Home " Gazette " Travel " The Colorado muleteers (Robert de Rudder CC 5278)

The Colorado muleteers (Robert de Rudder CC 5278)

written in January 2005

A few tips for future pass hunters in Colorado

From 24 August to 26 October 2004, 4 of us, Jean-Pierre DECOUTY, Robert DERVAUX, René MARTY and Robert de RUDDER, all members of the brotherhood, criss-crossed Colorado on our mountain bikes in search of the most beautiful muleteers in the country, without neglecting the road passes along the way.

This wasn't a completely self-sufficient trip, as on previous visits to Pakistan, India, China, Peru, Chile and New Zealand. Instead, we used a "motorhome" (in this case a camper van) to roam the Colorado national parks and the Rocky Mountains, taking a well-considered approach to covering, climbing and descending some of the best local spots.

The main purpose of this report is to provide practical information about the trip. It complements the report written by our friend Bernard CHALCHAT after his own trip to Colorado in 2002.

The origins of the project and the choices made as a result

Fatigue or the desire not to exhaust a method by reproducing it identically on every trip abroad, in 2003 we imagined a trip where cycling and mountain passes would be the dominant elements, but without the roaming and adventure that had so far strongly marked our trips. Colorado seemed like a good way of achieving this goal.

We were 3 people who had been travelling together for several years.

• Jean-Pierre Decouty
• Robert Dervaux
• Robert de Rudder

We felt we needed a fourth team member to make the project more cost-effective, because as soon as we started pooling our thoughts on the subject it became clear that we could minimise costs by dividing them by 4 rather than 3!

We were joined by our friend René MARTY, who was looking for his 4000th... pass.

The original plan was as follows: 2 months' travel including the months of September and October (for reasons of timing and commitments specific to some of us); personal bikes brought from France; hire of a 4×4 to transport luggage, bikes and camping equipment; half the stay camping, half in motels; same for meals.

After reading other reports of trips to the region, consulting a number of tourism and other magazines, and thanks to the advice of our friend and «centcolist» John WILKINSON, who lives in ASPEN, Colorado, and the advice of regional clubs and local authorities contacted via the Internet, we soon realised that October was not always suitable for canvas camping, especially at an altitude of 3,000 metres, we realised that October was not always a good month for camping under canvas, especially at an altitude of 3,000 metres, and that motels were sometimes non-existent for several hundred miles and therefore too far from the places where we were planning to stay. The motorhome solution quickly emerged, especially as the financial study confirmed our new approach: the advantages of all kinds were obvious, including the all-important one of cost. If we added up the cost of hiring a 4×4 vehicle with the cost of motels or campsites in organised areas, the cost of many meals in restaurants, and the purchase of additional camping equipment that we couldn't take with us from France, we had at our disposal, for the same price, a motorhome that allowed us to be autonomous, making it easier to approach and stay in regions with no tourist facilities. Not to mention the extra comfort, which is a not inconsiderable option.

Of course, the motorhome we hired was a «made in the USA» product, i.e. 12.5 metres long, with kitchen, living room, bedrooms, bathroom, WC, TV and hi-fi system, microwave, generator, fridge, freezer, forced-air heating, etc... 350 HP, 40 litres per 100 km, in short the kind of vehicle we sometimes see used by fairground entertainers back home, but compared to the other vehicles for the same purpose on the road in this country, we only had a small model. In the few organised camps where we stayed, we almost looked like paupers... but for us, being too big didn't hurt!

However, the driver's poor control of the vehicle's rear suspension meant that, after hitting a fire hydrant and partially damaging the rear of the motorhome, we lost our 500-dollar excess deposit.

Finding the passes...

On which maps?

In his report on his 2002 trip to Colorado, Bernard Chalchat gives an (almost) exhaustive list of sources of information that can be used by pass hunters, and we used them, taking with us, of course, the certified List of US Passes distributed by the Brotherhood, the DeLorme Atlas of Colorado, the «Colorado Bikeways» for several counties, and the «Colorado Front Range», which we felt were indispensable because the regions represented therein contain a maximum number of Colorado passes. But above all, we'd brought along a laptop with DeLorme's «TOPO USA 5.0» digital maps of Colorado, so we could easily take precise coordinates of the passes and other points we wanted to cross and transfer them to our GPS, as we were also equipped with 2 Garmin Etrex Summit GPS units. Without these electronic aids, we would certainly have missed a number of off-piste passes... not to mention the endless wandering on unmarked trails. However, see below for comments on the discrepancies sometimes found between the positions given on the lists of passes - including the 100-pass list - and the reality observed in the field.

On which roads, paths and tracks?

First the passes on the roads...

Everything has been said, and said well, in Bernard Chalchat's report, particularly about asphalt roads, including the Highways. These are often wide roads with equally wide verges. Signage is rarer than in France, but sufficient and in any case coherent once you understand its internal logic. Only the major road passes are signposted, and it was very unusual to find refreshment or refreshment facilities at the summit. But exceptional doesn't mean completely absent; so it was that on arrival at Monarch Pass, 3445 metres, caught in a snowstorm worthy of the Arctic continent, we were surprised to find a bar and souvenir shop which sheltered us until the inclement weather subsided, making the descent into the valley possible, if not acrobatic on the melting snow.

But roads also include county roads, which are sometimes asphalted but often simply stabilised (compacted all-venant) but well maintained. There's no problem riding on these roads except... when it's raining or snowing, which with mountain bikes that don't have mudguards can quickly change the colour of the bikes and the riders on them. There's also another category of road, the Dirty Road, which is very similar to the County Roads but a little rougher. Riding on these roads in dry weather with mountain bikes, or even road bikes, poses virtually no problems. In wet weather, you have to expect to juggle dirty sections, muddy stretches, fords and much less maintenance than on tarmac roads.

Then the passes on the other routes...

There are several types of tracks and paths:

First there are the gravel roads. Depending on condition and maintenance, this type of track can be used as a "road". However, the length of the route can quickly turn it into a mule track, as the driving becomes very tiring after a few hours, especially if the gradient is steep. The big 4×4s easily leave muddy ruts and rocky sections frequently alternate with the more rolling sections. What's certain is that a suspended mountain bike, at least at the front, is a very welcome comfort feature on this type of trail.

Then there are the "Jeep trails". As the name suggests, 4×4s - including quads - can pass through here, but only as motor vehicles. Signs forbid access to any vehicle without 2 drive trains. These tracks are like playgrounds specially designed for 4×4s, which Americans are particularly fond of. For cyclists, this means long climbs alongside the bike over impressive gradients, and sometimes long downhill sections also alongside the bike. Jeep trail descents are highly technical, and are particularly well suited to full-suspension.

Finally, the trails. These can be divided into two types: authorised and unauthorised. In the parks, of which there are many in Colorado, trails are authorised only for pedestrians and horse riders. No mechanical devices are allowed, including bicycles. The physical nature of these trails is in no way different from that found in our Alpine or Pyrenean mountains. When the trail is outside the park, i.e. when it could in theory be used, other prohibitions still restrict access: for example, the reported presence of black bears (see section on cohabitation) forced us to turn back on numerous occasions. One detail that didn't escape us: outside the parks, signposting and marking are almost non-existent. We often appreciated the GPS... Fear of the police (in this case the ranger) etc. led us to break the ban on cycling on national park trails only twice in 2 months!

Colorado in Autumn

The weather can be magnificent. It was fine for most of the morning, with clouds arriving very often in the middle of the afternoon, followed by a slight deterioration until the early evening, before returning to a calm and superbly clear sky at night. Still stationed at an altitude of nearly 3,000 m, far from sources of pollution, we had no end of time to admire the stars. A certain idea of happiness.

Cool at night, temperatures soon rise again with the first rays of sunshine and, especially in September, light clothing was the order of the day.

Yes, but in October... the climate deteriorates rapidly and as we're still at an altitude of 3,000 m, our clothes are not as light and the temperatures are cooler.

In other words, scepticism and mistrust of the weather are the rule from the beginning of October. So much so that, faced with snow and cold, we had to give up a week before our planned return to France and make do with a few more modest passes in the desert.

Cohabitation

with others and with Americans in particular:

What a surprise! Filled with prejudice, no doubt due to the dramatic international events and the current electoral period, we were expecting, if not some hostility, at least a certain coldness on the part of the Americans. But we were wrong: we are talking about warm contacts here. Every time we have been given the opportunity, or have been given the opportunity, to make contact, we have seen expressions of sympathy, if not outright friendship. We should also mention the spontaneity of Americans, who naturally go out of their way to meet others, and we have never, ever, been refused or rejected in any way. Quite the contrary, in fact.

A special mention goes to our friend John Wilkinson, who gave us a superb and friendly welcome to his home in Aspen. He was so attentive to our needs that he invited French-speaking friends to make us feel at home, as he knew that three of us didn't speak English. I would like to take this opportunity to mention all the help he gave us in preparing our trip, and in particular the initial contacts he was able to make to advise us on the motorhome rental agency we dealt with. We would like to thank him once again.

with the police and rangers:

? not seen... no contact, no checks, whatever the mode of travel, foot, bike, car. Twice in 2 months we passed a sheriff's car. Once in two months, one of them stopped to ask us if we had any problems, because we were stopped on the side of the road (we'd broken down, by the way...).

As for the park rangers, if we met them at all, it was only on their premises and because we needed information to locate a track or a pass, but never outside of these occasions. We're not very discreet!

with hunters:

September and October are the opening months for hunting. In September there is exclusively bow hunting, followed by traditional hunting in October. Hunting is primarily for big game, and takes place in reserved areas that are open to the public. The hunters gather in light camps scattered around the mountains, which they reach by 4×4. They travel by quad bike (!) to their hunting posts. It's quite a hassle when you consider the equipment they have to transport. Our relations have always been courteous and no incident has ever disrupted them. We assume that, like all hunters, they don't appreciate our visits to their hunting grounds, but they've never let us know. And they were always very friendly, helping us to find our way and even advising us on the best routes.

with motorists:

A lot of respect for cyclists. No untimely overtaking. No honking. The huge lorries pass wide and when the median line is continuous, if we are not on a verge, no car or lorry overtakes by daring to cross the central limit. Right of way is sacrosanct, and even more so when it comes to cyclists. We have been told that the penalties are severe for those who do not respect the highway code. Perhaps this is one explanation. But we doubt it's the only one. Good citizenship must play its part.

with dogs :

Divine surprise: there are none, or almost none, and the 'almost-none' are always kept on a lead. So there's no point in going on about it. (On the other hand, on the same subject, we could go on and on about dogs in Pakistan, Ladakh, Peru and so on).

with the bears :

We can talk about them now, but we can't show them to you, not even in pictures, because although we've been told a lot about them, warned a lot about them, and above all banned from a lot of routes, WE HAVE NEVER SEEN ANY OF THEM.

Strictly speaking, there was no cohabitation with the bears, as their territory was generally off-limits to pedestrians, horse riders and cyclists. As we knew very little about plantigrades, we didn't dare defy the bans, thus depriving ourselves of the passes within reach of our wheels. The real compensation for this frustration would have been if we could at least have seen a bear up close and photographed it. We didn't even get that chance, so a second frustration was added to the first.

And the cohabitation between the 4 centcolists?

perfect... but only if...

provided we accept our differences and turn them into assets. Because our characters, our ages - all of us over 60 - our different lifestyles and our personal histories can bring us both good and bad. We have, as always, opted for the good and made these moments of living together, these moments of discovery, sources of new satisfaction.

Daily life in a confined space such as a motorhome, even a large one, requires a great deal of restraint and respect for others, their pace, their desires and their habits. Physical tiredness has sometimes been a source of tension; the choices made by the majority have sometimes forced one of us; the pleasure of being together and experiencing wonderful moments has helped to erase temporary difficulties. In the end, it's all very normal. Was it necessary to talk about it?

What about the collars?

They were 134 to welcome us to their summit:

• 3 passes between 1300 and 2000 metres
• 73 passes between 2000 and 3000 metres
• 56 at over 3000 metres
• 2 at over 4000 metres

1/3 in lorries

2/3 in muleteers

The most beautiful are certainly those where willpower and stubbornness were the driving forces behind success, such as the Mosquito Pass at 4,019 metres, where it was freezing cold at the finish, the Sunnyside Saddle, where on the snow-covered track you had to carry your bike on your shoulder for a long time, or the Hayden Pass at 3,264 metres, the aptly named with its vertiginous descents, or the Difficult Pass at 3,659 metres, which also deserved its name.

The crest line of the Rocky Mountains, the Divide, represents the watershed between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Most of the passes above 3,000 metres are located on the Divide, usually in National Parks or Reserves, and are therefore off-limits to mechanical vehicles. This meant that we had to plan a number of round trips, as there were no other options. Taking the other side of a pass, which is not always an option, and trying to get back to the start by taking a new pass would have meant doing circuits of almost 200 kilometres, which is unthinkable on a mountain bike as well as on the road.

So we set off from Northern Colorado, in Roosevelt National Park on the Wyoming border, gradually descending along the Divide to the New Mexico border and ending up in the Denver area. This choice of route was dictated by climate studies, which promised us worse weather in the north than in the south as we progressed into autumn. On the whole, this proved to be the case and we were able to ride 56 days in a row, except for two days that were disrupted by rainy weather.

Locating the passes was made easier thanks to the electronic computer and GPS tools at our disposal. But the abundance of resources sometimes had perverse effects. The coordinates of the passes from the official list were sometimes inconsistent with the location on the ground, even though the accuracy of our GPS could not be called into question. Nothing serious when you're in open country, on a road or track. Much trickier when navigating off-piste, in woodland, on a rocky slope, in snow or fog, or even worse, in a combination of all or some of these difficulties. Inaccuracies of several hundred metres can have disastrous effects. The points that we considered to be problematic were pointed out to Marcel Goll, the man behind the official list of US passes published under the aegis of the Confrérie.

Logistics and stewardship....

Air travel for men and bicycles

Nouvelles Frontières offered us the best time/time/cost ratio on a Continental Airline flight to Paris/New York/Denver on the outward journey and on a Continental Airline flight to Denver/Houston/Paris on the return. British Airway, a company we knew well from having used it many times, refused to transport our bikes this time without any plausible explanation.

Surprise on our departure (and again on our return), Continental Airline charged us a fee of 80 $US for special handling of our bicycle luggage, even though it was well packed in aviation-standard covers. This packaging, reinforced with bubble wrap and protective cardboard, must not have been enough for these «special handling» operations, because on one bike the front wheel brake disc and the rear derailleur fuse bracket were bent, and on a second bike the front brake disc had also taken a shock. All needed replacing to work properly. Conclusion: too much of a good thing...

Motorhome rental

Carried out at B&B Rental, a major rental agency in Denver offering the best rates. Very well-documented website. Excellent service. Helpful staff. Seriousness proven: a breakdown that turned out to be minor immobilised our motorhome 150 miles from Denver. 2 hours after phoning the agency a replacement motorhome, even bigger than the previous one, was brought to us. It's a pity we had to leave them our excess of 500 $US, but we had indeed dented the vehicle (see above...).

The campsite

Unauthorised camping is prohibited. Completely. There are plenty of public sites - the Campgrounds run by the forestry services - and private sites.

Campgrounds are located far from built-up areas, generally in parks, and have very few pitches, usually between 12 and 20. There is no caretaker, the ground is stabilised to give priority to motorhomes and caravans, and there are no communal facilities apart from toilets that are always well-maintained and very clean. Water is rarely available and there is no possibility of emptying waste water. Cost of a pitch: from 10 to 14 $US per night. Most campgrounds in Colorado close after 15 October, some as early as the end of September.

The private plots offer all the services you could wish for, including laundry facilities and, above all, waste water and sanitary facilities. A pitch for 4 passengers costs between 30 and 50 $US per night. As holders of a KOA discount card, we were able to benefit from slightly lower rates.

In order to limit our visits to these private areas, we had drastically limited the use of toilets and only allowed showers when they were connected to a water network. In other words, almost never... the paradox of our equipment being so sophisticated that it no longer provides the autonomy that is one of its main benefits. But that's a French concept, not an American one.

Supplies

The fridge, freezer and boot of the camper van easily allowed us to stock up for several days, which meant that at regular intervals - 5 days on average - we frequented the hypermarkets in the big towns. You can find everything there, and at a price equal to if not cheaper than in France, provided of course that you exclude wine and cheese (we don't include in the «cheese» category the coloured, soap-like paste called «cheese» over there...) which is nevertheless easy to find, but then at what a price!

As for the motorhome, it happily consumed an average of 40 litres per 100 km. With a fuel tank of almost 300 litres, the range was reasonably assured, as petrol stations are rare outside built-up areas, and the cost was bearable, as petrol costs around 30 euro cents a litre.

Bike repairs

Not as easy as we'd imagined for a state that was the birthplace of mountain biking. True mountain bike professionals can only be found in the few major towns or in holiday resorts such as Aspen or East Park. Although there were few mechanical incidents that we couldn't repair ourselves, we sometimes had to wait almost a week to find the right part or the right repairer. The current sophistication of mountain bikes, while synonymous with technical progress, safety and comfort, has its downside: repairs are becoming impossible due to the lack of specific or equally sophisticated tools. The manufacturer strongly advises against dismantling certain assemblies. This is the case for forks, shock absorbers and hydraulic brakes, new hollow cranksets, etc. So for a totally autonomous trip, it's imperative to choose your equipment carefully, as it must be repairable with the means at hand. Fortunately this was not the case this time in Colorado.

How much did all this cost?

So we were there for 63 days. The vehicle covered around 4,200 km for a total authorised distance (included in the rental price) of 6,300 km.

The amounts below include EVERYTHING apart from strictly personal expenses such as telephone, post, bike repairs and gifts. Everything that had a collective connotation, such as bike maintenance products, drinks, museum and park entrance fees, etc., is included in the cost of the stay.

Air transport (including the special handling surcharge for bicycles) cost 880 $US per person (including 160 $US for handling).

The cost of hiring the camper van was 9380 $US, plus additional third-party insurance of 945 $US and the loss of the deposit of 500 $US due to a dent in the vehicle.

We had 730 $US worth of petrol.

Campsites and related activities account for 1391 $US in our budget, i.e. 22 $US per day.

Food cost us 2,710 $US for the 2 months, i.e. an approximate average of 10.80 $US per day per person (translated into euros on the basis of a dollar at 1.30 this represents 8.30 € or about 55 francs. Correct, isn't it?)

Miscellaneous expenses - a few restaurants, the hotel on arrival, launderettes, museums, parks, taxi back to the airport, etc. - accounted for 796 $US of our budget.

and now if we add it all up it has cost :

• in US dollars: 5.002 $US per person
• in euros on the basis of 1.30 $US per €: # 3848 € per stay/person or # 61 € per day/person

Quick conclusion on costs :

The cost of hiring the camper van obviously weighs heavily in the total cost of the holiday, but it should be compared with what it would have cost to have hired a 4×4 van and stayed in half-camping/half-motel accommodation, as envisaged in the initial plan. On this assumption of 30 days in a Motel, i.e. 2 rooms at 40 $US each per night, numerous meals in restaurants, and an additional investment in camping equipment adapted to the group and the region - an assumption which, let's not forget, was not feasible due to the scarcity of motels on our route and the bad weather prohibiting camping - the cost price of the whole package would have been higher than what the camper van solution cost us.

The motorhome proved to be the perfect vehicle for our project, which would not have been possible if we had chosen another option.

For those tempted by an escape to Colorado

We have a large amount of documentation at their disposal, some of which was collected locally. We can lend the road maps, atlases and other maps that we used on this trip. We can also lend the "ToPo US 5.0" software and digital maps from DeLorme. Finally, we will respond to any requests for information or advice.