Bikepacking Archives - Justin Simoni

Bikepacking Longs Peak Chapter has been Released

I’ve released the first draft chapter of what is hopefully going to be a full-fledged guidebook on bikepacking to the Colorado 14ers. It’s about my favorite mountain to ride bikes to: Longs Peak.

Check it out, and share your feedback. I’ll be moving forward with other mountains in the Front Range, as well as chapters on topics brought up from the survey.

I’ve decided to write this book in small pieces and share drafts of the chapters publicly. I’m doing so for a lot of reasons which I’ll expound upon in a separate post.

SURVEY for, Bikepacking to the Colorado 14ers Guidebook

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I’m gathering information information about a guidebook for bikepacking to the Colorado 14ers. Check it out, answer some questions, (and optionally:) join my mailing list and/or become a member of our Facebook Group.

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How I Plan a Bikepacking Route

With the early season snow coming to Colorado, some of my bikepacking plans have had to be delayed for a few weeks. Even though I’m ready and my bike’s ready, I’ll have to wait for the weather and roads to clear up.

Enjoying my first summit on the Tour of the Highest Hundred, July 2017

Bikepacks out my Back Door: Longs Peak Winter Duathlon

Bikepacks Out My Back Door: Pikes Peak

How to Access the Colorado 14ers along the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route

Adventure Cycling‘s Great Divide Mountain Bike Route (GDMBR for short) is one of my favorite off-pavement bike routes in the country. I’ve done two tours of it myself while racing it, and have used segments the route itself quite a bit while doing shorter bikepacking tours. It’s well-designed, lots of beta about accommodations exist, and you’re bound to find like-minded people traveling on the route to bump into.

When I designed my Tour 14er, and later Highest Hundred tour, knowledge of the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route was key in piecing together my own custom route. It’s actually pretty surprising how many 14ers can be accessed without getting too far from the main GDMBR.

Here’s some of the more convenient detours off of the GDMBR to Colorado’s 14ers. Names of mountains will be linked with the appropriate route to the summit from the trailhead my directions give access to.

GDMBR Detours: Lake City Linkup

With another run of the Tour Divide this year, I’m reminded again of this awesome cross-country route and the many great memories I have on it.

The last time I was riding on the GDMBR was on my Tour of the Highest Hundred, where I rode up Marshall Pass after riding the 100 miles from Lake City to summit my first Sawatch of the trip: Mount Ouray.

The route itself was excellent, and provided a relatively quiet and mostly dirt route linking two disparate mountain ranges. The GDMBR barely gets into the San Juans, which is a real shame, as the San Juans are truly one of the crown jewels of Colorado. I’ll explain the route from Salida to Lake City, as this is where you’ll get on it via the GDMBR, then detour off towards Lake City. Once at Lake City, you’ll have to make a choice of where to go, as detouring back to the GDMBR is a trip in of itself and is also, sadly, all on pavement.

Here we go:

Fastpacks From Hell: Capitol/Snowmass/Hagerman

Stats (approx.):

36.5 miles
12,815’

Starting Date:

9/2/17

Total time:

2 days, 11min

Three Centennials Summited:

Capitol Peak
Snowmass Mountain
Hagerman Peak

After cruising through the Sawatch, I had to once again cross west over the Continental Divide – this time with an unruly bear canister in tow, to dash off the Elk Range.

Hagerman Pass

A fairly stout portion of the tour was awaiting me, featuring some interesting climbing, some fairly loose and dangerous routes, and some unknowns for me with Hagerman, Cathedral, and Thunder Pyramid.

Timing wasn’t very good. It was coming up on Labor Day weekend. I certainly didn’t want to visit the Maroon Bells at that time – an already busy area would be a mad house (lots of people = lots of potential rockfall), so I opted to take the range in a strange order: first Capitol, Snowmass, and Hagerman in the west, then Cathedral, Castle, and Conundrum at the east side of the range; and finally the Bells and Pyramids right in the middle.

Fastpacks from Hell: The San Luis Trifecta

Stats (approx.):

32 miles
10,000’+ elevation

Total time:

1 day, 2hr, 30min

Three Centennials Summited:

“Phoenix Peak”
San Luis
Stewart Peak

I questioned framing this leg of my Tour of the Highest Hundred as a, “Fastpack from Hell”, as the numbers really don’t compare to the Crestones, Sierra Blanca – let alone the mighty Weminuche. A motivated person, starting early with fine weather, could potentially do this course between sunrise and sundown. Unfortunately, that wasn’t my situation, when I left my bike far above Creede, CO in the summer of 2017.