Bike CO - The Copper Triangle

Originally uploaded by olsenis.

is the unofficial name for the roads running from Copper Mountain to Leadville to Vail and back to Copper. It's a beautiful mountain drive if you ever find yourself in Summit County with a few hours to spare. By bike it is an all day grind up four mountain passes (Fremont, Tennessee, Battle Mountain, and Vail).

Start: Copper Mountain is a great place to start, although we started at our condo rental eight miles down the bike path in Frisco.

Distance: 80 miles. 96 miles if you start and end in Frisco.

Route: The route is primarily two lane country mountain roads until you start up Vail Pass which is a dedicated bike path all the way into Copper Mountain and further if you are heading to Frisco or beyond. Try to be aware of traffic and stick to the right as much as possible. There are long stretches that have very narrow shoulders. Because of the elevation gain involved with the four passes, I would consider it extremely strenuous and not for the faint of heart.




On June 13th Nick, Brad, Greek, and I departed Frisco intending to give it a go. At close to 100 miles it would be my longest ride ever. My previous an 86...done on flat ground...back in high school. Sarah joined us for the first ten miles before heading a different direction. In less than ten miles, Nick and Brad's lead was so great we couldn't see them any more. And we wouldn't, for the rest of the ride.


We took the clockwise route which leaves Vail Pass for the end. Greek and I took several stops including one on top of Fremont (above and right photo) and Safeway in Leadville for chips and sandwiches. With only Vail Pass left, I sent Greek on. I tackled it last year during the Courage Classic and hadn't forgot the burn in my legs turning the pedals over at 10,000 feet above sea level. I knew I would need to stop several times where he would likely not need to stop at all. Making it to the top was definitely a sweet, sweet victory because it was virtually all down hill from there.

In the end, it took Brad and Nick seven hours, Greek nine and me ten. We really lucked out with gorgeous weather and a perfect training for the upcoming Triple Bypass.