Tour de Lariat Loop: A Ride Back in Time

Lariat Loop Scenic Byway Map

Route: Lariat Loop
Mileage: 42 miles
Vertical: 4,028 feet
Towns: Golden > Genesee > Evergreen > Morrison > Golden

Last summer I had an epiphany on mile 12 of the Dirty 30 trail race in Golden gate Canyon State Park after yard sailing over a rogue tree root and I basically came to the conclusion I’m getting too old for this shit. So I did a 180 and took up road cycling, joining the elitist ranks of all the Boomer wealth management advisors, lawyers, Tech exec dbags or Lance Armstrong wannabees I made fun of for the last 20 years of my life. If nothing else, it would avoid a hip replacement before the age of 50.

I convinced a couple folks to sign up for the Copper Triangle this summer. 80 miles and 6,500 feet. Seems attainable and as a loop, doesn’t involve a complicated car shuttle. One of the training rides was the ultra classic Lariat Loop, one of the 25 Scenic Byways in Colorado and the crown jewel of the Front Range as far as cycling loops are concerned. There’s more history packed in to this one than quite possibly any other Byway in the American West. You could spend an entire weekend fully immersing yourself in the sights, sounds and smells – but we were just interested in the training this go around. One thing I love about cycling is it makes what seems like otherwise mundane trips more interesting.

I’ve driven up Lookout Mountain, Evergreen Parkway, Bear Creek Canyon and up and down the Hogback around Morrison hundreds of times. They are routine drives where I spend most of the time nerd raging on gapers driving like short bus escapees. But on a bike, they take on a life of their own. When I drive past Buffalo Bill’s grave, I don’t think twice about it. But when I bike past it, I notice more of my surroundings and think more about how those who came before me. I guess that’s why they say you do your best thinking on a bike. When I run, all I think about is how miserable I am and how I can’t wait to stop running. As long as my grundle isn’t chaffed and in tact, I get a lot of satisfaction out of cruising along a smooth mountain road.

As far as history is concerned, I’m not going to dive in to the full extent of what the loop covers, but to summarize it all – from a history perspective you pass Buffalo Bill’s Gravesite, Boettcher Mansion, the now defunct Humphrey Park and Museum, old town Evergreen, old town Morrison, Falcon Castle Ruins (depending on how much of a detour you’d like to make), Bandimere Speedway, the Mother Cabrini Shrine, Red Rocks Amphitheater, Dinosaur Ridge, Colorado Railroad Museum and the Coors Brewery. From an Open Space perspective, you pass Windy Saddle, Beaver Brook Trail, Apex Trail, Genesee Mountain Park, Bergen Park, Elk Meadow Park, Evergreen Lake and Nature Center, O’Fallon Park, Lair of the Bear, Mount Morrison and Matthew Winters. It’s quite the Tour De!

Dave and I started from the Lookout Mountain parking lot with a steep climb right out of the gate at 7 in the morning. We’ve both done Lookout numerous times and am familiar with all the steeps and the twists and turns. This is a WELL travelled route for cyclists and just general tourists gaping around Windy Saddle.

Golden from halfway up Lookout

The weather on this day could not have been any better for a ride. Light winds, temps around 65-70, overcast, minimal traffic. We cruised on by Buffalo Bill’s grave in no time and continued along Lookout Mtn Rd till it reached Mount Vernon intersection, where we took a right up the 40 Frontage Rd towards the Genesee exit. We decided once at that exit to add on Genesee Mountain as a nice little bonus to the day, since the weather was so solid and we were making good time. Glad we did, as neither of us had been up there and it’s the perfect place to get easy good views if you are having a lazy day and don’t want to work hard for it but also want to avoid the shitshows of Mount Falcon or some other gaper tractor beam. The last couple hundred yards were gravel so we took things slow given we had road tires – which would make for an interesting descent.

Testing the Gatorskins on gravel.

love to see the flag on summits. Always a nice surprise.

The descent, once we reached pavement, went FAST. I believe my speedometer topped out at over 40 a few times. Before rejoining our route on the Lariat, we stopped and took this iconic “Gate to the Rockies” shot from the Genesee exit bridge. While no MAGA/Politician flags were flown, i made sure to pay my respects to both the motorists of and the highway itself that we’ve all come to know and love so well over the years.

I70.

Rumor has it before the Genesee/Evergreen connector pathway was constructed, cyclists doing the Lariat would have to ride along the shoulder of I-70 basically, which was probably more dangerous than free soloing El Cap. That’s the section where most of the tards in their V4 Ford Escapes have just finished laboring up Genesee Hill from Golden and with their foot planted firmly on the gas go from 55 to 125, RPM’s pushing 6 to 7,000, Fat Tires clanking in the backseat, fully prepared to seek, destroy and gape the f**k out any ski resort, trailhead or campground they are headed towards. No thanks. Thankfully, someone in this state still has a functioning brain and made this connector trail happen.

We reached the El Rancho/Evergreen Pkwy intersection around 9:20-30am. I point out this timestamp cause on Monday morning, Dave sent me a news clip of some deranged tranny, in a Ford Escape of all vehicles, who took it upon his/herself to intentionally run over a couple cyclists in the Team Evergreen cycling club 100 yards West of that intersection, at 9:45am. Someone was in critical condition, another walked away with minor injuries (other than the trauma of seeing a mentally ill humanoid with an extensive criminal record who somehow was able to get their hands on an automobile trying to run them over for no reason on a sleepy Sunday morning). Needless to say, I’m glad we avoided that. Oblivious to the carnage going on behind us, we blissfully rode along the Evergreen Pkwy through its many ups and downs.

Enjoying the serenity of the Connector trail, away from Trannies and I-70

Evergreen Parkway was actually probably the most mentally draining section of the day, as Lookout and Genny Mountain were a bit of a bear, and we both forgot about the up and down nature of the road. Plus it was the one section where we were most exposed to traffic. Nonetheless, it’s classic Evergreen scenery as we weaved our way through Bergen and Elk Meadow Open Spaces, and a few of the descents provided some nice speed.

Further along the loop.

We refueled quickly in downtown Evergreen before preparing for what we thought was going to be the worst part of the loop – Bear Creek Canyon. We would come to find it was quite the contrary. The canyon was the highlight of the day, providing a constant downhill pitch and we only had 4-5 cars pass us (rather respectfully at that). We were able to keep up a 30-35mph pace and reached Morrison in essentially no time. There’s actually a shoulder for most of this section, albeit a little narrow. It’s not the gauntlet we had feared. And the weather was still holding amazingly well.

Downtown Evergreen

Downtown Morrison

The last obstacle of the day was the climb out of Morrison along the Hogback Road past Red Rocks and Matthew Winters, which was maybe 500′ and a mellow pitch. Once you crest the hill at I-70, you can enjoy a long, fast downhill towards Heritage Road, which then connects you to the CO-6 bikeway and eventually back to the car at Lookout.

Mentally unstable Colorado motorists aside, the Lariat Loop is a classic loop with lots of views and history. If you are just in it for the exercise, it’s the perfect foothill training ride. I’ll definitely be adding this in to the seasonal rotation.

The end.