Colorado’s Ride pushes pedalers across the state’s high country in the wake of the canceled Ride the Rockies
For decades, the Ride The Rockies Bicycle Tour was an annual tradition for cyclists looking for a multiday bike ride through the scenic and challenging roads of Colorado. When the ride was called off in 2024, former event director Bill Plock was already working on his next event: Colorado’s Ride.
Now in its third edition, the five-day Colorado’s Ride starts and ends in Crested Butte while stopping in Buena Vista, Salida and Gunnison from Aug. 9-14. The first three years of the ride took place in Durango and Pagosa Springs, including a climb up the famed Wolf Creek Pass, which tops out at more than 10,800 feet.
The event is informed by Plock’s wealth of experience observing and participating in Ironman triathlons and road cycling events.
Ride The Rockies experience
Plock wasn’t a race organizer when he was tapped to lead Ride The Rockies as interim ride director in 2022. Instead, he was intimately familiar with endurance sports events through participating in them and covering them as a freelance writer. After stringing for 303 Cycling and 303 Triathlon — media outlets covering the Front Range endurance scenes — he bought the outlets and continued as owner and publisher.
Thanks to his ties to the endurance world, he was selected to join Ride The Rockies following the sale of the event to Ventures Endurance Events from The Denver Post Foundation.
“For whatever reason they felt like I’d be a good candidate to do it, even though I’d never done anything like that,” Plock said. “I jumped in with Ride The Rockies in April and the ride is in June. When I started, we had zero permits. We only had a route.”
Plock then got to work meeting with host towns and government agencies to get the right permits and approvals for the event, which drew a national crowd to Colorado’s mountains.
“I learned a lot that year. It was extremely stressful,” he said. “I literally did watch Ted Lasso during that two months. It just became my soulmate, so to speak, because I totally emulated his style, if you will.”
Plock didn’t yet have the idea for Colorado’s Ride that summer, but he began to see things that he felt could be improved. One of those was the new reality of tourism and life in Colorado mountain towns in the years since the COVID pandemic.
“Colorado mountain towns have just gotten overwhelmed, and I don’t feel like they’re into a one-day bike tour coming into town with 2,000 people to take up all these hotels and camping spots,” he said.
The temporary nature of spending one night in each town along the route and the ensuing logistics were not sustainable.
Colorado’s Ride is an intentionally smaller event. Plock only lets 350 people in to preserve a community feel among participants, and he said about 250 people have already claimed spots. Community engagement with municipalities and government agencies is also key to Plock’s strategy.
Community engagement
Before the first year of the event, Plock took several trips to southwestern Colorado to meet with local officials, agencies and community members. Plock also hosts monthly calls with officials from around the state.
“That actually builds relationships too, because I think they understand that we’re very professional and that we know what we’re doing, and that goes a long way,” he said.
Two agencies critical in the planning are the Colorado State Patrol and Colorado Department of Transportation. State patrol doles out special use permits that are required for events that use Colorado’s state roads and highways, and the agency coordinates with CDOT if special traffic control is needed, Lisa Schwantes, CDOT spokesperson for southwestern Colorado, said.
In Pagosa, the ride worked with the youth mountain bike team, who gave out fresh peaches to riders at the summit of Wolf Creek Pass. Plock said he plans to engage in similar ways with youth teams in his host communities this year.
After several years in the southwestern corner of the state, Colorado’s Ride is moving north to take on an all new route. Plock said riders were asking for a new route, and it was the right time to mix it up.
This year’s route begins in Crested Butte on Aug. 10 and climbs over Cottonwood Pass to Buena Vista. The next day, riders will take on a rolling route from Buena Vista to Salida, including an out-and-back on Chalk Creek Drive, which runs along the base of Mount Princeton to the ghost town of St. Elmo.
Day three is another climbing day featuring Monarch Pass on the way to Gunnison, where day four features a route alongside Blue Mesa Reservoir to the Needle Rock overlook and back to town. The last day leaves Gunnison for an out-and-back along Ohio Creek before heading north and tackling a final uphill kick to Mount Crested Butte.
The five days total 303 miles and 19,100 feet of climbing. On days where there are out-and-back sections, riders are welcome to turn around early for an easier ride.
In addition to camping, riders can stay in hotels for an additional cost. Mount Princeton Hot Springs is welcoming riders who want to soak and stay at its resort.
Colorado has a long legacy of competitive cycling stage races that are now defunct, from the Coors Classic to the USA Pro Challenge and Colorado Classic. Last year, there was an effort to launch the Tour of Colorado, but little else has come out about the event beyond the initial media blitz.
While competitive events are struggling, mass participation events like Colorado’s Ride are thriving. Off the pavement, events like the Leadville Trail 100 and SBT GRVL combine mass participation with a competitive race, a model that is popular around the country.
Host towns
What makes a town an ideal stop for Colorado’s Ride? Camping access is at the top of the list. Plock said that about 25% of participants choose to camp. Walkability and access to shops and restaurants is also an important factor, in addition to a willingness from communities to host the event in their backyard.
“That’s really important to have a town that’s excited to have us,” said Plock, adding that this year’s are ready to host the pedalers.
Colorado’s Ride takes place during the week, rather than on a weekend, which is beneficial for towns that are already summer tourism hot spots, Katy Mooney of the Gunnison Crested Butte Tourism and Prosperity Partnership said. The tourism group tries to incentivize off-peak travel by promoting events and initiatives that take place during off-peak and shoulder season times of the year.
It is also beneficial that Colorado’s Ride offers a variety of lodging options, which spreads out tourism dollars to several businesses in the community, Mooney said.
Plock and his staff also make sure riders follow the rules of the road, both for rider safety and respect for the public. Riders all leave town together in a vehicle-supported escort and encouraged to ride single file whenever possible.
For Plock, a love for Colorado keeps his gears turning.
“I grew up in Colorado. I love our state,” he said. “I love showing off the nooks and crannies of it, not necessarily always the big stuff, but like the small stuff.”