Ouray, CO

[eofelis]

Road or mountain??

For road rides you can ride right out of town south on 550, up Red Mountain Pass. It's a narrow road with big drop offs, but I rode it on a loaded touring bike and didn't have any traffic problems. People are driving pretty slow anyways.

The other way out of Ouray towards Ridgway, not much of a shoulder, fast traffic.

A nice ride out of Ridgway is out to Dallas Divide, and back to Ridgway. I've done that ride a few times.

For mountain biking there are a lot of jeep trails out of Ouray, but I have not mtn bikes them.

Are you coming through Grand Junction? There is a lot of awesome riding around here.

[Veronica]

We're going out to Ouray at the same time that the FJ Summit will be there, so I think we'll avoid the jeep roads.

Probably road bikes, maybe we'll bring both.

We will be driving through Grand Junction to get there. Right now my inclination is stay in Montrose. The hotels in Ouray are pretty booked.

Thanks!

Veronica

[badgercat]

Too funny... my boyfriend drives an FJ Cruiser and may be spending some time at the Summit. He's also bringing both road and mountain bikes along for the trip... he likes all sorts of wheeled recreation. I'll have to keep an eye on this thread and pass along any ride ideas to him.

[aka_kim]

Stay in Ouray if you can, Montrose is just another city with strip malls, while Ouray has a lot of character.

I'd vote for the ride up Red Mountain Pass too.

[solobiker]

Stay in Ouray if you can, Montrose is just another city with strip malls, while Ouray has a lot of character.

I'd vote for the ride up Red Mountain Pass too.

+1 I agree!! Ouray is a cool little town. I have spent time there in the summer and a litttle time up there in the winter during the ice climbing season. Enjoy your time here in CO!!

[Veronica]

Thanks, Red Mountain Pass is on the to do list now. Dallas Divide looks interesting too.

Unless something goes awry, we'll be camping at Ridgway July 19 - 24. It's a bummer that's the last week of the Tour.

What's the Grand Mesa Byway like? I'm also thinking about an out and back along 92 or 50 through the rec area.

How much riding we do will depend on how well I acclimate to the elevation. Mountain biking at the North Rim left me gasping at the top of every climb.

Veronica

[Imperfectstorm]

Ouray is a magical place, I have fond memories of mt. biking, hiking, snow shoeing

Some Resources:

http://www.ouraytrails.org/


A good local resource Ouray Mountain Sports:

http://ouraysports.com/

National Forest Camping:

http://www.forestcamping.com/dow/roc...m#amphitheater

[sarahspins]

Stay in Ouray if you can, Montrose is just another city with strip malls, while Ouray has a lot of character.

I'd vote for the ride up Red Mountain Pass too.

I agree.. Montrose is really nothing special compared to Ouray, and if you're not opposed to camping there are quite a few campgrounds in the immediate area.

My family has a cute little cabin on the North end of town, and we've been vacationing there since before I can remember - Ouray is one of my favorite places I want to get back out there this summer, but since I'm going to Hawaii in 2 months I'm saving up for that, and I think CO is out