Jughed

Planning a two week +/- trip to out west in the spring, looking for info on:
-best dates for the area, not too cold, not too hot, snow is melted/roads should be open
-info on the planned climbs, any to avoid, any better options.
-how to deal with goat heads - which tires to use.

Coming from sea level, so starting from the lowest elevations and working my way up, with some stops at higher elevations along the way to help acclimatize - like overnight in Flagstaff for example.

Thinking late May?

First pass at a plan - would either do Moab or Pikes Peak, not both. Days in bold are optional, would be used to help acclimatize, rest legs...MD to Tucson AZ – 3 day drive, 2400 miles

Flat Ride in Tucson – 1 day

Mt Lemmon – 1 day

Tuson to Independence CA – 1 day drive

Semi flat ride around death Valley – 1 day

Climb Horseshow Meadows – 1 day

Climb Onion Valley – 1 day

Moab option
Independence CA to Moab – 1 day drive
Climb La Sal Loop – 1 day

Pikes Peak option
Independence CA to Colorado Springs – 1 day drive
Climb Pikes Peak – 1 day

Moab to MD – 3 day drive

Colorado Springs to MD – 2 day drive.

wheelreason

That'a a lot of climbing early in the season. If we have another wet spring road milage will be low at that point, and while indoor training does wonders for fitness, it doesn't translate well to climbs, also 2 weeks isn't enough time for altitude acclimation. I'd do that in the fall (if at all), and I'd make a stop at a McDonalds...

Koyote

You'll likely see sub-zero temperatures (and possibly snow) on Pike's Peak in late May. Might want to re-think that one.

big john

If the winter is anything like the last one the roads in the eastern Sierra will not be open in May.

The acclimation to altitude is an individual thing. Some people are more bothered by it than others. If you're going up to 9 or 10K (Horseshoe Meadows) the sheer amount of climbing is more problematic than the altitude, at least for me and my friends. Can't speak to 14K.
Never had an issue with goat heads in the Sierra.

Jughed

Pike's Peak is longshot for many reasons - ability being one, especially at altitude.

tomato coupe

Based on likely May weather, I'd definitely pick Moab over Pike's Peak.

*And, I don't think Independence, CA to Colorado Springs is a realistic one-day drive.

terrymorse 

Yeah. Unless it's a very dry snow season (hope not), many of the high roads and passes will still be closed in May.

I've had good luck in May closer to Lake Tahoe. Kingsbury Grade, Mount Rose Highway, Carson Pass, and Luther Pass stay open all winter. Caltrans always tries to open Ebbetts Pass by Memorial Day (but I'm pretty sure they didn't make that date this year). In May, you should still be able to ride up Ebbetts most of the way before hitting unplowed road. Monitor Pass usually opens sooner than Ebbetts. In this very snow year, Monitor opened on May 12.

Lower elevation roads are just about guaranteed to be open in May. In the Bay Area, Mt Hamilton Road is the king, occasionally closed for snow. Do it front and back for an extra challenge. Also, Mt. Diablo is a great climb with amazing views at the top. Mt Tamalpais is number 3 of the Bay Area mountains, but it's always seemed "meh" to me.

Many choices for climbing in Southern California, although I'm not as familiar with that area. A few I've ridden in May or sooner: Gibraltar Rd out of Santa Barbara, Figueroa Mountain out of Solvang (though I hear the road surface is getting rough), Mt. Baldy from Claremont, Palomar Mountain, Mt. Laguna from Pine Valley, Montezuma Rd from Borrego Springs to Ranchita.

Iride01 

Depends very much on what altitude you are going to reach. Even in July and August, some high climbs, depending on how low a elevation you start will have you going through two if not three different climates resulting in very cold at the top where you'll get hypothermia if you linger up there long after reaching the top without sufficient clothing. July and August are also the dates that most will be decent weather for a inexperienced climber.

Search the internet for local cycling clubs that have published some information on those places you are interested in. Sometimes the local government's will have some info about the popular ones that help bring it tourism dollars.

Also, this website has a lot of good infomation about climbs all over the world. Sometimes it's a little hard to use it's search tool as the climbs may be under different names than you expect. Moving the map to where you want to search will bring up a lot of results if you zoom in.

PJAMM Cycling

I also got some help by asking here in the Regional Discussions section of BF about climbing what is now called Mt. Blue Sky in CO.

6thElement

La Sal loop may also not be doable then depending on the spring weather.

datlas 

Can I come???

Jughed

Sounds like June or early fall may be better… except for Tucson.

And yes, Pjamm is where I found these rides.

Ive been up top of La Salle in late April and it was clear, we did Pikes Peak a week later by car. I guess it depends on the winter conditions.

obrentharris 

The climb from Furnace Creek to Dante's View is a fine ride. You might find it more enjoyable than a semi flat ride around Death Valley. May mid day temperatures in the valley can easily hover in the 90s. Start at Furnace Creek in the cool of the morning so that you will be at the higher, cooler elevations at mid day.
Brent

big john

If you can swing it, I recommend the climbs in the eastern Sierra and the White mountains to the east of highway 395. I think Terry has done more of them than I have but I've had some memorable rides up there.
One year we went was very dry and fishing was down so everyone was happy to see us. Here is lake Sabrina.We also stopped by South Lake and North Lake. Long day on the bike.

Also did Whitney Portal. This is the beginning of the canyon.

Also did Rock Creek road. One of the easier ones.

JohnJ80

We have a condo out in the mountains. May is not going to work - snow isn't gone.

Also very key to acclimate to altitude. Part of that is hydrating heavily until you're peeing clear before you even leave. That generally takes most people a week or so. Then, out there, you pretty much better have water bottle on you all the time and recommend some sort of electrolyte additive. Once you get dehydrated it is really hard to catch back up. Generally takes me an out 5 days to acclimate to around 7500' starting from about 700'. Cycling above that is going to take a few more days and you'll need to spend some more time at altitude to get there.

jrobe

I have a Sprinter Van RV that I use to travel around the country with my bikes so I am used to long road trips. Just glancing at your destinations and doing the math in my head, you are looking at driving 6000 miles minimum and it could easily end up being closer to 7000 miles in 2 weeks. That is approaching an average of 500 miles per day with quite a few 800 mile days just to make time for cycling. By the time you factor in stops for gas, food, bathrooms, etc., that will be something approaching 120 hours of driving in 2 weeks (or the equivalent of three 40 hour work weeks sitting in a car). I have also counted the number of semi trucks on the highways on occasion as I drive my van across the country. I bet you would pass at least 500,000 semi trucks on the freeways on a cross country trip of that length. The truck traffic these days drives me crazy. That trip sounds more like punishment than a fun vacation with just a handful of fun bike rides.

Honestly, I think your driving time to cycling time ratio is way out of whack for a fun vacation. You would have more fun flying out west to flip that ratio dramatically.

tomato coupe

500,000 trucks in 7,000 miles would be 71.43 trucks per mile, or one truck every 74 feet. The average semi is 70-72 feet long, so that would be literal bumper-to-bumper truck traffic for 7,000 miles. That would be a lot of trucks.

Jughed

Ive done a very similar drive - 3 weeks, wife and 3 kids, two dogs and a pop up camper. All stuffed into a Ram Mega Cab pick up.

Best trip we’ve ever done.

This will be a big road trip with my son - we love seeing the country this way. Spending a few nights in a tent or a cabin.

We thought about flying out… packing two bikes, bike boxes, would need to rent a minivan or SUV, no tent… less time but more crap fly with.

dennis336

My wife and I did a road trip out west this past summer (from CT). Took just under 6 weeks (recently retired) with about 8,000 miles of driving overall. I brought my bike as I had a couple of bucket list rides I wanted to do although it wasn't primarily a cycling trip as my wife doesn't cycle. Did more hiking than cycling.

Having said that, our trip was further north than the options you noted although we did overlap with Colorado. Our first major stop was Colorado and we did the auto drive up Mount Evans (I didn't try cycling that one as I wasn't anywhere near acclimated to the altitude yet. This was that latter part of mid-June and on the day we drove, the upper section past Summit Lake was closed off due to snowy/icy conditions. That's just to confirm what others have said about any higher altitude climbs you may be planning. Some of the highest can get snow any time but you may want to go later than May - maybe even into July/August to increase your odds.

The two bucket list rides I did were Going to The Sun Road and Beartooth Highway. Spectacular rides and in the ballpark (maybe less) of the amount of driving as the other options you noted. On the way back, we stopped at the Badlands National Park. I hadn't really read a lot about cycling in the Badlands - it wouldn't show up in hillclimb sites like PJAMM as it's more rolling than big hills - but I had just a wonderful, beautiful relaxing ride one early morning before any traffic came out. Really a fun ride.

busygizmo

I think focusing on lower elevations is the way to go in spring. Both high Sierra’s and Colorado mountains will likely have snow.

Tucson area is full of climbs I’d like to do besides Mt Lemmon. Kitts Peak, Mt Graham and Madeira Canyon to name a few. There are a lot of other rides that sound good too. Can start getting hot by the end of May but the elevation shouldn’t be an issue.

Mt Polomar in Southern California is a great mountain with two paved ways up.

Moab is a little higher base so acclimatizing a little is probably smart.

Altitude affects everyone a little differently. Spending a couple of days at higher elevations before hard efforts has always helped me. I’d think you could do all the Tucson area climbs without acclimatizing unless you’re susceptible to altitude issues or have other health conditions. Colorado, and Moab, are different since your base elevations are higher.

You have to go when you have the time but the fall is probably better in my opinion since everything should be open and your conditioning will probably be better. Although the fire season the last few years has made that uncertain too.

diphthong

june will be better for the east side sierra nevada (horseshoe meadows, whitney portal, big pine creek, onion valley, hwy 168/bristlecone forest, south lake, rock creek, tioga pass) but too late for death valley (too hot even at night).
east side sierras dictate sunrise starts because of the high desert influence/heat and the looong, hard climbs.

if you must do may, west side sierras are the ticket. ton of big climbs with fewer snow concerns. climbs generally not as steep as east side sierras but longer. pick your poison.

may works for tucson and mt. lemmon, mt. graham and kitt peak (altho kitt peak was closed as of this last february) as long as they are all sunrise starts.

for all of these areas, would pack a windbreaker, skull cap, arm warmers, long-fingered gloves and possibly a neck gaiter for mornings till 9:30am-10am. obvs a pita but comfort matters and one or more items
may come back into play for descents.

should you decide to hit southern california instead of central california/sierras instead, let me know. plenty of hc climbs from san diego area north to santa barbara area w/o snow, goathead and (potentially) traffic concerns.
big mountain forays in may/june in socal call for sunrise starts but w/o the extra gloves, gaiter and skull cap.

and frankly, unless you've got a bee in your bonnet about a particular climb for whatever reason, the mount lemmon climb from tucson is more scenic than any of the east side sierra climbs save ca hwy 120/tioga pass. on the west side
sierras, personally recommend ca hwy 198 (generals hwy) southern entrance into sequoia national park.

Jughed

I'm now thinking of flying into Tuscon and doing the local climbs. Looks like they have decent bike rentals in the area, and it's an easy direct flight from my location.

I have a bee in my bonnet for Mt Lemmon - because its epic.

I also have a bee in my bonnet for the Owens Valley climbs - because they are some of the hardest in the US/world. But if I can't because of weather/conditions, I can switch to the other side, just need to look at drive times from Tuscon.

macattack71

From your location, flying sounds much better. I just drove 2300 miles in 5 days, too tired to do anything when I got back yesterday. Trying to muster the strength to go for a ride today. I always wanted to do the triple bypass ride in Colorado, but don't have the legs for it. Bad knee.