Bicycle Tour Colorado: Great Tour, Bad Service

Don't miss an opportunity to do some bike touring on your Rockies vacation.

Bicycle Tour Colorado (BTC) is generally accepted as the most difficult of the Rockies road cycling tours. Geared more to serious cyclists, BTC is a for profit tour that offers a supported tour that is challenging and scenic. BTC is a loop tour that will start in one city and come back to the same place, making it much more convenient for cyclists.

Don't miss an opportunity to do some bike touring on your Rockies vacation.

This particular Colorado bike tour’s popularity has dwindled over time because of poor management and a plethora of customer complaints. Having has many as 1800 registered riders a year ago (not including “crashers” who did not pay) BTC dropped to 1200 this year.

Many cyclists have felt taken advantage of by misleading meals and accommodations plans. BTC will charge you $400 for a breakfast, lunch and dinner plan that most cyclists will never receive. For one, there is no lunch offered. BTC officials combine lunch and dinner together. You get dinner at the end of the day’s ride. In the 2010 tour, after cyclists accomplished a 106 mile ride, they were offered cheap noodles and salad. Making matters worse, BTC ran out of food.

For those of us who subscribed to the meal plan and stayed in hotels, we would have had to bike clear across town just to get a third rate meal. Word of advice: if you do this tour, stay away from the meal plan. Also, their baggage and hotel delivery services have had issues in the past.

You are best off booking your own hotel, bringing your own tent and using Shuttle Guy to take your bags from place to place. Pay for registration on this tour and avoid all other services. Food vendors are at first aid stations. Or, you can bring a sandwich with you. BTC does not display food vendors on their web site, we suspect because it competes with their meal plan. Buyer beware here.
BTC’s aid stations were very good on the 2010 tour, offering a wide assortment of nutritious eats. Despite being a for profit tour, the staff is mostly volunteer. Some cyclists in the past have found the aid stations closed and/or out of water. DO carry some extra food and water on you. Medical and bike  support is offered.