Rollinsville to Rocky Mountain National Park






Breakast stop at 'New Moon Bakery' - Nederland, CO

Day 2 - Rollinsville, Nederland, Ward, Ferncliff, Allenspark, Meeker Park, Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park.

Today is our first full day on the road, cycling around 80 km on highway 72 and 7.  The route takes us through many small towns and is not too challenging as there are no major climbs, except a 6 mile ascent from Estes Park to the Rockies.

We left the campground early and enjoyed a four mile descent into Nederland, a friendly little town with a great bakery.

Surrounded by beautiful scenery for the entire day, which was made even better by the frequent and scenic descents!

We stopped for lunch in Allenspark at the 'Meadow Mountain Cafe' and then enjoyed the rest of the day cycling through Colorado. 



Approaching the Fall River entrance of the Rocky Mountain National Park

The entrance gate to the Rocky Mountain National Park was a welcome sight as we were starting to get tired....let's just say it was a long mile cycle to the campground once we were through the entrance gate!

All of our food and items with a scent were carefully stored in the 'bear boxes' to avoid any unwanted quests in the evening!

Starting point: Rollinsville, CO

End point: Rocky Mountain National Park, CO

Total distance: 80 km

Campground: Aspenglen Campground

Idaho Springs to Rollinsville

Day 1 - getting the touring bikes set up in Idaho Springs.

Day 1 - Idaho Springs, Central City, Black Hawk and Rollinsville.

Covering only 32 km on our first day, we have a fairly steep climb to get us just outside Central City, quickly descending into Black Hawk followed by a steady elevation to Rollinsville.

Excitement levels were high as we begin our cycling trip!  We were collected from our hotel in Denver by the guys that we rented our touring bikes from, driving on hour to our starting point in Idaho Springs. 

We set up the touring bikes with all of our gear, getting straight off the main road and travelling up a steep gravel road -'Rd 279'.

'Oh-My-God-Road'

Five minutes into our first climb and with no time to adjust to the altitude, we were struggling.  Without realising it, we had started on 'Oh-My-God Road'... and let me tell you it is called that for a reason! 

Once we had managed to stop laughing at ourselves as we walked up our first hill, we reassured ourselves that as we get fitter along the way, the easier the hills will get easier!





Oh-My-God Road is 13.6 km long and took us steeply through historic mining country, linking us to Central City (population 683) - a great town with lots of character.

On-route to our campground we passed a great place for a dinner ('Stage Stop', Rollinsville) and with only a 1.2 mile cycle to our campsite, we arrived with enough light to set up comfortably and settle in for the night...great first day!

Starting point: Idaho Springs, CO
End point: Just outside Rollinsville, CO
Total distance: 40 km
Campground:  Kelly Dahl Campground

Colorado, here we come!

After months of planning, we are finally on our way to Colorado, USA! We have spent hours looking through maps, calculating road distances on google, booking camp sites online and making sure we have all the gear - all in preparation for our 1,000 km cycle across the USA!

We are two friends (Carrie on the left and Sandra  on the right) who started with a plan to take 3 months off work to cycle across the USA, following the 'TransAmerica' route. Work commitments and life in general meant that our trip was downscaled to a 2 week cycling trip, with both of us taking side trips afterwards.

I (Carrie) am travelling to Monument Valley and the Grand Canyon to hike the Rim to Rim trail and Sandra is off to hike the 'Tonto Trail' in the Grand Canyon.