Pedal the Plains

Most everyone in these parts knows of Ride the Rockies, a week-long bicycle tour in the high country that has been around since the 80s. You have to be lucky in the lottery to get into that ride these days.

Not so with Pedal the Plains, a three-day bike tour in the high plains of eastern Colorado where fewer than 800 riders just completed the fourth annual ride.

As a five-time survivor of RAGBRAI, the ride across Iowa that attracts 15 to 20,000 cyclists, I was so happy to be part of a smaller group where you never waited more that a few moments to use a porta potty or get a meal, there were plenty of spaces to put up a tent and you didn’t take your life in your hands to mount your bike or stop along the road.

Pedal the Plains is special because it goes through the vast agricultural countryside that is the eastern third of our state. It is set up to include “educational” stops at historic farms, museums in tiny towns, car collections and shows and displays of everything from wind power to enormous farm machinery.

And all along the way, there are informative signs explaining what Colorado produces, how it rates among other states and its various claims to agricultural fame. I now know that there are more than 36,000 farms and ranches in the state with an average size of 881 acres. And I’d know a whole lot more if I could read faster or pedal more slowly as the signs showed up on the side of the road.

The ride is billed as “a celebration of Colorado’s cycling culture” and is put on by the Denver Post and the state of Colorado. Proceeds benefit the communities who host the event, and the Denver Post Community Foundation to support Future Farmers of America and Colorado 4-H.

I rode with my younger daughter, Jeni Arndt. We’ve done a good bit of biking together over the years, but little to none lately. It was like old times loading bikes a bit haphazardly onto the car, setting up our tent at the end of the day, enduring a few freezing moments in the morning and spending the whole day outdoors, riding, soaking up the sun, confronting the wind, a nearly constant visitor to the plains, and visiting with strangers and friends on the road. It was great to be out there!

The ride is held the third week of September every year and the route varies, always including three communities. This year we began in Julesburg, population 1225 rode to Holyoke, with 2300 residents, then to Sterling, the largest town on the plains with more than 14,000 souls, and back to Julesburg on the final day, pausing in Nebraska just long enough to take a photo. The host towns benefit from an explosion of people for a few short hours and are a well-kept secret until registration opens for the ride.

I’m a fan. I’ll back next year.