleted air. The road surfaces vary greatly, from the best tarmac on Pikes Peak to side roads with washboard-like natural surfaces.
Tip: a comfortable marathon or gravel bike with wide tyres. The signposting of roads and junctions is extremely poor. If at all, there is a road name or the direction. And because of the sparse infrastructure in the mountains, you should always have enough food in your jersey pocket and full bottles on your bike.enter text here

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