It's been called the most beautiful highway in the world. That, as with most things, can be left to debate. What's not debatable, however, is that the Beartooth Highway, which runs from Red Lodge Montana to Cooke City Montana via Wyoming, is a great place to ride a bike.
I had the opportunity to ride part of the highway to the summit on my way west to the Tour de Blast. Back in the day I had led backcountry skiing trips in the area but had never been there in the summer, let alone with my bike. So when I made plans with the other Keepers to join them for the TdB, Frank suggested I detour south of the interstate to ride the Beartooth. Frank's suggestions, at least when it comes to cycling, are usually spot-on so I took him up on it.
I passed through Red Lodge, 5500 feet (1697m), and drove the highway to Cooke City, 7572 feet (2307m), the evening before my ride. This was a good opportunity to see what I was in for the next day. The road starts its ascent to 10,947 feet (3344m) right off the end of the main drag in Red Lodge. The road surface is phenomally smooth new blacktop which is barely wide enough for two cars to pass without pulling in the side mirrors. This was the case for 80 km over the pass and down about 1/3 of the other side. Thirty kilometers down on the Cooke City side of the pass, the road was under construction for about a 15 or 20 km stretch. Heavy equipment and road workers had the road torn up to one dirt lane for most of this stretch. It was at this point I had to make a decision. I either had to turn back and ride the Red Lodge side or drive back up through the construction in the morning and start the ride about 25 km short at the Top of the World Resort, 9400 feet (2865m) and ride to the summit from there.
I opted to drive back up from Cooke City in the morning. Although it meant considerably less riding it allowed me to ride the much more scenic side of the road. It's not that the Red Lodge side is hard on the eyes it's just the Cooke City side stays in the high alpine environment longer and is more dramatic. This side of the road is also steeper which I thought would be a more interesting test for my flatlander legs. As it turned out, the flatlander legs did fine on the average 10% grade. It was the flatlander lungs trying to suck oxygen at altitude that challenged me. I didn't remember being as winded during my backcountry skiing career. All it took was a glance at my right thigh and I was up the road without a problem.
The ride was spectacular. It was not a stretch for my simple mind to imagine myself riding the Passo di Gavia as I passed through corridors of snowbanks 3 meters high. Marmots stood and watched me pass by from their rocky perches. Tourists gave me strange looks and even snapped pictures as they drove slowly past in their climate-controlled SUV's (I was the only cyclist on the road that day for some strange reason). My Beartooth experience even came full circle as I saw a couple skiers hiking a ridge getting ready to earn their turns on an early summer corn harvest.
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All in all I'd love to go back and do it again from both sides and from the bottom. As it turned out, it was the perfect yin to the Tour de Blast's yang four days later. What the TdB lacked in weather and views, Beartooth Pass more than made up for in both categories. However, the TdB provided for great commeraderie with friends which was lacking on my solo ride up Beartooth. No worries, it's a rare day that all the pieces of a perfect ride come together and this day was, for me, as good as cycling gets.
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@frank You see Frank because I am American and have no education nor the burden of white imperialist colonial superiority ("Dutch == Awesome; Awesome == Always right; Frank == Dutch Frank == Always Right.") and therefore no reason not to say I do not understand any part of your thesis except that you like doping!
I'm automatically with Marko on this one and I have yet to suffer the joy of a road trip with you!
@Rob@frank
I dunno, lads: I might need a really big grant to get all that gear. And then I'll likely need a team of riders for the tests, complete with training sessions in Europe"”oh, and some really sweet team kit. I wonder where I could find all that...
@Steampunk
I'd start by posting your idea over on RoadBike Review. There might be some lads interested in that type of thing over there.
Oh, wait...
@Steampunk Uh, well, trial test run on the Keepers 2011 tour Belgium and final tests on the Velominati 2011 tour in Montana - Wyoming?
@Rob
Now, why didn't I think of that?
@Steampunk, @Rob, @Marko
And, for authenticity, we'll also need to full wool Velominati kits for the 1930's bike testing.
Steampunk, you get the grant, I'll get started straight away on the wool kits.
I rode Beartooth to the west summit from Red Lodge last summer. I live at 20 ft of elevation. The summit of that is at 10950 or so. It was insane. 4 hours to get up, 1.25 hours to get down. So much fun. I might drive back up there this summer. I love it up there.
Awesome post, and well ridden. For those of us who follow your site in Europe, and who aspire to be Velominati one day, when we're all grown up and have outgrown our mid-life crises.... it's great to hear that you have some big rides out there across the pond. We have it spoilt here in Europe (admittedly, not really in the UK) with the Giro, Vuelta and Tour... the roads in the pyrenees, alps and dolomites are literally smeared with pedigree (I think it's pedigree... it might be ectoplasm, or at least processed EPO... that's if you can get past the crudely painted cocks and 'Lance go home' motifs) that you never feel like your climbing the hills for the first time. Your photos were great... really captured the sense of space, fresh air and solitude... Chapeau! And loved the sentence "All it took was a glance at my right thigh and I was up the road without a problem".... I rode the etape course two weeks ago, in the rain, and mid-way up the Soulor met the witch with green teeth - or was it the Man with the Hammer? (ok, I bonked, really badly)... for the first time in my cycling career, I had to dismount mid-climb, and stand - gasping, panting - over my frame, humiliated, whilst one of my cycling 'buddies' just rode past and whispered "Harden the fuck up, loser".... if only I'd had the bib shorts to remind me - when I looked down - of rule 5, I'm sure I'd've been ok.... luckily, several hot chocolates, gel bars, and humble-pies later (no longer was I the victor of Ventoux I was in 2009) I managed to find my balls again (they'd fallen out and were caught in my jersey pocket next to my driving licence and pump) and the ride the remaining 80k to the summit of the Tourmalet: in fog, in rain, in the dark. Those bastard French. Those Pyrenees are big buggers, and the weather sucks. VERY jealous of your ride and photos. I must go and train harder, as I obviously haven't earned the right to climb in good weather. (Did I mention the hail? the HAIL on Hautacam? In June? Those wankers)... but watch July 22nd: it is going to be an epic stage
@roadslave
Thanks for the compliments roadslave but I must say your comment probably has at least 300k of more climbing than my post. Great comment "I think it's pedigree... it might be ectoplasm, or at least processed EPO... that's if you can get past the crudely painted cocks and 'Lance go home' motifs". Next time I'm over in the Beartooth I'm bringing some white spray paint for a huge dick and balls. But I'll save some for the summit so I can paint "roadslave is hard".
@Steampunk
I have an upcoming post that you'll be interested vis-a-vis cycling history in the Mountain West (25th bicycle corps, 1890s). Could be a few weeks while I dot the i's and cross the t's on the dissertation (first things first). Coincidentally, I am also an environmental historian and historian of science...email at josh at velominati dot com and lemme know who you really are. Maybe we can bring bikes to Phoenix next spring...