# Trainning tips - Copper Triangle



## Samadhi

Would anyone have any advice as to how I might train up a bit for the climbs on the Copper Triangle Route. I was thinking about starting out with repeats on Dino Ridge and regular runs up Lookout Mtn. Deer Creek maybe?

It looks like the climbs for the CT will be longer, not to mention much higher altitude, than what I'm used to riding around town, so any advice on how to prep would be most welcome.

thanx


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## Mootsie

I did the Copper Triangle a couple years ago by doing my climbing rides almost solely on Lookout. I would ride all the way to the top, the nature center, not just to Buffalo Bill's Grave and do that 5 - 6 times in a row. I felt great on the Triangle. Keep in mind the worst climb is the last one, so save up some matches for Vail Pass.


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## Rokh On

Hey Samadhi ... I agree with Mootsie but one of my favorite training routes has become Squaw/Juniper. Bergen to Echo and back is a good ride. You could do the entire "loop from hell". If you are feeling really energetic you could ride up lookout and over to Squaw ... 

How was RtR? Hope you had a great time. Our day 2 was your day 1. I thought the ride climbing out of Telluride to Delores was one of the best rides I've been on. Beautiful country.


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## colorider7

Hey Samadhi, agree witht he suggestions above -- Deer Creek / Highgrade is great and so is Lookout (Deer Creek is comprable to the start up Tennessee pass and Lookout is somewhat comprable to Battle Mountain -- minus the eleveation of course) -- Mootsie is spot on in that the toughest part of the day is the last climb up Vail Pass Eastbound (especially if its hot!) -- if you can, I would strongly recommend taking a half day and heading up to Vail early and actually hitting that if you can from town -- the frontage road is newly paved, and its a great day -- it will help a great deal if you can swing it -- otherwise, you will be fine -- just did the route last weekend plus some extra miles (starting and ending in Silverthorne) -- and it was fantastic -- it is a highly enjoyable ride and amazing scenery -- just the right distance, and with Tennesee Pass out of the way early in the day, you can enjoy the rest of the ride to Vail Pass and then grunt it home from there -- have a good one and happy training! -- Good riding... Colorider


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## davidaker

Hey, why don't you just go up there, park at Copper and do the route. I do it a few times a season. I was just there a couple of weeks ago for a tuneup of RTR. There's a convenience store in Minturn where you can get drinks/water before you tackle Vail Pass. This way you can take it in a relaxed manner and get the feel for it. The path up Vail pass has been repaved and is in great shape.


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## Samadhi

Rokh On said:


> How was RtR? Hope you had a great time. Our day 2 was your day 1. I thought the ride climbing out of Telluride to Delores was one of the best rides I've been on. Beautiful country.


Didn't make it. Family stuff out of state. Next year.


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## Samadhi

I've thought about doing Vail Pass from Frisco. Use the westbound leg as a warm up for the eastbound.

I'd like to try Deer Creek soon. Never been up there. Is The Deer Creek Canyon to South Turkey Creek Rd the way to go or head to HighGrade/Pleasant park to S. Ridge?


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## colorider7

Samadhi said:


> I've thought about doing Vail Pass from Frisco. Use the westbound leg as a warm up for the eastbound.
> 
> I'd like to try Deer Creek soon. Never been up there. Is The Deer Creek Canyon to South Turkey Creek Rd the way to go or head to HighGrade/Pleasant park to S. Ridge?


Hey Samadhi, Frisco to west side of Vail Pass and back would be perfect. Also, I would recommend Deer Creek / High Grade -- and if you are feeling frisky, drop into Reynolds open space and back (part of the Deer Creek Challenge when they did it for a few years) -- that out and back through High Grade will get you about 3,500 vert in 3 hours or so over maybe 40 miles-ish. Happy training! Hitting the Golden Gran Fondo tomorrow -- looks to be a sufferfest... Good riding... Colorider


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## Samadhi

colorider7 said:


> Hey Samadhi, Frisco to west side of Vail Pass and back would be perfect. Also, I would recommend Deer Creek / High Grade -- and if you are feeling frisky, drop into Reynolds open space and back (part of the Deer Creek Challenge when they did it for a few years) -- that out and back through High Grade will get you about 3,500 vert in 3 hours or so over maybe 40 miles-ish. Happy training! Hitting the Golden Gran Fondo tomorrow -- looks to be a sufferfest... Good riding... Colorider


I'm curious - why do you recommend High Grade over the run up to Turkey Creek?

I've looked at the route for the GGF - it'll be hard to find A Happy Place for that one


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## Mootsie

Samadhi said:


> I'm curious - why do you recommend High Grade over the run up to Turkey Creek?
> 
> I've looked at the route for the GGF - it'll be hard to find A Happy Place for that one


High grade is almost a continuous climb where as Deer Creek after the High Grade turn off climbs for only another mile or two and then you decend to the flats of South Turkey Creek. There is another great climbing option if you choose to go down to S. Turkey Creek. Make a right onto S. Turkey Creek off Deer Creek and then a left onto Turkey Creek Rd. It will take you under 285 and ascend for a bit, make your second right onto High Drive. Let the fun begin. There are a bunch of step rollers that will eventually drop you back down into Evergreen. A fun and challenging ride.


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## OldChipper

Mainly, High Grade is steeper and I think longer than going up S Turkey unless you're talking about going up City Lights from S Turkey which is *really* steep. Plus going High Grade you get to stop at the Pleasant Park Grange! We usually drop over to 285 and ride the shoulder back to S Turkey where it comes out at Meyers Ranch then down to the fire station and back up over and down Deer Creek. I think that's about a 35 mile loop from the base of the canyon. Other option rather than 285 is to ride over to Evergreen and down Bear Creek, but that's a much bigger day. 

If you can do Vail Pass from the west or over and back, that's the toughest part of the day. Biggest thing in my mind is knowing when to gear down after going under the highway so you don't go around the blind corner, grind to a halt, and tip over (I've seen it happen!). 

Other routes that would be good training:

Golden->Red Rocks->Bear Ck->Kerr Gulch->Mt Vernon->down Lookout (though this requires riding along I70 for a bit).

Boulder->Lefthand Canyon->Lyons->Boulder (ride back 75th not US36)

Golden Gate Canyon->peak to peak hwy->Coal Creek Canyon


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## SBard1985

I found Battle Mountain to be the hardest. Maybe because it was the hottest part of the day and I wasn't expecting that extra climb. I've climbed fremont a few times prior and vail pass almost weekly, so knew what to expect. Tennessee wasn't too bad. 

Have fun, there is tons of support. Might see you there!


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## Samadhi

I rode Deer Creek/High Grade/Pleasant Park today as a part of a metric. My ass is TOTALLY kicked. Right now I'm not sure I could train up to do three climbs like that in one day, in time for the Copper Triangle.

That is one tough climb.

That said, I'm really glad I did it and may try aragain next weekend.

I'd also like to offer big-time kudos to the folks at Pleasant Park Grange for the shade, water, Gatorade, picnic tables and an outhouse they provide up there. Much appreciated. That was a life saver.


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## Rokh On

I bet you could do the 3 climbs in one day. I kind of agree with SBard about Battle except it was the decent that got my heart going. 

There is the Vail Challenge in Sep that is the same route but stops in Vail eliminating the climb up Vail Pass. Nice and cool. Some awesome scenery. Aspen's in full color. Snow on the peaks around Freemont. It's a beautiful ride.


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## davez26

OldChipper said:


> If you can do Vail Pass from the west or over and back, that's the toughest part of the day. Biggest thing in my mind is knowing when to gear down after going under the highway so you don't go around the blind corner, grind to a halt, and tip over (I've seen it happen!).


For me, Fremont gets you up there, Tennessee wasn't so bad, then you dessscceeenndddd, and then you cross the bridge, and BAM! there's Battle Mountain, attack the short but steep sucker, desscceennddd some more, then be prepared to be stripped to your very soul, as the slow pitch through Vail teases you, and then as noted above, you cross under the highway, and the whole ride changes...the aid station is teeming with the masses, and is always backed up into the road. 
The pitch gets steeper as you rise, and up about halfway, you will see folks stopped, staring blindly, as the heights stare back. Keep in it, disregard the blazing sun, the ache in your legs. After a cross under the highway much higher up, with a very short descend and pitch, you are near the top. You will see more traffic, and this is a high cue that you are nearly there. Keep the faith. 
There is Aid at the top, embrace it.
Prepare for the descent, be cautious and polite (it is narrow), and prepare for your victory salute in Copper!
I Love this ride, but skipped it this year to do the Triple Bypass, a new ride for me. I will miss doing the Triangle 
View attachment 283653


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## stewartj76

I've been eyeing this as my final training ride for Copper Triangle: Park at Chatfield, ride up Deer Creek and back down, a loop around Chatfield, then up High Grade and back down. Should be 50+ miles, and around 5000 feet of climbing. Plus, I can stop at the car and grab some more water. Hopefully I can get to it this weekend, I'll let you know how it goes.


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## Mootsie

That route sounds like a great training ride. I would almost consider doing High Grade first to get the bigger climb out of the way. The ride up to the top of Deer Creek is a few miles shorter. I love riding that canyon. Was just up High Grade/Deer Creek this past weekend. The weirdness with the cars seems to have died down a bit. Saw three Police cars cruising the canyon.


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## Rebelman

I have been viewing this board/forum for much of the spring and summer (I just started road biking last fall) and just decided to join so I could post.

I rode the Triple Bypass last weekend--a tough but rewarding day--and immediately signed up to do the Copper Triangle. How does it compare to the Triple? I know the mileage is less, as is the climbing, but they seem like they would be very similar in most respects.

BTW, my best training ride is to start near Chatfield (where I live) and ride up the 470 trail to Golden, over Lookout and thru Mt. Vernon, down U.S.40 and back down the 470 trail, then up Deer Creek/High Grade and home. It's about 70 some miles and 65-7000 climbing. It kicks my backside, but in training for the Triple I always tried to ride long and finish with High Grade, thinking that if I could do that I could do anything.

Cheers.


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## OldChipper

The Copper Triangle is NOTHING compared to the Triple Bypass. Only that's truly challenging is Vail Pass from the west at the end of the day. If you managed the Triple, the Copper Triangle should be a breeze - assuming similar conditions. I'd venture to say that even the training ride you describe is harder than Copper.


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## davez26

x2 with OldChipper
I did the Bypass Saturday, and the Triangle is maybe 1/2 the ride. 
Don't get me wrong I still Love and Respect the Triangle, but the Bypass is definitely the big dog.


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## Mootsie

The Triple is the king and the Copper Triangle is the queen. There used to be the Denver-Aspen Classic, double century that blew both of these rides away, but RMCC does not run it anymore as an organized ride.


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## Rebelman

Cheers, fellas. Looking forward to it.


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## stewartj76

I did the Deer Creek/High Grade ride yesterday, and it was hot. The breeze and shade were nice, but infrequent. They are repaving Wadsworth, so one side is nice, the other is a bone-shaker. Probably went through 100 oz of water total (three bottles on the bike, plus a Nalgene in the car for the drive home).

Total was 52 miles, 5540 feet. Saw two police cars (one with a motorcycle pulled over), a Lamborghini Countach, a fire truck with his sirens on, and a fox up by Pleasant Park. Pretty sure I'm not going to do the ride in my Voler bibs, I like my PI Pro's better.

TrainingPeaks | Free Training Log, Training Plans and Food Diary

Not going to say I'm ready, but I'll just keep telling myself "Take it easy, relax, enjoy the ride."


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