Mountain biking Pikes Peak? Think of the bragging rights. It’s up to you whether you tell your friends the ride wasn’t up and down the peak but, rather, a 20-mile descent of Colorado’s most famous fourteener.
Even so, the trip has its challenges. You have to keep your wits about you. Balancing and braking on a dizzying, oxygen-thin mountaintop road quickly teaches you to respect the altitude. Then there are the uphill portions, short though they may be, but at 13,000 feet an eighth-of-a-mile climb can seem gargantuan. (No points lost if you walk those portions.)
But what a blast! Biking down a Western icon as you drop 8,000 feet in elevation in about three hours and pass through five distinct life zones gives you a sensation you can’t experience behind a windshield. Even when hiking the peak, the transition into each life zone is not as dramatic as when you’re gliding through varieties of vegetation, feeling the climate and temperature change on your face, and watching each zone’s flora and fauna.
Marmots and Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep rule the higher, above-timberline climes. Marmots line the famous Pikes Peak road, looking much like a viewing committee as your group rides by. In the lower zones, keep a watch for eagles, deer, elk, black bears and, possibly, a mountain lion. If you choose to take your ride during September and October, you’ll be treated to the changing aspens and colorful autumn ground cover.
There will be plenty of stops along the way to photograph your adventure, soak in this rare experience and catch your breath.
The way the weather plays with the mountain may give you clear skies at the peak and clouds below, or summit clouds that break as you drop through to the lower elevations. There’s a giddy excitement as you ride down a road that serpentines into a cloud bank, not knowing when or where you’ll ride through the misty, cold fog. This is the time you’re glad to have a tour leader who knows the way.
Challenge Unlimited is one of two outfitters in the Colorado Springs area offering guided bike tours, including bikes, on Pikes Peak. Challenge Unlimited starts its rides at the peak’s summit, whereas Pikes Peak Mountain Tours frequents the lower Gold Camp Road.
Challenge Unlimited has three prerequisites for its summit tours. You have to know how to ride a bike and use hand brakes. You must be at least 4 feet, 6 inches tall. And you must not have any chronic illnesses that would be aggravated by the altitude.
The ride itself is classified as easy. Starting the ride at 14,110 feet is the caveat. There have been some riders who exited the transport van at the summit, only to find their hearts beating wildly. Immediately, they became downhill passengers in the support vehicle.
Because there’s a 30- to 40-degree difference in base to summit temperatures, Challenge Unlimited outfits riders with all the necessary clothing and equipment – helmet, fleece jackets, pants, wind and rain gear, headbands, glove liners and mittens. (Wear your own shoes and socks.) You’ll start at the summit wearing everything, and gradually shed the extra layers. By the time you reach the base, you’ll be down to shorts and T-shirt.
In summer, Challenge Unlimited offers two trips a day: one in early morning, one a sunset trip. In September and October, one trip a day is planned, depending on weather conditions.
Morning rides include breakfast – fruit, bagels, yogurt, juice, coffee – and lunch at Wines of Colorado, where you can chow down on cheeseburgers, brats and turkey sandwiches. Afternoon rides include snacks.
Lillian Ross is a freelance writer who lives in Howard.
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If you go
Challenge Unlimited tours leave from its office, 204 S. 24th St., Colorado Springs.
Rates: All-inclusive morning rides cost $95 per person; discounts are available for groups of three or more. Afternoon rides cost $83 per person, with similar discounts available. Bikes are supplied.
Reservations: Challenge Unlimited, 800-798-5954.
Information: www.bikithikit.com.
Getting there: Drive south from Denver on Interstate 25 through Colorado Springs; exit at U.S. 24. Drive west to 21st Street. Turn right, then left on Cucharras. Look for the bright blue building.
