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<p>Heading to Crested butte, Colorado in august for the trip of a life time. Any one been before and got any recommendations and experiences they could share. Trails, Good bike shops, places to eat etc. Really interested in hearing about what shuttle services the local bike shops run to get you out of town and up to the trail heads.Planning on doing the 401 trail and doctors park and then probably third day will be at evolution bike park.Thanks in Advance</p>
It's tiny, well the old town is, the ski resort area is bigger but made up mainly of seasonal accommodation
The thing that will hit you the most is the altitude, riding at 12,000ft+ hurts, I would take in some of the lower trails in Gunnerson or drop over the other side and ride in Salida
<p><p>Yeah the altitude is definitley something i've been concerned with. Gonna have a butchers at gunnison and salida now. Thanks for the input</p></p>
401 is good but it's a fair bit of dirt road to get up there. Beautiful views so crack on if you're fit enough. Otherwise, drive up to just the otherside of Gothic and park up where the trail exits the hillside. Either do an out and back on the singletrack to the top of the switch back climbs or carry on up the dirt road to Schofield Pass and take the switchback singletrack climb from there.
The other 'don't miss' ride there in my opinion is Reno / Flag/ Bear / Deadman. You'll need a map and probably a car and go park at the bottom of the Deadman switchbacks. Ride up to Reno from there and do the loop back round. Big ride so so so worth it.
I always found other stuff in CB area ok but a lot of join the dots dirt roads or big efforts in the high / back country.
Easier and contrasting options are available in the Salida area and / or Hartman Rocks near Gunnison (I giant super fun playground of flowing singletrack and rock gardens).
I would recommend getting a shuttle to Monarch Pass and riding a route from there. Epic stuff whichever side you head. I usually went back towards Salida - (Silver creek I think but I'd have to check). Guiding and or shuttles available from either Gunnison or Salida bike shops.
If you don't get a guide, definitely take a map and your whits and let someone who can raise help know your plans. Lots of black bears and the odd mountain lion / moose / elk plus it's big country and a wrong turn can take you a long way the wrong way very quickly. Altitude, lightning, injury in remote locations are worth thinking about.
Have a blast you lucky bugger. It's my favourite part of the world and an awesome place to ride.
<p>Paul, Thanks mate for the in depth info. We are going there with a friend of a friend who is from texas but goes to crested butte several times a year fishing and mtbing so local knowledge/ guide wise should have it covered. Im gonna msg him tonight to discuss plans and what is good now i'm armed with some fresh info from yourself. Can't wait to get out there. Next head scratcher is what bike i'm gonna hire?!?! I know I know great problem to have!!</p><p></p><p>Thanks again mate</p>
Did a similar trip in 2014. Feel free to email me (in profile).
Lots of info and video from our trip:
http://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/our-holiday-in-colorado/
To be honest, if I only had 3 days, I wouldn't bother with the bike park.... We had 2 weeks and I only went because I was bored on a rest day. I'd do 401 or doctors park twice before going to the bike park!
Edit - hire the bike where they can swap the brake levers around for you. Remember the yanks ride rear/right.
<p>Cheers Shackleton, Gonna watch your vid when I get home from work. Great pics too. Good shout about maybe missing the bike park and top tip about the brake levers. I rented a bike in Lanzerote the other year and came close to going over the bars a few times due to the backwards brakes. Really want to take my Alpine but flying to houston then onto fort worth to my mates house for a few days and it seems like it will be easier just renting, to much potential for it to go missing. CB looks like a 29er would be a good choice to me.... </p>
Thanks for asking - Heading to CB this summer too - Nice advice to follow 🙂
You doing Outerbike?
104401 is a “thing” I.e. ride up 401 then ride back down it...
snodgrass is a nice intro to CB.
best day I’ve had on a bike ever was out Washington Gulch, down 403 then (out to the start of) 401.
Could you fly to Dallas instead? Fort Worth is literally just over the road.
<span style="font-size: 0.8rem;">Even Houston is only a 3h drive if you got a 1 way rental. Or your friend is a good friend. Or a bus. </span>
I'd go to almost any length to be able to ride the bike I know on trails, particularly new and special ones.
<p>Shackelton,Staying with my friend in fort worth for 3 days then driving to cb. 3 days in cb then catching a flight from denver to houston for the return flight home. If I was there for a full 2 weeks i'd def be taking my own bike and driving everywhere. Just felt there was too much potential for loosing or damaging my own bike tbh with 4 flights in 8 days. Watched your vid last night, enjoyed it. Scenery looks epic!!</p>
You may well already be aware of this, but, if your riding CB then make sure you've read Fat Tyre Flyer by Charlie Kelly (VeloPress), it covers the CB area in its retelling of MTB history. Enjoy, I'm jealous.
<p>Metalheart, watched a nate hills vid of 403 on youtube. That looks right up my street!!</p>
<p>qwerty, Thanks for that. Defo be worth me getting copy!</p>
<p>silly silly, Not doing outer bike. Just going for the biking experience. Think outer bike is the week before we get there.</p><p></p><p>Qwerty, just ordered that book from amazon :)</p>