Blog Posts From Active Expert: Gale Bernhardt Tagged With copper_mountain

Bike Tour Days 6 and 7 – Dotsero to Frisco via Vail Pass, Frisco to Central City, Colorado

guest — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 23:27:13 GMT

We are now nearing the end of the bike tour. After a rest day for most yesterday, it seems riders are eager to get pedaling again.

Day 6: Due to the bike path being washed out, we went by car to Dotsero. Those without personal sags along went via bus back to Gypsum. Everyone headed toward Vail, Vail Pass and then into Frisco. (80.3 miles, 4095 ft. of climbing)

Meeka and Del, the best sag team ever.

Vail Pass is a tough and rewarding climb. For whatever reason, I like it. I felt good climbing too. Finally.

Scott Ellis, Gale and Bruce Runnels - looking like it should be Rabbit Ears Pass - but no, it's Vail Pass.

I did think about the USA Pro Cycling Challenge riders that will be doing a time trial on part of Vail Pass in a few weeks. We plan to go up and watch some of the stages. Want to see Tour de France riders without traveling to France? Come to Colorado!

After the climb, there’s a descent into Copper Mountain and then Frisco. A few weeks ago, I noted that there was an avalanche covering the bike path between Copper Mountain and Frisco. The bike path was open when we went through, but…it seems there was some extra debris in the avalanche…

Ron Kennedy and Scott Ellis looking happy to be in the avalanche...

Walking the bike path in Frisco, near Dillon Reservoir, I caught a shot of some wild Iris (I think that’s what they are) with Grays and Torreys Peaks in the background. Summer in the mountains is fantastic.

Day 7: From Frisco we headed back toward Central City. (61.3 miles, 2633 ft of climbing) Because a running race was using the bike path between Loveland Basin (after the Loveland Pass climb) and Georgetown, tour organizers worked with Colorado Department of Transportation personnel to allow us to ride on Interstate 70 rather than bussing for about 13 miles. The State Patrol broke us into groups of about 50 riders and sent us on the highway in small groups. For the most part, this went well. There are always a few knuckleheads in every crowd.

Bicycle Tour of Colorado ended in Central City. A great way to spend a week. (383 miles, 17,834 feet of climbing)

Colorado Avalanche Has Bike Trail Covered

guest — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 15:48:14 GMT

I was in Frisco, Colorado over the weekend and heard that a recent avalanche has the bike trail covered between Frisco and Copper Mountain. I decided to go take a look.

The popular Ten Mile Canyon National Recreation Trail is 22.5 miles long and connects Frisco to Vail. This trail is heavily used by cyclists and bicycle tours, including Bicycle Tour of Colorado (BTC).

Below is a shot of the avalanche near Officer’s Gulch. (I was told by a local that the avalanche occurred in late April or May.)

Below, notice the tiny spec of a road cyclist beginning to do a hike-a-bike from the right side of the photo to the left.

Ah, easier to see the cyclist with zoom, which gives you some idea of the magnitude of the slide.

The Summit Daily, in their Summit Up section (June 4, 2011 “Where Monday can wait), wrote over the weekend that some random benevolent dude is beginning to shovel a path for cyclists. That will be a lot of shoveling.

Downhill Ski Day at Copper Mountain

guest — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 20:26:02 GMT

It has been a long time – at least 10 years – since I’ve gone downhill skiing. Last fall, one of my goals was to downhill ski at least two times in the upcoming season.

One down, one to go.

Yesterday, my friend Michele Stumbaugh and I went to Copper Mountain. I have to say the snow gods must have been conspiring to encourage me to continue Alpine skiing because the conditions were absolutely perfect. It was a sunny day, no wind and some locals we rode the chairlift with said they haven’t had this much snow since 1982.

I did a really bad job of taking photos, mostly because while riding the lift I had a phobia of dropping my cell phone. You might wonder why I didn’t take a photo at the top of the lift and that’s a reasonable question. The short answer is focus.

I was so focused on proper unloading, steering my skis in the right direction and avoiding crashes with small children that taking photos was the last thing on my mind. The only photo taken was in the parking lot.

I got a new Giro helmet for Christmas and yesterday was the inaugural outing. Before the trip I was somewhat concerned that I’d find a helmet annoying; but I have to admit it was really comfortable. Once I had it on, I never gave it a second thought.

Eyeballing the skiing and boarding crowd, I was surprised how many people wear helmets these days. I was expecting around 50 percent, but if yesterday's group was a reasonable sample size I’d guess the number to be closer to 90 percent.

I could go on and on about the number of things that have changed in the sport of skiing the last 10 years, but one thing remains the same and that’s the stunning beauty of the Colorado mountains.

I promise, more photos next time…