Ride the Rockies 2017

Colorado is blessed with some truly incredible scenery. National Parks, State Parks, National Monuments, some of the world’s best ski resorts, beautiful box canyons and its more than four dozen #14ers (and its more than 600 #13ers!) bring people in from around the world in their drives every year.

Road trips through #Colorado are a great way to get around and jump around the state and see it all. Brittany and I have made dozens of road trips around the state, camping in national parks and drinking some of the amazing local beer that seems to be available in every town and city no matter how small.

But there is one way to see the state that, for Brittany and me at least, tops all others, and that is by bicycle.

When work enabled us to stay in Colorado for longer periods than in previous years, we started talking about Ride the Rockies (@RideTheRockies) and whether we should consider applying.

After speaking to the organising committee they offered us the opportunity to participate in the race as part of the Media Pass Program. So we are now committed and are going to be keeping a blog about our training and the race itself. We will also be trying to write articles for a few publications around the world to help promote the race.

Ride the Rockies, for those who don’t know, is arguably one of the best ride events in the US. This year the ride is seven days and 447 miles through Colorado. While technically a non-competitive, I will certainly be challenging myself to keep up with Brittany and actually finish the ride.

A week ago the route for Ride the Rockies 2017 was announced in an event at the beautiful Civic Center Building in Denver’s Civic Center Park.

The few hundred people who had gathered for the event had a good time, enjoyed some good barbecue (including barbecued tofu for the non-meat eaters) from Brother’s BBQ (@BrothersbbqCO), and some good beer courtesy of Colorado’s own Odell Brewing (@OdellBrewing). Denver mayor Michael Hancock (@MayorHancock)was also in attendance as were several other special guests.

The route includes Brittany’s hometown of Montrose and so we were doubly excited, particularly as we have a guaranteed bed for that night at least. The full route starts in Alamosa and then heads to Pagosa Springs, Durango, Ridgway, Montrose, Gunnison and then finally Salida.

Brittany and I are very excited, but we are of course also very nervous as it will be the hardest physical challenge either of us have ever taken on. Suffice it to say we are already looking forward to Saturday June 17 before 5 p.m.

We are planning to use the ride to raise money for a couple of charities here in Colorado, so expect us to come cap in hand soon.

Registration is open until February 26, so there is plenty of time left to get your application in! Click here to do that!

For those interested, the route can be found here and general info about the ride, including the history can be found here.

If you like this post or have something to share with us, feel free to leave a comment. We would also appreciate you sharing this as far and wide as you can so we can generate as much excitement and publicity for Ride the Rockies 2017 as possible!

#RTR #RTR2017 #RidetheRockies #Colorado #ColorfulColorado #Ladybirdrides #RouteAnnouncementParty #Denver #Alamosa #PagosaSprings #Durango, #Ridgway #Montrose #Gunnison #Salida #5280 #CentennialState #ColoradoLive #RockyMountains

Brittany Panter and Rob McGovern are freelance writers from Colorado and Wales respectively. They are participating in Ride the Rockies 2017 as part of the Media Pass Program and as such will be writing about their experiences as they train for the race. To read more about Rob and see his published articles click here, to read more about Brittany and see her published work click here.

#ridetherockies