# Copper Triangle



## crankee

I've signed up for the ride (Aug 4). Has anyone done this before? Give a flatlander some tips for getting through this ride - I'll need 'em.

I'm taking my Macalu Ti bike. The crankset is 50x34 and the cassette 12-26.

TIA.


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## Mootsie

*Ride*

Ride lots of hills. What more can I say. The road is at high altitude with lots of climbing. It will be cool to cold in the morning with possible showers in the afternoon or it could also be dry and you'll fry so prepare with clothing for both. Your gearing should be fine if you are in good shape. So prepare and enjoy the ride. PS, Vail Pass from west to east is probably the hardest part of the ride so save a little for the end. Also parts of the ride were used in the Coors Classic.


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## Chain

Just be prepared to sit and spin for long stretches. Keep drinking water or sportsdrink. It's easy to get dehyrdated at altitude. Coming from flatland, drink a little more water the days leading up to the ride.

The ride last year was beautiful. A little cool on the first third, but after that it was a great temperature and no rain. Rain is a good possibility in the afternoon, and up high it will be cold if it rains. 

The ride is well supported. Rest stops at the right places and plenty of food and drink along the way. Have fun. I'll be there.


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## JayTee

Prepare for endurance. Very little of it is overly steep (just a few bursts on Vail Pass and Battle Mountain) but it is long enough to give you the beat down by the end. It is imminently doable if you are in century shape (despite that it is shorter than a century).


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## tigerwah

Sit and spin as much as possible. Standing up especially early in the ride will cook your legs before the end. I live in Denver so It's easy for me to ride hills. If you don't have many hills to ride, I recommend doing big gear workouts on an indoor trainer. Basically choosing a gear that it's tough to maintain 60rpms for very long. I usually start doing sets of three minutes with five minutes of rest after each set. Do 3 or 4 sets and build up every week until you're doing 10 or 15 minute sets. This will help adapt your legs to the rigors of climbing. I do these every year early in the season and they really do help. Take it easy if you have knee problems though. Good luck!!


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## Pablo

Think happy thoughts. Some of those climbs are long.


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## ColoradoVeloDude

Here's my scoop from last year:

1) Copper Mountain to Leadville. A Big Grunt up Fremont Pass. You start flat but it gets intense pretty quick to the top of Fremont Pass. Not really a super steep climb, but relentless to the top. You'll love the downhill side -- about 5 miles or so of downhill followed by a long & very gradual uphill/sort of flat into Leadville.

2) Leadville to Minturn. A long gradual downhill and then up Tennessee Pass. Coming from this direction, Tennessee Pass isn't much of a climb. You'll be at the top and say something like "that was it?" to yourself. Take pictures anyway, you'll impress your friends. Then a long downhill to Redstone where you will then pay for your remarks about Tennessee Pass not being steep enough. A steep intense climb, but relatively short, then more downhill into Minturn.

3) Minturn to Copper Mountain (via Vail). From here is it all uphill to the top of Vail Pass. This is the more challenging/steep direction of this pass. It will be a steeper climb as you get towards the top as the pitch of the grade increases. The top third of the climb will be on bicycle path so the grades will be more impressive than those of the adjacent highway. Once you reach the top, it's about a 15 minute cruise (all downhill) into Copper Mountain on the bicycle path. 

A far as a ride goes, this is a challenging one. 82 miles with four climbs (three of them "serious" climbs). How to cope?

1) Leave early in the morning. I left at 5:30AM and finished about 1PM to 2PM-ish. It will be dark when you start (but leight enough to see the road) but will lighten up very quickly. Thunderstorms are usually an afternoon ocurrance, so start early = finish early = less chance to get caught up in the storms if they fire up. Watch the weather a few days ahead at one of the many weather sites on the internet

2) Dress warmly. My get-up was short sleeve bicycle jersey, arm & leg warmers, and long and short finger gloves. Also brought along a skull cap to keep my head warm. And, a pearl izumi shell. The start will be cool, and you might want the extra clothing coming down off the passes -- more so if it rains or gets overcast. You can doff and don stuff as the weather changes too. This combination of gear gets me to about 32F for a low and upwards of 95F as a high and all folds up nicely into jersey pockets or bungeed under my seat. 

3)This is RIDE and not a RACE. Treat it as such. If you get tired, pull over and take a 30 second rest. Stop and take pictures. Hang out at the aid stations for a little bit. In general, what's the rush to finish in a short time with racked up body than to take your time and being able to enjoy dinner out somewhere and reflect on your success? If you take your time you'll finish tired but not too wiped out to congratulate yourself on finishing this.

4) Bring your triple chain ring.


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## Chain

Nice and accurate summary. 

+1 on the long fingered gloves. I started out at Copper with mine on but took them off at the top of the pass. What a mistake. My fingers froze on the downhill but it was too much fun to stop and put the fingers back on.

Having layers to take on and off are key to riding in the mountains. On the long climbs you will generate enough heat to keep you warm. On the downhills it can get cold fast. The combination of a nice jacket, leg and arm warmers and two sets of gloves is spot on.


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## John Nelson

Here are a few more thoughts.

You never actually go through Leadville. The turn from the Fremont Pass road to the Tennessee Pass road is north of town.

The aid station at the top of Tennessee Pass is about a half mile up a side road. No big deal of course, but you should mentally prepare yourself or you might feel that you've been had when you see it.

The descent down Tennessee Pass is really sweet. A fairly evenly sloped road with nice gentle turns perfect for carving.

Last year the first aid station in Vail was very understocked with portable toilets. Four out of five (men and women) chose the bushes instead. I hope they do better there this year. In general, if you see a good place to take care of your business before you get to the aid station, you might consider it.

Climbing Vail pass from the west side is a grind. About half way up, it switches from the deserted road to a path. Be careful on the part of the path that passes under I-70, as there are some tight turns at speed. A few people crashed there, so keep your speed under control. Once you get under I-70, there are a few short and very steep sections to navigate. And the top of Vail pass is always farther away than you think.

The descent on the east side of Vail pass is all on the bike path. There are some ruts across the path and some sharp hairpin turns and some oncoming bike traffic, so don't just go barrelling down.

Food at the aid stations was excellent. Lots of variety and supply.

The after-ride BBQ was good. About as good as you can expect for a mass meal served in a tent.

Travel logistics are a bit tricky. If you stay in Denver, you'll need to get up obscenely early. If you stay at Copper Mountain, it will be extremely convenient, but not particularly cheap. The "special lodging rates" for Copper Triangle participants didn't seem all that special to me.


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## Pablo

John Nelson said:


> Once you get under I-70, there are a few short and very steep sections to navigate.


I agree with everyone. The only really steep part is on the path just under I-70 going west. The rest is nothing too steep.


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## ColoradoVeloDude

crankee said:


> I've signed up for the ride (Aug 4). Has anyone done this before? Give a flatlander some tips for getting through this ride - I'll need 'em.
> 
> I'm taking my Macalu Ti bike. The crankset is 50x34 and the cassette 12-26.
> 
> TIA.



Check out the Sheldon Brown website on gears. Compare your set up with a triple chain ring to see if your low gears are low enough to keep your knees from blowing out due to mashing. 

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/gears/


I think most of this is doable with the setup you have.(I use a triple crank with a 28-12 cassette, but then again, I am a member of AARP too!)


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## Bocephus Jones II

Chain said:


> Nice and accurate summary.
> 
> +1 on the long fingered gloves. I started out at Copper with mine on but took them off at the top of the pass. What a mistake. My fingers froze on the downhill but it was too much fun to stop and put the fingers back on.
> 
> Having layers to take on and off are key to riding in the mountains. On the long climbs you will generate enough heat to keep you warm. On the downhills it can get cold fast. The combination of a nice jacket, leg and arm warmers and two sets of gloves is spot on.


get some glove liners (camping supply places sell em) that fit under your bike gloves--good for all but the coldest conditions and the liners take up next to no room.


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## tigerwah

> I use a triple crank with a 28-12 cassette, but then again, I am a member of AARP too!


Nothing wrong with that. Whatever gets you over the hill. That's not a pun.


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## ProudDaddy

John Nelson said:


> Travel logistics are a bit tricky. If you stay in Denver, you'll need to get up obscenely early. If you stay at Copper Mountain, it will be extremely convenient, but not particularly cheap. The "special lodging rates" for Copper Triangle participants didn't seem all that special to me.


Good lodging alternative: stay in Frisco! I have not done the "organized" Copper Triangle, but this is one of locals routes for training rides. From Frisco, it's a nice century course; 100-104 miles depending on where you stay, and the bike path between Frisco and Copper is very nice. Also, try this "triangle" route in reverse!


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## Bocephus Jones II

ProudDaddy said:


> Good lodging alternative: stay in Frisco! I have not done the "organized" Copper Triangle, but this is one of locals routes for training rides. From Frisco, it's a nice century course; 100-104 miles depending on where you stay, and the bike path between Frisco and Copper is very nice. Also, try this "triangle" route in reverse!


One I discovered on this year's Ride the Rockies....there is a great paved bike path from Carbondale to Aspen. If you start in Glenwood Springs you could ride to Aspen for lunch and then be back by early PM...right under 100 miles roundtrip. If you wanna make it epic then climb up Independence pass before you come back for lunch in Aspen. It's all pretty much downhill back to Glenwood so it'd be an easy finish for the day.


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## Chain

Bocephus Jones II said:


> One I discovered on this year's Ride the Rockies....there is a great paved bike path from Carbondale to Aspen. If you start in Glenwood Springs you could ride to Aspen for lunch and then be back by early PM...right under 100 miles roundtrip. If you wanna make it epic then climb up Independence pass before you come back for lunch in Aspen. It's all pretty much downhill back to Glenwood so it'd be an easy finish for the day.


What route do you use from GWS to Carbondale? Just ride the highway? It's been a couple years since I've been up to Aspen. Sounds like a good ride. Beautiful in the fall.:thumbsup:


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## Pablo

I might have to look into that one. I'll be in Vail for the weekend in late September/early October. Thanks. Any other advice?


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## Bocephus Jones II

Chain said:


> What route do you use from GWS to Carbondale? Just ride the highway? It's been a couple years since I've been up to Aspen. Sounds like a good ride. Beautiful in the fall.:thumbsup:


yup...or you could just start in Carbondale. There is a small section that turns to gravel around the Woody Creek tavern area right before you hit Aspen, but you can just ride the road at that point.


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## John Nelson

You can get from Glenwood Springs to Carbondale with only one mile on the main highway (Colorado 82). Follow the route used just last week by Ride The Rockies.

Garfield County Road 154 south from Glenwood Springs to Colorado 82
Colorado 82 south to Garfield County Road 109
Garfield County roads south to Carbondale

From there, the Rio Grande Rails-To-Trails path to Aspen is a dream.


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