There are two passes near me that climb a ton. The paved one is over 3000’ and the gravel one is more, though I’m not sure how much more. Decent if windy road riding abounds.
The Sunlight Showdown in Glenwood Springs sports a half marathon and the aforementioned race. My wife signed us both up. It’s a good halfway point for a larger summer time trip. Funny enough, the running times are pretty similar to the cycling times, so I do expect it’s going to be rather difficult.
I’m not in great shape but I blame the two mini me’s running around the house. I found the time to do a century this upcoming weekend, I’m not ready for that either but I’ll survive. I’m going to try to get a few rides a week in through the summer.
There is a ton of MTB riding an hour or two from here, time wise, the super short punchy climbs of the local groomers is probably all I can get though (again blaming the tiny humans).