Return of pro level stage racing in Colorado?

[pedaling squares]

http://velonews.com/article/96554/armstrong-colorado-governor-meet-to-revive-coors-classic

Interesting article on initial discussions between Lance Armstrong and the state governor. No doubt Lance has the influence to get the ball rolling. We could use more stage races on this side of the Atlantic and Colorado has some incredible turf. I wonder, would there be a rule that the strongest rider on the team had to sacrifice himself for the oldest? Just kidding, don't take the bait.

 

[dgodave]

Seems almost ridiculous for CO not to host some big time racing. The place is bike mad and the roads are "epic".
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[Anonymous]

meh, Colorado is alright, but the Cascades are truly beautiful. I would like to see a multi stage race through Oregon, Washington, maybe Vancouver, Vancouver Island. Maybe a TT on Orcas Island. Colorado is over hyped IMO. Don't get me wrong, it is BEAUTIFUL, but truly there are more beautiful places in the US and Canada for me.

 

[pedaling squares]

meh, Colorado is alright, but the Cascades are truly beautiful. I would like to see a multi stage race through Oregon, Washington, maybe Vancouver, Vancouver Island. Maybe a TT on Orcas Island. Colorado is over hyped IMO. Don't get me wrong, it is BEAUTIFUL, but truly there are more beautiful places in the US and Canada for me.

True, there is nothing in Colorado that you can't find in BC (except the bad beer), but what we lack is the political willpower and star power it will take to get this rolling. The logistics of borders and ferries would be a hindrance, and the local focus, including government and sponsor budgets, is the 2010 Games. Great idea though, I think the rest of the CN readers should come and check out the area that TTF mentioned the next time they throw the bike in the bag.

 

[Anonymous]

True, there is nothing in Colorado that you can't find in BC (except the bad beer), but what we lack is the political willpower and star power it will take to get this rolling. The logistics of borders and ferries would be a hindrance, and the local focus, including government and sponsor budgets, is the 2010 Games. Great idea though, I think the rest of the CN readers should come and check out the area that TTF mentioned the next time they throw the bike in the bag.

I'd back away slowly from the beer statement, me dissing the state is one thing, dissing their beer could actually make some of them mad...

 

[dienekes88]

Colorado may be overhyped... but it's undeniably a cycling/triathlon-training hotspot. It's not the area (necessarily), it's the people, and people attract people. Kinda like Girona is overrun with American cyclists.

meh, Colorado is alright, but the Cascades are truly beautiful. I would like to see a multi stage race through Oregon, Washington, maybe Vancouver, Vancouver Island. Maybe a TT on Orcas Island. Colorado is over hyped IMO. Don't get me wrong, it is BEAUTIFUL, but truly there are more beautiful places in the US and Canada for me.

I'm surprised you are so neutral. I would've thought Armstrong's involvement would bring out more emotion than that!

 

[Anonymous]

Colorado may be overhyped... but it's undeniably a cycling/triathlon-training hotspot. It's not the area (necessarily), it's the people, and people attract people. Kinda like Girona is overrun with American cyclists.



I'm surprised you are so neutral. I would've thought Armstrong's involvement would bring out more emotion than that!

Nah, things like this I am pretty neutral about. Even a stopped clock is right twice per day.

 

[pmcg76]

Was there not a mountainous one day race in Colorado earlier this decade but it only lasted a few years, I remember JV won it and some of it was on non-paved roads. I dont remember what it was called but seemed a pretty decent race. I think it finished in Breckenridge, I am not from Colorado or even the US so dont slam me.

It would be good to see another major race in the US but we have talked about the state of racing in the US before, Lance does create interest & enthusiasm but it disappears very quickly. San Fran was another great race that didnt last that long.

 

[dgodave]

meh, Colorado is alright, but the Cascades are truly beautiful. I would like to see a multi stage race through Oregon, Washington, maybe Vancouver, Vancouver Island. Maybe a TT on Orcas Island. Colorado is over hyped IMO. Don't get me wrong, it is BEAUTIFUL, but truly there are more beautiful places in the US and Canada for me.

I'd say youre hair-splitting. Having lived in the Pac NW and CO, both these places are plenty beautiful enough for a great bike race.
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Plus CO has a truly great American bike racing heritage.
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[Hugh Januss]

I'd say youre hair-splitting. Having lived in the Pac NW and CO, both these places are plenty beautiful enough for a great bike race.
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Plus CO has a truly great American bike racing heritage.
.

Hell even Pasadena and the RoseBowl were good enough.

 

[Anonymous]

I'd say youre hair-splitting. Having lived in the Pac NW and CO, both these places are plenty beautiful enough for a great bike race.
.
Plus CO has a truly great American bike racing heritage.
.

No, I genuinely think the Cascades are far more beautiful. In all honesty, I think southern Utah, specifically the area around Zion is more beautiful than both, but the remoteness of the area makes it less viable for a race.

And I didn't say they shouldn't have a race in Colorado, I just would prefer the Pac NW.

 

[BikeCentric]

Was there not a mountainous one day race in Colorado earlier this decade but it only lasted a few years, I remember JV won it and some of it was on non-paved roads. I dont remember what it was called but seemed a pretty decent race. I think it finished in Breckenridge, I am not from Colorado or even the US so dont slam me.

It would be good to see another major race in the US but we have talked about the state of racing in the US before, Lance does create interest & enthusiasm but it disappears very quickly. San Fran was another great race that didnt last that long.

Yes that race you are talking about was the "Saturn Cycling Classic" and yes it was pretty cool -- it went over a couple of dirt road passes and you had the riders doing neat things like grabbing CX bikes off the team cars for the descent then switching back to their road bikes.

Anywho, having lived in CO for many years I frankly don't think the state is all that conducive to major road racing. Reason being is that there are not enough roads there and therefore most roads are heavily trafficed with cars and difficult to shut down for racing. So on the amateur circuit you have mostly ****e criteriums because it's so hard to get decent road races going. Unless you want to go to the flat crappy terrain way out on the Eastern Plains which noone does obviously.

All that being said, yes there are some great mountain roads in CO but the problem is that they are often major passes where cars get priority. Frankly the MTB'ing is much better than road riding in CO.

 

[dgodave]

No, I genuinely think the Cascades are far more beautiful...

Whatever turns you on...
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[Anonymous]

Whatever turns you on...
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That's a completely different topic...

 

[usedtobefast]

Hell even Pasadena and the RoseBowl were good enough.

the rose bowl circuit is pretty hard at racing speed. and fun too.
i would like to see a san bernardino to big bear race.

 

[benpounder]

meh, Colorado is alright, but the Cascades are truly beautiful. I would like to see a multi stage race through Oregon, Washington, maybe Vancouver, Vancouver Island. Maybe a TT on Orcas Island. Colorado is over hyped IMO. Don't get me wrong, it is BEAUTIFUL, but truly there are more beautiful places in the US and Canada for me.

Trying to pick a fight?

Beauty is everywhere, and easily found if one sets aside their biases and opens their eyes. But Colorado can, at times, get a bit oversold.

 

[benpounder]

Anywho, having lived in CO for many years I frankly don't think the state is all that conducive to major road racing. Reason being is that there are not enough roads there and therefore most roads are heavily trafficed with cars and difficult to shut down for racing.

And we have a winner. Even for the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic, US550 is only closed down for a breif period of time (sanctioned race starts at 0Early hrs) and not the whole route.

That being said, I would love to see the pro-peloton tackle this stage:

Sorry, dont know how to embed a Bikemap.net map. Link here

 

[mr. tibbs]

There is a great mountain-y race in the region that features a few major mountain pass roads that DO get closed down to accomodate the race. This same race has struggled in recent years to make ends meet, so maybe instead of starting a new race in the region the cycling community should try bolstering the one that's already in existence (and is attracting some pretty strong fields).

The Tour of Utah: check it out.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

If Lance can bring back the Coors' Classic, I'd tip my hat to him. But I agree, it will be hard to do. Even the famed Morgul-Bismarck stage is now mostly developed land by the town of Superior, and a lot of car traffic. But there are roads around Durango that would work very well, but may be too out of the way (same with Steamboat, no?). Having the race between Boulder-Estes-Denver-Colorado Springs, where the people are, doesn't have enough paved mountain passes that can easily be shut down. Though I could be wrong here.

meh, Colorado is alright, but the Cascades are truly beautiful. .

Well, now you are in my neck of the woods, and I generally agree with you. There are also a LOT of paved roads through the mountains that don't have high traffic. We do have the Cascade Classic, and have had Mt. Hood Classic, and the nationals were in Bend. I honestly don't know why the CC isn't a UCI 2HC race, or even made into a PT race. The scenery is definitely there, and the people...

Colorado may be overhyped... but it's undeniably a cycling/triathlon-training hotspot.

Yes, but have you been to Oregon? Portland? This place is cycling nuts. We make the very top of Bicycling Magazine's list every year they have it. The big city usually right behind us is Seattle. Mid-size cities that make the list are usually Eugene near the top, and Bend. There are so many people here on bikes, it's crazy. And not just commuters.

The UCI should work with Oregon/Washington and get a Tour of the Cascades going, and right in the slow two weeks after the Tour. We can compete with the Tour of Poland, and the Eneco Tour. Or if the Vuelta moves to April-May (like I think it will), we'll take a 9-day Tour in there. And unlike California (or much of Colorado) our weather in August/Sept tends to be more seasonable and not searing hot in many places. It's also our dry season. Imagine a Stage race in the US that goes anywhere between Mt. Shasta up to Garabaldi in BC? It would be incredible.

John Summerson, who wrote the Complete Guide to Climbing by Bike, has a PNW version planned, and he and I swapped e-mail on what should be included. When you guys want a list of mountain roads to ride in the PNW, give me a shout. I've ridden so many of them it's not funny.

To me, the real mountain scenery in the US for a big stage race is still the eastern part of the Sierras. The biggest concentration of Cat 1 and HC climbs in North America are there, many of them extremely challenging, and incredibly scenic high passes. Problem is, they are a long, long way from populated areas. But maybe the ToC will get over there someday.

 

[Deagol]

Paradise no more....

Another thing about Colorado: there is a recent push by the Jefferson County Commissioners (County just west of Denver) to allow all counties statewide to ban cyclists from certain county roads for "safety" reasons. There was a cycling charity event planned for roads in the foothills of the mountains southwest of Denver and the local residents complained to the County Commissioners about it. Not only was the event permit denied, but the overflow result was this push for a new law statewide that would allow counties to ban cyclists on certain county roads. The most-vocal motorists to voice their opinions absolutely hated sharing “their” roads with cyclists.

Also, since the Coors Classic, the state's population has grown by leaps and bounds. There were some grass-roots races (Carter Lake, Gore Pass) that are no longer run. Some of this may be due to increased costs and difficulty in securing a permit. Local motorists complain frequently about the "huge inconvenience". There are just so many cars on the mountain roads these days. It could be very hard to get a permit. The eastern portion of the Morgul-Bismark course is now consumed by suburbia.

Anytime anything bike related is posted on the local Denver news website, at least half the comments posted come somewhere near redneck in huge pick-up trucks saying that cyclist on the road have no right to be there and they threaten (to varying degrees of joking) to run them off the road.

FWIW, I watched in person the Saturn Classic as it descended the south side of Guenella Pass (dirt road) and it looked like a disaster. Not what you see in the TV coverage at all. This was the year Chris Wheerey (spelling?) won. Some riders at the front swapped road bike for MTBs at the summit, but the support cars had to drive through the pack on a dusty downhill to get to the pavement section again to re-supply riders with their road bikes. The riders in the back of the pack were covered in dust and visibility was near zero. Some riders did not swap bikes and were crawling down the mountain very slowly, some with destroyed wheels. One rider actually yelled at me (I assume he mistook me for a race official) and swore something along the lines of “this is so %^&&^ stupid” at me. I had to agree with him.

 

[Anonymous]

Trying to pick a fight?

Beauty is everywhere, and easily found if one sets aside their biases and opens their eyes. But Colorado can, at times, get a bit oversold.

Yea, I know. I have traveled all over the world photographing it.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

I wonder what Len Pettyjohn thinks of all this?

Interesting to hear Lance/Velo almost confirm the Vuelta going back to April in 2011, just like Perico and Olano have both said.

Another thing about Colorado....

That law I did not know about. That would really suck. I can see keeping cyclists off freeways, but any county roads? That's crazy.

The best place to race, to avoid heavy traffic, development, and anti-cycling issues may be the roads stretching between Craig to Steamboat, south past Leadville to Salida, the Peak to Peak highway, further over to Durango and up to Montrose, Grand Junction. However, this may mean Colorado may be getting to the point where it might be like having a stage race in the Sierras, or in Wyoming, Montana or Idaho, in that it's so far from the main population areas, it may not be easy to support such a race.

Either way it is going to get tricky, indeed, and will be great if they can pull it off. The Coors' Classic is still the best stage race ever held on North American soil. I'm hoping if Coors isn't the title sponsor, they can secure the name "Color

 

[davidw]

Interesting thread...

If we ever go back to the US from Italy, one place we're considering is Boulder.

It looks like there are tons of racers living there, but one thing I don't get is what people do in the winter. Here in Northern Italy, it's no sunny Mediterranean paradise, but it's almost always above 0 C, so you can train year round if you dress right. Even western Oregon is ok in the winter, if you have good rain gear and don't get too demoralized by the constant gray. Personally I think Southern Oregon is where it's at... you get some bigger climbs than those steady grades over in Bend; also it's warmer in the winter.

I didn't mind the winters we spent in Innsbruck, Austria, but really missed being able to get out on my bike. I'm not into skiing or much in the way of winter sports besides "rodeling".

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

Just as example, here's what Morgul-Bismarck looked like back in about 1987:

And here's a recent snapshot taken near there:

 

[Hugh Januss]

Just as example, here's what Morgul-Bismarck looked like back in about 1987:

And here's a recent snapshot taken near there:

Kinda makes me not want to vacation in Colorado.