Routt County is why people ship a road bike to Steamboat. Paved county roads with ranch traffic instead of commuter traffic, a valley floor at 6,700 feet that makes sea level feel like cheating, and one genuine mountain pass with a shoulder on it. Escape Chalet sleeps 10 across 4 ensuite bedrooms, and the bikes sleep in the heated two-car garage rather than the driveway. These three days run 30 to 45 miles each; the last one goes to 75 if the group has it.
Paved, flat, and it follows the Yampa most of the way. Fifteen miles round trip is the honest first ride at 6,700 feet, and it is easy to join and leave anywhere along its length.
South on CR 14 (River Road) around Lake Catamount until the pavement ends. Ski Haus files this one under “great lunchtime ride”, which is exactly what it is: relatively flat, fast, and back before anyone is tired.
Ski Haus keeps its bike shop at 1450 Pine Grove Road, four minutes from the chalet, with the largest rental fleet in town if something arrived broken. Orange Peel Bicycle Service at 1901 Curve Plaza is the valley’s service bench.
Wood-fired pizza and good beer on Yampa Street, in a room that will take a group in bike kit without blinking.
Eat & DrinkMountain Tap BrewerySee it in the guide →The valley’s signature moderate day. Roll out from the Howelsen Ice Arena, head south on CR 14, climb Yellow Jacket Pass, drop past Stagecoach Reservoir, and come home through Oak Creek Canyon. Rolling ranchland the whole way and almost nothing behind you.
The hot tub seats ten and sits at 102F, which is the whole group at once. If somebody wants the better version, Strawberry Park is a twenty-minute drive up a dirt road and worth it.
ActivityRecharge at Strawberry Park Hot SpringsSee it in the guide →Prime rib and a salad bar on Pine Grove Road. Unfashionable, enormous, and precisely what a group wants after four decent climbs.
Eat & DrinkOre House at the Pine GroveSee it in the guide →East on US 40 to the West Summit and back. It is the biggest sustained climb in the valley, topping out over 9,400 feet, with Lake Catamount and the Flat Tops behind you and a good shoulder the whole way - which is not true of most roads here.
West on 13th Street onto CR 33 (Twentymile Road), four climbs, and an optional extension via CR 27 through Oak Creek Canyon. Twentymile is the local favourite: rolling, well surfaced, and almost empty.
North on CR 129 alongside the Elk River past Clark, with Sand Mountain and Hahns Peak opening up ahead. Turnarounds at 36, 49, 62 and 73.5 miles, so the group can split and still ride the same road. Shoulders are minimal - this is the one you ride single file.
A homey cafe and bakery on Lincoln Avenue. The cinnamon rolls are the reason to go, and after seventy-five miles nobody is counting.
Eat & DrinkWinona's RestaurantSee it in the guide →Escape Chalet sits in the mountain district at the base of Mount Werner, a flat ten-minute walk from the gondola, with the free Green Line bus stopping 50 feet from the door.
Four ensuite bedrooms, sleeps 10, ten minutes' walk from the gondola. Two dogs stay free when you book direct, and the Pup Package is included.