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Bicycle Tour of Colorado returns to Glenwood today

John Gardner
Post Independent Staff
Glenwood Springs, CO Colorado

GLENWOOD SPRINGS, Colorado – After cycling more than 500 miles through Colorado’s Rocky Mountains, close to 2,000 more cyclists will ride into Glenwood Springs again this weekend as the Bicycle Tour of Colorado winds down.

This year’s BTC, the longest in the ride’s history, took cyclists through six of Colorado’s most scenic towns including Hotchkiss, Grand Junction, Montrose, Crested Butte, Buena Vista, and Glenwood Springs.

Last year’s BTC had 1,700 cyclists and was expecting closer to 2,000 this year, according to event organizers. Cyclists camped at Sopris Elementary and the old Glenwood Rodeo Grounds near Glenwood’s southern stretch before they left last Sunday.



Riders left town just one day after 2,000 other cyclists with Ride the Rockies bicycle tour rolled into town from Aspen on the last leg of the six-day, 380-mile ride through the Rocky Mountains.

According to Glenwood Police Chief Terry Wilson, June has been one busy month for his officers.



“June has been one heck of a month,” Wilson said.

He said starting with the U.S. Kayak Freestyle Team Trials, it’s been a non-stop run the past three weekends with multiple events that culminated at Strawberry Days.

But, Wilson expected this weekend will be much less chaotic than last weekend.

“Just a regular summer weekend, which is busy itself,” Wilson said. “But the (BTC) is pretty self contained. They didn’t request much from us at all.”

Wilson said that this bike tour was much less work for police since the Glenwood location was not in the center of town.

“That is a product of their location,” Wilson said. “They had pretty easy access and not a lot of disruption with vehicle traffic.”

Wilson said that with Ride the Rockies wanting to bring the cyclists into Sayre Park during Strawberry Days made for a lot of extra work.

“But we handled it well and I’m pleased with how it turned out,” Wilson said.

Glenwood Spring has been a stop for six of the 14 BTC routes since its beginning in 1995, including the first three years of the tour.

The last leg of the tour, which is also the longest, challenges riders to tackle 107 miles from Buena Vista all the way to Glenwood Springs.

jgardner@postindependent.com


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