Colorado Springs area Questions?

Mak2525 · #1 08-14-2006, 08:01 PM

Hi all:

I am going to be in Denver for the CEDIA conference the week of September 11th. I will be wrapped up with business by Friday the 15th, and am planning to stay the weekend in Colorado Springs. I plan to play a round of mountain golf that Friday, and my brother is going to join me and doesn't play golf, so the second day I was thinking about this trip:

http://bikithikit.com/pikes-peak-biking.htm

This looks like a really cool way to see Pikes Peak and the surrounding mountains. I would welcome any comments or suggestions from anyone who may have taken this trip. Also, anyone know anything about the Cascade Mountain Resort, which is where I am thinking about staying for the weekend?

Thanks in advance for any and all comments!

mdunn · #2 08-14-2006, 09:22 PM

It's way more fun to ride a motorcycle to the top. Every year they pave another mile or so and that takes a little of the challenge out of it.

The other way to the top of Pikes Peak is a cog railway. I have never ridden it but it looks neat. It takes a totally different path than the road to the top.

A bicycle ride down should be fun. Certainly not to taxing. Gravity works.

4 years ago my wife and I went 2 up to the top on a Honda ST 1100. One of the guys in our group took a Honda RC51 to the top. Momentum is everything on the switchbacks.

My wife has ridden her motorcycle solo to the top of Mt. Evans which is paved all the way. It is over 14K high.

I ride dirt bikes in the mountains of Colorado and no matter how high we ride we always encounter bicycles slowing pedaling up some mountain trail!

Royal Gorge is a total tourist trap. They have enclosed the whole bridge to howhere part of it and charge admission just to get in. I believe that there si a rail road trip through the gorge and that would be interesting

Garden of the Gods is pretty but you can do it in a couple of hours or less.

Mak2525 · #3 08-14-2006, 09:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mdunn

It's way more fun to ride a motorcycle to the top. Every year they pave another mile or so and that takes a little of the challenge out of it.

The other way to the top of Pikes Peak is a cog railway. I have never ridden it but it looks neat. It takes a totally different path than the road to the top.

A bicycle ride down should be fun. Certainly not to taxing. Gravity works.

4 years ago my wife and I went 2 up to the top on a Honda ST 1100. One of the guys in our group took a Honda RC51 to the top. Momentum is everything on the switchbacks.

My wife has ridden her motorcycle solo to the top of Mt. Evans which is paved all the way. It is over 14K high.

I ride dirt bikes in the mountains of Colorado and no matter how high we ride we always encounter bicycles slowing pedaling up some mountain trail!

Royal Gorge is a total tourist trap. They have enclosed the whole bridge to howhere part of it and charge admission just to get in. I believe that there si a rail road trip through the gorge and that would be interesting

Garden of the Gods is pretty but you can do it in a couple of hours or less.

mdunn:

The motorcycle thing sounds like fun as well. Both of us are ex-bikers from way back. The Cog railroad also has a combo trip, where you take the rail up, and they meet you at the top with the mountain bikes for the ride down.

Maybe we'll look into a motorcycle trip. Are there any rental places that you know of from your previous visits?

Thanks for your input!

barkley_01007 · #4 08-15-2006, 07:32 AM

Sounds like fun, but I gotta say, after doing that road by car, I hope you don't have a fear of heights, the lack of guardrails sounds like a minor inconvenience until you see the dropoffs on those hairpins.

+1 for the Garden Of The Gods, it's beautiful in there. Manitou Springs is a funky little town on the way to Pike's Peak that's worth checking out...

LarryH in Texas · #5 08-15-2006, 08:41 AM

The ride down from the summit of Pike's Peak is not a no-brainer.

About the halfway point, the rangers stop you (in a car anyway) and check the temperature of your brakes. If they're too hot, you have to park a while until they cool down, to preclude dangerous brake fade before you get to the bottom.

At least, that was the drill in the early seventies. I know brake technology has improved since then, but . . .

Perhaps someone who has made the drive recently can comment?

Seven Falls is also a worthy stop. Used to be able to hike up the stream; don't know if that's still possible.

barkley_01007 · #6 08-15-2006, 11:16 AM

they do still do the brake check, of course if you need to stop to let them cool, there's a very nice gift shop that would be more than happy to help you pass the time....

bradley dr20 · #7 08-15-2006, 11:30 AM

We tried to do the cog railway, but it was packed a half hour before we got there. So get there early if you want to do that. Apparently it's well worth it.

Another +1 for Garden of the Gods. Although the walking area is very small, you can drive through the rest of it and not feel like you're missing out.

waterdogmtb · #8 08-16-2006, 09:42 AM

Bike trip down the "Peak" is a thumbs-up, if you can go on the earliest time possible. We have been getting most of our rain showers(by Sept they might get snow on top) in the afternoon, they usually come right over Pike's Peak and move east over Colo Spgs.

Are you planning on staying at the Cascade Mtn Resort in Vail??? Can't find one in the Ute Pass/Woodland Park/ Colo Spgs area.

Other recommendations for that area (Pikes Peak etc):

North Catamount Reservoir: on the back side of Pike's Peak, great hike around the reservoir usually no crowds.

Mueller State Park/Craigs: Hike to Dome Rock (looks like a smaller version El Capitain) or hike around the back side of Pike's Peak.

Wilkerson Pass: overlooks the famed "South Park", good area to Mtn Bike/Hike.

Mak2525 · #9 08-16-2006, 02:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by waterdogmtb

Bike trip down the "Peak" is a thumbs-up, if you can go on the earliest time possible. We have been getting most of our rain showers(by Sept they might get snow on top) in the afternoon, they usually come right over Pike's Peak and move east over Colo Spgs.

Are you planning on staying at the Cascade Mtn Resort in Vail??? Can't find one in the Ute Pass/Woodland Park/ Colo Spgs area.

Other recommendations for that area (Pikes Peak etc):

North Catamount Reservoir: on the back side of Pike's Peak, great hike around the reservoir usually no crowds.

Mueller State Park/Craigs: Hike to Dome Rock (looks like a smaller version El Capitain) or hike around the back side of Pike's Peak.

Wilkerson Pass: overlooks the famed "South Park", good area to Mtn Bike/Hike.

Michael:

Thanks for adding a locals perspective! I should have typed Cascade Mountain Lodge! (A resort it's not)

The lodge is located in Cascade http://www.cascademtnlodge.com/m_24.asp?pa=m_24
Looks like a decent place for $95 a night including two bedrooms with queen beds in each, plus kitchen and fireplace. It's only been open about a year, so at least it should be clean!

We are reserved for the early trip down the Peak with this company.

http://bikithikit.com/pikes-peak-biking.htm

You meet at 8:00 AM, they serve you breakfast, then take you up the mountain in shuttle vans. The complete ride down takes about 3 hours, and finishes up with lunch at "Wines of Colorado". A little snow up top would be great, but hopefully we miss the rain for the rest of the journey.

Thanks again to everyone for their suggestions and recommendations!

815C · #10 08-17-2006, 08:32 AM

A loooooooooong time ago, I lived in a cabin just below the tree line about 4 miles outside of Victor which was about 4 miles from Cripple Creek. Victor was basically a ghost town - it had been the 5th largest city in Colorado duing the gold rush of the 1890s. There was (is?) a dirt road from Victor to I-25 called Gold Camp Road. It used to be a totally awesome drive over old bridges and such. Not sure if its been paved or developed since 1981 when I left there. I used to play guitar in a band in Cripple Creek back before it boomed. Seemed there were about 200 folks living in Cripple Creek back then. I haven't been back since they put in the casinos.

waterdogmtb · #11 08-17-2006, 10:39 AM

Gold Camp-still mostly unpaved & closed to thru traffic due to dispute w/ city, county & BLM over road/tunnel jurisdiction/maintenence.

Cripple Creek-changed, unrecognizable, the gambling industry has done its thing up there. Haven't been within the "city limits" since 1998.

Victor-has changed because of proximity to Cripple Creek, still retains some of its old mining town qualities.

I need to take the Phantom Canyon loop, its been a few years.

http://www.city-data.com/city/Victor-Colorado.html

http://www.city-data.com/picfiles/pic1825.php

http://www.trailsandopenspaces.org/CGCT/index.html

http://www.fs.fed.us/r2/psicc/projec...mp/index.shtml

waterdogmtb · #12 09-09-2006, 06:19 AM

A little snow on top this AM, from the storm that blew threw last night:

http://www.pikespeakcam.com/

Mak2525 · #13 09-09-2006, 08:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by waterdogmtb

A little snow on top this AM, from the storm that blew threw last night:

http://www.pikespeakcam.com/

Michael:

Thanks for the update - snow up top would be great! This time next Saturday we will be on our way up the mountain. Looking forward to it, especially after four days of a trade show in Denver.

The weather will be a welcome change as well!

Regards,