Gravel riding near of Kremling, CO.

How’s Your Summer Going?

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Summer plans, vacations, events, races, have pretty much all been canceled. What have you been doing in lieu of these things? Have you been out on your bike more than usual? Less? My guess is probably more. According to many major (and minor) news outlets, bike shops have been inundated. There are articles in the New York Times, Fox News, NBC, CNN, and even the Steamboat Pilot about the surging demand for bicycles and bicycle maintenance right now.

Near the border of Wyoming & Colorado on Buffalo Ridge

We’ve been out on our bikes the same as usual but keeping it more local than in years past. We usually travel quite a bit on weekends during the summer. This summer we’ve been staying within about a 100-mile radius of home. It’s easy to keep riding the same loops over and over again if you’re staying put in one place, but a little curiosity, a sense of adventure and some old-fashioned map reading goes a long way.

Lost Dog Road, Clark, CO.

There is something satisfying about finding a new route – something remote, with no Strava segments, off the beaten path, maybe no one you know has ridden it. Do you share your unique rides on Strava or other social outlets? Or would you rather keep it to yourself? I personally like to share unique rides that I do because I appreciate seeing and hearing about other peoples’ rides – oftentimes this is how I find out about rides I want to do.

Buffalo Pass, Steamboat Springs, CO.

We recently did the Circle the Zirkel route, a 153-mile ride that loops around the Mt. Zirkel Wilderness. While some people take on the challenge of riding this route in a single day, we decided to do it the more enjoyable way 😆 . We bike-packed it in two days, one night. It’s a challenging ride with over 11,000ft of climbing, a small bit of rough terrain, and some pretty deep gravel for 25 miles or so.

Hiking over snow on the top of Buffalo Pass

There are no resupply stops on this route until mile 130 so it’s important to be prepared with enough food and a reliable water filter. There is the option to add 20 miles by veering off the route and going into the tiny little town of Walden, CO for a resupply. We didn’t go into Walden and cut it pretty close on food. We were lucky – we happened to have friends camping at the same campground on Saturday night which was not planned, kind of a neat coincidence. Our friends were nice enough to feed us some extra dinner and snacks on Saturday evening so we could save the little food we had left for the ride on Sunday. We definitely would have run out of food on the 2nd day.

Somewhere about 50 miles in on the Circle the Zirkel Loop

For more details on this highly recommended route, check out the Ridewithgps and my Strava activities here and here.

We’re planning some more adventures in August and September so stay tuned to see what we’re up to!

Peace ✌🏻

Hannah B

P.S. If you haven’t been to the Clark Store, in Clark, CO I recommend the breakfast burrito. It’s rare you can find an enormous brekkie burrito for under $10 and with greens in it too 😋 I’ve also heard their pancakes are as big as your head.

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