Category: 303travel

  • Roll Massif Adds Enchanted Circle Ride In New Mexico

    Submitted by 303cycling on April 27th, 2021

    Roll Massif, a part of Outside Inc., and collection of Colorado-based cycling events, announced today the acquisition of the Enchanted Circle Bicycle Tour to its lineup for the 2021 season. Read more

    • Lookout Mountain, Historical Climb for Over 100 years

      Submitted by Bill Plock on April 26th, 2021

      Since the popular cycling ap Strava became a thing, Lookout Mountain in Golden has been climbed by approximately 25,000 cyclists 248,000 times—which is tiny fraction of the actual times it has been scaled since it was completed in 1914.

      In 1908 the letter “M” representing the School of Mines was painted on Lookout Mountain, about 4,000 years after native Americans left numerous campsites in the area and six years before the Lariat Loop Trail road was completed. In 1911 William “Cement Bill” Williams had a vision to build a scenic road to attract tourist to Golden and with many investors including Adolph Coors and Charles Boettcher (as Boettcher mansion at the top) it was finished in 1914. In 1915 the American Automobile Associated named it the top scenic road in America. Before the road existed tourists could take a funicular to the top and visit a real estate office selling parcels of land. That office is located where TV towers now reside. (You can still see the scar of the funicular and if you look across the valley, there was another funicular that ascended South Table Mountain to serve a casino and dance hall on top of Castle Rock before the KKK took it over in the 1920’s.) Read more

      • My Ad-van-ture with “Johnny”, Confessions of a Van-Life Newbie With a Titus Adventure Van

        Submitted by Andy Schmit on April 21st, 2021

        Johnny Cash is arguably the most influential musician to bridge the gap between country music and rock-n-roll. With that said, you may be wondering what “the man in black” is doing in the lead of an article about van-life and endurance sports. On a weekend in April, I had the unique opportunity to take “Johnny” to the red-sand desert of the Colorado Plateau in Fruita, CO for some mountain / gravel biking and camping. It would be my second foray into Van-Life.

        You see, the guys at Titus Adventure Company name all of their vehicles after legends of country music. When I met “Johnny” he was parked next to a candy-apple red van named “Reba” inside the Titus staging garage located off of I-70 and Pecos. Read more

        • Megan Hottman: Prescott, AZ Racing and Forest Bathing

          Submitted by Bill Plock on April 19th, 2021

          By Megan Hottman

          This van trip kicks off with a lovely dose of #americana – some ball sports, some lively hockey, some bike racing, kids running around, the requisite amount of dirt and dust, loads of campers and RVs, ample flag flying and one helleva sunset . I took the @canonusa out to capture all the feels

          Life these days offers glimpses of normalcy and it feels really *really* good.

          Ok so where are we? We’re in a large sports complex park in Prescott, AZ. Here for a mountain bike race, I’m experiencing for the first time this parking lot-event style camping vibe.
          This wouldn’t be my top vanlife venue choice on a regular basis …but for this event and experience it’s totally fine. This location boasts temps a full 20-25 degrees than in Phoenix so we’re enjoying the nice cool evening temps and the escape from the big-city-heat. Read more

          • Colorado’s Next Big Gravel Race, the ‘Rad Dirt Fest in Maybe Colorado’s Next Big Boom Town–Trinidad?

            Submitted by Bill Plock on April 5th, 2021

            The time capsule of Trinidad and the surrounding Spanish Peaks makes for the perfect back drop for what might become Colorado’s newest bucket list gravel bike and trail run event—Life Time’s ‘Rad Dirt Fest.

            The city of Trinidad, nestled at the base of Colorado’s newest state park, Fishers Peak, located on the North side of Raton Pass, will host this event in early October. Trinidad, one of Colorado’s oldest and most preserved cities still flourishes with about 10,000 people but it feels like it hasn’t changed much since its heyday in the early 1900’s.

            But it has changed–tons. As in tons and tons of coal that used to roll through here after being mined near the roads the ‘Rad Dirt Fest follows. Thousands of miners and their families lived in the Spanish Peaks area northwest of town leaving hundreds of miles of smooth gravel roads to play on a hundred years later. Read more

            • Victor Colorado, Dream Bike Rides, A Rich History and a Bike Geeks Ultimate “Man Cave”

              Submitted by Bill Plock on March 29th, 2021

              It seems one of the most common conversations when cyclists gather for chilly spring rides revolve around upcoming summer events and race plans. Often answers like Ride the Rockies, the Triple Bypass or the Copper Triangle thread through conversations but rarely does it seem people talk about new places they want to discover on their bike. Events and races are wonderful motivators and loads of fun, but perhaps equally enthralling, for me at least, is finding new places to ride while learning the local history.

              A point of focus for us at 303 Endurance in 2021 is to help you discover new places to ride, run and hang out. A few weeks ago I re-visited Victor Colorado to tell the story about Brian “the glide” Hayes and how he and this town of just 400 people managed to build a wonderful ice hockey rink that draws players from all over the mountains. In this interview Brian tells that story and many others! Read more

              • Megan Hottman, Mt Lemmon Ride and Dry Shampoo

                Submitted by 303cycling on March 1st, 2021

                That is the sweetest climb ever… one I will definitely come do again and one I recommend for every cyclist who loves to climb in the sunshine…. The gradient is gentle enough you can push the pedals and never have to stand due to steepness- the pavement is good, the bike lane/shoulder is pretty consistently present and wide-ish, and though there is steady car traffic, there are so many cyclists out that drivers seem to have an awareness and are more cautious driving around us (that’s how it felt but who knows?!).

                I parked a couple miles up from the bottom selecting my campsite for the night early into the ride. Then I rode up towards the top and once the temps stopped feeling warm and I started to see more snow and smaller shoulders, I decided to flip around. Read more

                • Megan Hottman’s First Time In Tucson Riding and Exploring

                  Submitted by Bill Plock on February 22nd, 2021

                  While I’ve spent a lot of time in Arizona in my life, I’ve never made it to Tucson. When I began mapping out my vanlist dreamlist of places I wanted to do, Tucson was on the list. For very specific reasons: I wanted to ride the “loop,” this amazing network of protected bike lanes all over town, totaling close to 130 miles (basically, a bike advocate’s dream come true, short of visiting Copenhagen!); and, I’ve wanted to ride Mt Lemmon, a nice long sustained climb that I’ve heard about for years. Read more