# Denver to Fairplay?



## germplayer (Jan 6, 2005)

Anybody know if it's possible or have tried it?
Tim


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## CFBlue (Jun 28, 1999)

google denver to aspen classic. I belive the route goes right up 285 and the route has been done lots of times - just not by me


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## SlowBikeRacer (Nov 7, 2005)

I would never ride on Hwy. 285. It is a busy 2 lane highway without a shoulder through South Park...
Best Route - I-70 Frontage Road or Bike path most of the way to Copper. Then over to Leadville to Fairplay. About a 2.5 hour drive, not sure how long on the bike.


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## PDex (Mar 23, 2004)

*other options*

A variation on the Triple Bypass to Route 9 go through Breckenridge and on into Fairplay. If you want to do it on a cross bike, there are some roads that cut through Pike National Forest. Take the Waterton Canyon road up to Platte River Road (then my memory gets foggy) - I think you can meet up with SR 67 to Trail Creek Road to CR 51 to Hackett Gulch and somewhere after that you should get to Tarryall Road then take some of the Forest Service Roads to Fairplay. 

Sorry, I cant remember a lot of these road numbers. There are dirt roads in this (therefore the cross bike). I would get a Pike Nat'l Forest map. And alot of this goes through the Hayman burn area so alot of it will not be scenic.


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## JayTee (Feb 3, 2004)

Ditto the suggestion to avoid 285, though that would obviously be the most direct and yes, I've seen bikes on it. Either through Copper or Breckenridge (probably Breckenridge) would be my choice. 

You'd go west either by going over Lookout Mtn then down into Idaho Springs via Floyd Hill or over Squaw/Juniper Passes (like Triple Bypass). Then I-70 frontage road to Bakerville, then about 5 miles on I-70 shoulder to Loveland Ski Area. Up and over Loveland Pass through Keystone, up and over Swan Mountain, and left (south) on the bike path at Hwy 9 into Breckenridge. Continue South over Hoosier Pass. 

It would be a pretty long hard day in my book (well, harder than the Triple because of the addition of Hoosier Pass).


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