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A classic Colorado cycling event will be reborn in Eagle County next year.

On Sept. 14, roughly 75 cyclists participated in a soft launch of ‘Bighorn Road,’ a ride set to make its official debut next fall. The peloton pedaled an 80-mile loop — from Gypsum to Wolcott, north to McCoy on Highway 131, around to Dotsero via Colorado River Road and back — most of which was part of the now defunct Colorado-Eagle River Ride.

“Beautiful. It’s one of the best loops around here,” said West Vail’s Nick Kierstead. “I think that’s a cool area of Colorado that people don’t normally see.”

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Organizers Mike Brumbaugh and Jake Wells hope to do for roadies what they’ve provided for off-road warriors the last three summers with Bighorn Gravel: make an iconic — but strenuous — local loop a little more accessible.

“We are the safety net; we want to stretch people a little bit,” said Brumbaugh, who called the route “one of my favorite rides in the world.” While he rides it numerous times a summer, he knows soloing it would be too big a bite for most.

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“There’s so many people who are like, ‘I’m not going to do that ride,’ because a) as soon as you pass the dump, there’s no cell service, and b), ‘oh there’s 20 miles of dirt — I need a gravel bike,'” Brumbaugh stated.

Aid stations and police escorts take care of the first issue. As for the latter?

“The dirt was totally fine with a road bike and 28s,” said John Phillips, a former local who now works as a manager and bike-fit specialist at Tribellas in Denver. Phillips participated in the SOS ride 12 years ago.

“That was fun but it was always a drag because you had to get all the way from Dotsero all the way uphill to Beaver Creek once your legs were smoked,” he said. “I think this was a much better route.”

The Colorado-Eagle River Ride was started in 2002 by Arn Menconi, founder of the Snowboard Outreach Society (SOS). In 2003, roughly 300 cyclists hit the highway; by 2008, it had swelled to over a 1,100 and was the largest fundraiser of the year for SOS. In 2013, the event included 100-mile and 42-mile ride options and a 68-mile race. Three years later, participation had dwindled in half, but organizers added a mountain bike option, which was led by Mike Kloser and Josiah Middaugh.

Declining numbers and staging costs forced SOS to “rethink the event” after its 2017 rendition. In July of 2018, the Vail Daily reported the ride was “on hiatus” and that the third-annual Roadhouse Mountain Bike Race would “serve in its stead.”

Brumbaugh surmised one reason it may have faded was the start date and location. Going from Beaver Creek during summer meant overheated riders arrived in Dotsero with 80-plus miles under their belts still needing to peddle all the way back to Avon.

“So we’re like, ‘hey start it from Gypsum, the greatest host town in the history of the world,'” he said. “And once you get to Dotsero, you can make it no matter how shelled you are.”

“Our thought process is, Ride the Rockies is gone — and a lot of people used to do that — Copper Triangle and Triple Bypass sell out every year (and) this is the exact same distance as Copper Triangle with only about 1000 feet less climbing and one-one-millionth of the cars,” Brumbaugh continued. “I think it’s just a much better experience. So yeah, come and check it out.”

Even though Kierstead, a 2022 Leadman, is fit as a fiddle and familiar with the route — it’s one of his regular Sunday long rides — he said it took everything to just stay with the back of the front pack a couple weeks ago. The leaders rolled back into Gypsum less than four hours after departure.

“I was hanging on — for my life,” he said with a laugh. “Putting as many carbs in my body as possible to keep me going.”

Kierstead will perfect his gel-slurping technique next summer: he and Brumbaugh are planning to ride every stage of the Tour de France on the morning before the actual riders take to the course.

“Just you know, once in a lifetime opportunity,” he said.

Speaking of the Tour: the Sept. 14 soft launch featured Pinarello Scuderia cycling royalty and Bobby Julich, who placed third overall in the 1998 Tour de France. Joining him was Cameron Wurf, a current Team Ineos World Tour pro and Olympic silver medalist and world champion Mari Holden.

Riders received a police escort out of Gypsum and snaked along Highway 6 to Wolcott before turning north on Highway 131. The first aid station came at the top of course’s only major sustained climb 9 miles later. Just before the halfway point, riders turned south onto Colorado River Road for 20 miles of hard-packed dirt. This reporter can attest that Phillips was right in stating road bikes worked just fine for that section.

The course popped onto buttery brand-new pavement for the push into Dotsero, with a final aid station hosted by the organizer’s nonprofit partner, Roundup River Ranch.

“(It’s) perfect tarmac,” Phillips said. “Because what I remember is you used to get off the dirt finally, but then the pavement felt rougher and slower than the darn dirt.”

Brumbaugh expects around 750 cyclists for next year’s debut. He said the atmosphere of the event will have a “Gran Fondo feel,” with a pair of Strava segments sprinkled in.

“That way, if you’re faster than I am, you can do the climb at your pace and if we want to ride together, you wait for me and then we’ll ride together after that,” he said.

The Venture Sports owner said the goal of the soft launch wasn’t so much to iron out logistics, but provide exposure to his numerous regional cycling connections who’d never completed the route. He said feedback was positive.

“Everyone who did it today who hadn’t done it was like, ‘wow, you weren’t lying. This really is an amazing ride,'” Brumbaugh said.

“It’s the flattest ride I’ve done here,” one cyclist said over a banana at the post-ride feed. Haley Dumke, who doesn’t mind climbing if it’s on the menu — she won the 2024 Davos Dash and was victorious at the Leadville Silver Rush 50 in July — agreed.

“It’s hard to find that kind of riding around here,” the 31-year-old said. “Fast, beautiful and just lovely to ride with our community today.”

Phillips also enjoyed the Eagle County camaraderie. A former professional cyclist, triathlete and duathlete, he easily maneuvered wherever he pleased in the peloton.

“I’m not a local anymore, but I feel like I was chatting with people who were familiar,” he said of conversations with members of the Vail Vixens and other local bike shops. “It was really cool to catch up with old friends.”

While traffic interruptions are essentially limited to the start of the ride, Brumbaugh felt blessed by Eagle County sheriffs’ efforts on Sept. 14. One came out on his day off to support the event and went all the way to the Colorado River Road turnoff.

“Which he didn’t have to do,” Brumbaugh added. “That’s just out of the goodness of his heart.”

“Honestly, I haven’t been particularly interested in riding (Highway) 131 by myself, so it was really nice to be with the group today and have some support from the local police,” Dumke said. “That sold me on coming out.”