colorado tour of the moon

Colorado National Monument Tour of the Moon – A Classic Ride:

MTN Town Magazine Activities , Treks & Travels 0

As we saw from the USA Pro Cycling Challenge Colorado is full of classic road bike rides. Many of them involve difficult mountain passes and extreme altitude.

The Colorado National Monument ride is different. Located on the northeastern edge of the Colorado Plateau on the far western side of the state, Colorado National Monument offers two-wheeled visitors endless vistas of dramatic red rock canyons and monoliths, pinyon-juniper forests, three seasons of wildflowers and a symphony of canyon wrens on most any given day.

The ride isn’t easy. No matter which way one rides the Monument (as it is locally known), it involves a significant climb. But with a top altitude of only 6,640 feet, a total vertical gain of 2300 feet, and a round-trip distance of 33 miles, this ride won’t leave you gasping for air.

The Tour of the Moon

For eight glorious years, between 1980 and 1988, the Monument was the location of the “Tour of The Moon,” one of the most famous stages of the Coors International Bicycle Classic . During its heyday, the Coors Classic was the largest men’s and women’s pro-am race in the world, attracting the top teams and top riders.

In 1981 and 1985, cycling legend Greg LeMond won the Coors Classic . Other famous participants included speed-skating legends Eric and Beth Heiden, with Beth winning the women’s division in 1980. In 1984, the film American Flyers, starring Kevin Costner was inspired by the Tour of the Moon and filmed on site in Mesa County.

Since the demise of the Coors Classic in 1988, cycling on the Colorado National Monument has been limited to amateurs, enthusiasts and just plain crazy people. My family falls into all three of those categories. We are definitely amateurs. We are certainly enthusiasts, and my husband could be considered crazy. How to else to explain why he would choose to ride up and down the Monument three times on one firecracker hot 4th of July? Granted he didn’t ride the entire 33 mile circuit each time. He just rode the difficult climbing section three separate times, in a row.

The USA Pro Cycling Challenge

This past week, professional cycling returned to Colorado with the USA Pro Cycling Challenge . The Monument wasn’t one of this year’s stages, as the City of Grand Junction passed on putting in a stage application for 2011. With a landscape like no other in pro cycling, USA Pro Cycling Challenge organizers are hoping to resurrect the Tour of the Moon for the 2012 race. However, citing concerns for protection of the park’s natural resources, the National Park Service turned down an application by the Local Organizing Committee.

Local organizers are scrambling to come up with an alternate route for 2012 and they will. There are plenty to choose from, but it won’t be the same. Until the Park Service changes its mind, cycling on the Colorado National Monument will strictly be limited to amateurs. This means that while most of us can’t ride with the pros, we can ride somewhere they can’t . And if you haven’t ridden the Monument, you should. It truly is a classic ride.

When You Go….

Colorado National Monument is located approximately 250 miles west of Denver, between the towns of Grand Junction and Fruita. The East entrance to the park is located approximately 5 miles from downtown Grand Junction on Monument Road.

Just past the East Entrance station is parking at the Devil’s Kitchen trailhead (on the left) or the Devil’s Kitchen picnic area (on the right, complete with bathrooms). Both are good places to park and begin your classic ride. Please note all cyclists must have a static white light on the front of their bikes and a flashing red light on the back. Cyclists are also required to ride single file (for more information on park requirements, click here ).

From Devil’s Kitchen, the road switchbacks up about four miles, through a very dark tunnel before beginning to plateau at the Cold Shivers viewpoint. Traffic can be heavy along this stretch of road, but just about 1/2 mile past Cold Shivers is a turn off to Glade Park, a ranching community. After all the trucks exit, cyclists are home free and pretty much have the place to themselves.

From this point, it is another 5-6 miles of rolling uphill terrain to the high point of the Colorado National Monument . After the high point, the descent begins, with only one more significant uphill portion, at Black Ridge.

The Visitors Center (at mile 19) is worth a stop both to refill water bottles and check out the brand-new interpretive displays. Leaving the Visitors’ Center, the road descends rapidly, through two short (and not so dark) tunnels, to the West Entrance of the park.

Leaving the park, cyclists ride along Broadway… to South Broadway… to South Camp… to Monument Road… and back to their cars. Best to map this out ahead of time on your smartphone. It’s not hard, but too complicated for this post.

Back at your car, you’ve completed one circuit of the Tour of the Moon . That’s what the pro-women rode back in the ’80s. The pro men did two circuits, back-to-back.

~ The Brave Ski Mom

The Brave Ski Mom © 2011. All rights reserved. Republication, in part or entirety, requires a link back to this original post and Mountain Town Magazine.

Read More of our Treks and Travel posts here: Mountain Town Magazine’s Treks & Travels

Colorado National Monument , Road Bike , Tour of the Moon

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• May 22, 2018
• By Bicycle Colorado

Tour of the Moon provides Colorado riding experience unlike any other

Colorado is home to many classic road rides, several of which involve difficult mountain passes, breath taking scenery and extreme altitude.  but there is not a single ride as uniquely colorado as the colorado national monument. due to it’s endless vistas of red rock canyons and monoliths, pinyon-juniper forests, wildflowers and symphonies of canyon wrens, the monument is in a league of its own..

About the Author: Bicycle Colorado

Bicycle Colorado is a 501(c)3 nonprofit based in Denver. We use advocacy, education and passion to make Colorado one of the most bicycle-friendly states in the nation. We encourage and promote bicycling, increase safety, improve conditions and provide a voice for people who ride bicycles in Colorado. With the support of our members and numerous partnerships across the public and private sector, we’ve made significant strides in improving bicycling since 1992.

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Mike Friel April 20, 2021 at 6:55 pm - Reply

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Tour of the Moon

Ride the moon.

The Tour of the Moon was made famous in the 1980’s Coors Classic and later in the cycling movie American Flyers. Its legacy continues as one of the premier road cycling events in the western United States.

The National Park Service caps our participation at 2,200, and we sell out every year, so sign up now to ensure your spot! A portion of your registration fee will go to support One Riverfront and Bicycle Colorado.

Pre-Ride Activities; 6:30 – 8:30 a.m. – Grand Junction Convention Center

• Day of Registration & Packet Pick-Up
• Bike Tech Support
• Hydration Station

Wheels Down; 7:30 – 8:30 a.m.

• Must have lights on bike (front and rear) when riding in Monument

Post-Ride Activities; 10:30 a.m. – 4 p.m. – Grand Junction Convention Center

• Beer Garden
• Merchandise
• Prize Drawings

Course Close; 3:30 p.m.

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Tour of the Moon

Tour of the Moon was made famous in the 1980’s Coors Classic and later in the cycling movie American Flyers. Its legacy continues as one of the premier road cycling events in the western United States, which showcases the Colorado National Monument and its towering monoliths, sheer-walled red rock canyons, and panoramic views.

Registration is capped at 2,200 participants so be sure to sign up early. A portion of registration fees support One Riverfront and Bicycle Colorado.

Contact Information

[email protected]

Start Location

Grand Junction Convention Center, Grand Junction, CO

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Tour of the Moon

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Tour of the Moon Cycle race will be back for 2022.  Learn more at  https://events.outsideonline.com/tourofthemoon/

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Riding Colorado's spectacular Tour of the Moon

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Alerts in effect, tour of the moon will travel through colorado national monument.

New Recreational Bicycle Tour to Travel Through

Colorado National Monument on Saturday, October 6

On Saturday, October 6, a new recreational bicycle event titled "Tour of the Moon" will travel through Colorado National Monument. The touring cyclists will travel from the east entrance (Grand Junction) to the west entrance (Fruita) over Rim Rock Drive and will be restricted to cycling in the west bound lane only.

Motor vehicles traveling east bound on Rim Rock Drive will be facilitated. Glade Park residents will be able to drive on Rim Rock Drive from the DS Road downhill to the Monument's east entrance.

To safely accommodate the touring cyclists, motorized traffic will temporarily not be permitted in the west bound lane between 7:30 a.m. - 9:30 a.m. All west bound vehicle traffic heading to Glade Park (DS Road Turn Off) between the hours of 7:30 a.m. - 9:30 a.m. should plan to use Little Park Road.

No travel restrictions will apply for motorists traveling east bound on Rim Rock Drive from the west entrance (Fruita) or from Glade Park (DS Road Turn Off) towards the east entrance. Two-way motorized traffic will be permitted from the west entrance (Fruita), across Rim Rock Drive as far east as the DS Road Turn Off to Glade Park. At 9:30 a.m., two-way traffic will resume along the entire length of Rim Rock Drive.

Colorado National Monument and all facilities will remain open to the public during the cycling tour. The Serpents Trail will remain open however the parking areas for Serpents Trail will temporarily be inaccessible to cars from 7:30 a.m. - 9:30 a.m.

Safety Advisory: Local cyclists not participating in the Tour of the Moon event are asked to ride east to west on Rim Rock Drive between 7:30 a.m. - 9:30 a.m.  

The National Park Service asks visitors to please plan ahead, share the road, and to cycle and drive safely.

For additional information about Colorado National Monument please visit www.nps.gov/colm or call 970-858-3617 , ext. 360.  

For additional information regarding the "Tour of the Moon" Recreational Bicycle Event visit www.tourofthemoon.com .

Last updated: February 24, 2015

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Culture | Music

Air live at Royal Albert Hall review: an exhilarating trip into retro-futurism

Last night, the Royal Albert Hall became a spacecraft. At the controls: Air , as they played their era-defining masterpiece Moon Safari in full to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the record.

The Parisian duo, Nicolas Godin and Jean-Benoît Dunckel, were dressed in immaculate white and performed from inside a bright, glowing rectangular box of video screens and lights – the command post for the show. In fact, at one point, the screens actually did transform into the deck of a spaceship as planets flew by, and they took us on a journey through their space-age lounge music.

And, boy, it was a hell of a trip. One that had you looking back to the past and peering forward, light years into the future. As the opening notes of first song La Femme d’Argent rippled through the crowd, we were immediately teleported back to 1998 when their album Moon Safari was released.

Back then it felt inescapable, a record that captured the zeitgeist and was a soundtrack to hazy morning afters and dinner parties alike. It was also an album which gave rise to a sea of dull chill out music. But, with the songs reimagined here – pulled apart and stretched and given more muscle by drummer Louis Delorme – it shone a light on what a brilliant, timeless and unique collection of songs it really is.

Rather than ‘chill out’, this show was exhilarating. The songs longer and louder; weirder and more widescreen. That first track built from a gentle caress into swirling psychedelia, while Kelly Watch The Stars pulsed with a relentless groove, ​​and the blissed-out Ce matin-là was a burst of sunlight.

In the absence of vocalist Beth Hirsch, the sampling of her voice for All I Need showed how to reimagine a song without losing its beguiling essence.

They followed Moon Safari with a run through their other greatest hits: the forlorn beauty of Cherry Blossom Girl from 2004’s Talkie Walkie, the effervescent space-prog of Don’t Be Light and the gorgeous stillness of Alone In Kyoto (that one from Lost In Translation).

It all ended with Electronic Performers – a nod to the electronic music pioneers Kraftwerk . The comparison highlighted the fact that Air are trailblazers as well.

Moon Safari is often called retro-futurist – the record inspired both by the duo’s nostalgia for their childhood and the promised space age that never arrived.

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As they steered us back to earth and the show ended, it became clear that it’s their ability to take from the past to create something that sounds like the future that makes them so special.

Air play Royal Albert Hall tonight (May 31)

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