Navigating travel during a pandemic isn’t easy. In How I Did It, we break down our first attempts at safely getting back out there—and all the considerations we made along the way.
Living in Colorado during the coronavirus pandemic has had its benefits—there’s space to spread out, the weather is mild, and there are plenty of socially distant outdoor sports and activities. Even so, by mid-summer, I was ready for a change of scenery.
My partner and I enjoy riding our bikes casually, but we’d never gotten into road cycling or mountain biking like other Coloradans. But as I began to consider where we could go for a short getaway (within driving distance) and what we could do safely while we were there, a bike-centric trip became appealing. When I heard that Colorado’s Roaring Fork Valley—which encompasses mountain towns like Aspen, Snowmass, Glenwood Springs, and Carbondale—recently earned a big award for being bike-friendly for beginners, I began making plans.
Someday, we’d like to book a more intense, multi-day “bikepacking” trip, but decided that planning a standard vacation packed with biking activities was a good way to get our feet wet. And even though we were both beginners, we learned that we could tailor a bike trip to our ability levels by taking a lesson, researching easier trails and routes, and giving ourselves lots of breaks.
Here’s how we did it, and what we learned along the way.
Trip details
Destination: Aspen and Snowmass, Colorado
Home base: Longmont, Colorado (four-hour drive)
How we got there: Personal car
Accommodations: Aspen Meadows and Limelight Hotel Snowmass
How many nights: Four nights, with two in Aspen and two in Snowmass
Who went: My boyfriend and I
Other things we considered: Since we’d be spending most of the trip biking around, the trip wouldn’t be very fun for our dog Daisy, who sometimes joins us on road trips. We booked her a weekend at the local doggy hotel and spa which, thankfully, was open.
Prepping for the trip
Colorado’s Roaring Fork Valley is known as a great area for budding cyclists.
H. Mark Weidman/AlamyBefore we hit the road, I researched the best bike activities in the region for beginners, which led me to focus on the Snowmass Bike Park (downhill mountain biking), the Rio Grande Trail (a beginner-friendly paved bike path), and the Maroon Bells (a scenic overlook and popular road cycling ride). We don’t have downhill mountain bikes and didn’t want to deal with bike storage and logistics, so I also booked rentals in each destination ahead of time.
I also looked into local COVID-19 precautions in Aspen and Snowmass, and made a long list of restaurants with outdoor seating. We agreed to eat all of our meals outdoors and immediately leave any situation in which we felt uncomfortable. Both of our hotel rooms had mini-fridges, so we also packed a cooler with lots of snacks as a back up.
I also packed three masks in case I accidentally misplaced one: a lightweight gaiter for riding bikes, and two tie-behind masks for time spent in town.
Cycling around Aspen and Snowmass
On our first day in Aspen, we picked up our rented cruiser bikes and spent the afternoon riding up and down the Rio Grande Trail, a mostly flat 42-mile paved bike path that goes from Aspen to Glenwood Springs. Our target destination was Woody Creek Tavern, a locally famous spot where writer Hunter S. Thompson used to hang out, about eight miles from Aspen along the bike path. When we arrived, however, it seemed that everyone else had the same idea. Even with outdoor seating, it was a bit too crowded for our comfort so, rather than stopping for a margarita, we hopped on our bikes and cruised back to Aspen. We ate dinner on the patio at Bosq, a high-end restaurant downtown that specializes in wild and foraged foods.
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September 24, 2020 at 03:05AM
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How We Planned an Easy Bike Trip Around Aspen - Condé Nast Traveler
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