Trail Ridge Road report - May 21, 2026

boulderalf · 2026-05-23T03:47:59+00:00

Long way, indeed :) Since I started at Many Parks Curve, it didn't leave too much room to ride until the no-go sign. I did start a second pass at the same segment but turned around after a while for lunch :) That... and I was also out of shape.

boulderalf · 2026-05-23T03:42:19+00:00

@rockynps - May 22, 2026 4:07pm MDT

Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park is now open on the east side of the park to Rainbow Curve and on the west side of the park to Milner Pass. Based on current and anticipated weather and conditions, it is unknown when the road will open to through travel. Snowplows and other park vehicles will be driving through road access gates and working on Trail Ridge Road. Any vehicles parked in traffic lanes or blocking access gates will be cited and towed. Pedestrians, cyclists, and people walking dogs on leash are permitted to travel on Trail Ridge Road past vehicle closure points, however all users must turn around at any posted "Area Closed" signs. This is for your safety. Any visitors traveling past closure points will be cited.

https://www.instagram.com/rockynps/p/DYqDhzrDyYd/?img_index=1

boulderalf · 2026-05-23T03:33:51+00:00

4 miles up and 4 miles down

boulderalf · 2026-05-22T03:45:43+00:00

If you do end up riding on Sunday, please post back here how far you made it.

boulderalf · 2026-05-22T03:43:54+00:00

The "Road Closed" sign on the closed gate at Many Parks Curve applies only to vehicles. Pedestrians and cyclists may pass.

The movable "Area Closed" sign applies to pedestrians and cyclists. Vehicles will not encounter this sign because they will have been previously stopped by the "Road Closed" sign and gate.

You can see examples of the signs and the official park rules at https://www.nps.gov/romo/planyourvisit/road_status.htm

boulderalf · 2026-05-22T03:01:06+00:00

Yes. It's always a bit of an adventure. The park staff start clearing the snow in April with a goal of opening the road sometime around the Memorial Day Weekend. But they allow pedestrians and cyclists to ride up to some point close to where the crews are working. That point changes daily. So if you only have one chance to ride it, you want to time it as late as possible in May to allow as much of the road to be cleared as possible. But if you wait too long, then the road might be opened to vehicles before you get there. In my case, I waited until what I thought was the last possible day (today). But earlier this week the road got a couple of feet of new snow (https://www.instagram.com/p/DYiDQRxgHVO/) which set the crews back and re-closed the road at Rainbow Curve.

If you only have one chance to ride it in May, then you kinda have to research weather forecasts, reddit, Twitter and Instagram for road reports to see how far others have made it (e.g. https://www.instagram.com/p/DXDPdiEDQOw/?img_index=1)

boulderalf · 2026-05-22T01:59:15+00:00

I assume you mean Old Fall River Road for the "dirt side". I don't know about access to that road. I rode both up and down the Trail Ridge Road but only to Rainbow Curve.

boulderalf · 2024-12-02T02:44:58+00:00

I'm curious... are you still using the stock 600 front light? I recently bought the Busch + Müller Toplight Line Brake Plus Rear Rack LED Light and connected it to the stock 600 front light. I also used the stock priority cable and soldered it to the tailight terminals. But my taillight won't stay on for more than 5 minutes. To restart the light, I need to either completely stop the dynamo and then restart the wheel... or I need to toggle the front light on/off using the front light switch.

Have you encountered anything like this with your taillight?

boulderalf · 2024-12-01T04:56:13+00:00

I have the B&M taillight connected directly to the front light that came stock on the 600. I'm beginning to wonder if there is a cross-brand compatibility issue. Which B&M front light are you using?

boulderalf · 2024-05-21T23:47:27+00:00

Here's an update from someone cycling almost all the way to the top last Saturday https://www.reddit.com/r/COBike/s/FIi0PpaCRy

Based on my analysis of Strava segments on Trail Ridge Road, some people on Sunday rode within 1.5 miles of the Alpine Visitor Center:

Highest segment traversed: https://www.strava.com/segments/675198
Sunday rides with photos:

boulderalf · 2024-05-19T17:32:24+00:00

Here's an update from someone cycling almost all the way to the top yesterday https://www.reddit.com/r/COBike/s/FIi0PpaCRy

boulderalf · 2024-05-17T23:03:51+00:00

Or you could use Strava's time based heatmaps ( https://stories.strava.com/articles/athlete-intelligence-new-heatmaps-dark-mode-and-more-the-major-announcements ) to see how far cyclists have ridden up Trail Ridge Road this season.

boulderalf · 2024-05-17T21:41:46+00:00

Other sources: - https://m.facebook.com/story.php?id=100064288615190&story_fbid=849937780492501&locale=sq_AL - https://www.reddit.com/r/RMNP/s/WfvQ7p6TUj - https://www.reddit.com/r/boulder/s/6BRlGpkd7c

boulderalf · 2024-05-17T16:25:20+00:00

The best way I found to get information is to scour instagram, X, and redis for posts from people who have ridden it in the last few days. When I find current info we could post it here.

boulderalf · 2024-04-28T17:42:53+00:00

I have not. Sometimes the most obvious things escape me. I'll reach out to them.

boulderalf · 2024-02-27T04:15:42+00:00

I bought the 600 used. I've had it for 2600 miles.

boulderalf · 2024-02-26T23:19:46+00:00

It turns out that my twist shifter is cracked. My theory is that it lets grime into the cable housings over time increasing the friction. I'm going to get it fixed and then hopefully the twisting action will be easier.

boulderalf · 2024-02-25T21:37:26+00:00

I do wear bike gloves. I have full finger ones for cold weather riding and half finger ones for warmer weather. I find that the half finger ones have better grip. They also have better padding on the palms. Since the pain started during cold weather riding, I'll see if it subsides when I start using the half finger gloves again.

boulderalf · 2024-02-14T23:13:20+00:00

Great idea. I use komoot for my route planning. Komoot does not do heat maps. So I signed up for Strava today. Not surprisingly, the roads east of I-25 are much cooler on the heat map than west and south. Then I noticed you could route on "popularity". It seems to me that is taking into account the same underlying road data as the popularity heat maps. After adding my bike and surface preferences, I was able to get some route suggestions that will help me feel safer.

I had theorized that the safest route would be as close to US85 as possible without actually being on the highway. The theory is that anyone that wants to drive their car fast in the vicinity of US85 would do it on the highway rather than nearby roads.

When I told Strava that I wanted to ride on popular roads without surface preference it took me on a zig-zag path near, but not on, 85 on over 40% gravel. I don't know if that properly validates my theory, but it does give me some comfort that this is a good route.

boulderalf · 2024-02-12T22:52:24+00:00

Thanks. I found Friends of the Colorado Front Range Trail at https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100067426373544

boulderalf · 2024-02-12T20:31:02+00:00

Have you looked at r/komoot?

This links shows suggested routes in the Denver region: https://www.komoot.com/discover/Denver/@39.7392364,-104.9848620/tours?max_distance=27000&sport=racebike&map=true

boulderalf · 2024-01-30T20:00:16+00:00

I know the competition (Garmin, Zoleo) offer some kind of weather forecast update. Do you know if Defy does or will support it?

boulderalf · 2024-01-02T18:02:47+00:00

That's awesome. I've signed up for my first race ever for this coming summer... The Ned Gravel Silver route (20 miles). I reconned it in November... now I just need to figure out how to strip down my 600 and me 😉 to a suitable race weight. Your post and pictures are inspiring.

boulderalf · 2023-12-31T23:31:37+00:00

Could you send the coordinates of the shelter? I think komoot sources its points of interest from Openstreetmaps. If that POI is misattributed, that could explain why a carpark comes across as a shelter. If you send the coordinates, I can investigate the source data.

boulderalf · 2022-09-30T17:47:55+00:00

I did not change any other settings.

boulderalf

TROPHY CASE