Solo Bike Colorado 2010

With my bike adventure across Colorado coming up at the end of the week it seemed an appropriate time to get my plans in order for this little trek.  I've bought myself 9 full days of riding with a combination of vacation days, holiday and a mandated furlough. So with plenty of time, I should be able to do this right...or at least as right as I'm able. I sat down with my Delorme's Colorado Gazetter, Google Maps and Map My Ride and figured out what route to take. The map below, which should link to a larger map, details the high level outline of my trip.

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I picked the route westward along highway 50 for a couple reasons. It is a relatively scenic route. It generally travels through towns and 'cities' at regular intervals, but shouldn't be too busy. I've driven it a couple times to know that it is not excessively busy during the week. It has a wide shoulder and is a quasi direct route across the state.  My plan is to take 50 west, perhaps using some local bypass routes at convenient locations and then when I hit Gunnison make a decision about heading north to Crested Butte or west to Sapinero. I really want to head up through Paonia and Hotchkiss because it will be harvest season for the orchards and vineyards there which should make for a nice day of cruising around (plus I've never been out that way before and I have to see something new!) So my Crested Butte option, if I'm feeling saucy, will take me up over Kebbler pass; supposedly a very flat, passable dirt road. Or my escape plan is out to Sapinero and then up 92 near the Black Canyon. Probably still a tough jaunt but not like climbing another mountain pass.

Here's the tentative breakdown of the day by day:

Day	From	To	Mileage
1	E. Border	Fowler	~115
2	Fowler	Canon City	~73
3	Canon City	Salida	~58
4	Salida	Gunnison	~64
5	Gunnison	Hotchkiss	~70
6	Hotchkiss	Grand Junction	~60
7	Grand Junction	W Border	~30

With this plan I should have 2 days built in for resting, dodging bad weather or doing other things. This will also help buffer any of my ambition if I find that I'm biting off more mileage per day than I can handle. As you can tell, I front load the eastern part of the trip (the flat stuff) with some big mileage days. That helps me get through the less scenic parts of the trip, as well as maximize my freshness on the ride with the flats to cut into the big distance I have to cover. It all sounds very well planned out, but I assure you I'm only two steps away from making this stuff up as I go. Should be fun!