The Perfect Fall Activity – E-Biking!

10/11/18 By: Mark Grattan

It was the perfect day to be outside. Four of us decided to cut out of work a little early and get our fill of the 70-degree weather, unlimited sunshine and golden fall colors. We wanted to do something different and a little adventurous. Our office is on Main Street in the heart of Breckenridge, and right across the street is Craniologie,  a local helmet and goggle shop that offers a really great selection of gear to keep your head safe while doing all kinds of adventure sports. They also rent e-bikes, and we’ve always seen the line of bikes they keep out in front of the store. So, we decided to rent them and head up to the top of Boreas Pass.

After the folks at Craniologie checked us out and gave us the rundown on how to use them (they are super easy to operate), we took off. In just a few minutes we felt like pros as we were zipping along Park Avenue towards the south end of town.

We rented Pedego Interceptor cruiser bikes and a Pedego Ridge Rider mountain bike. These are Class 2 bikes, meaning they offer pedal assist electric power and a have throttle that you can use to propel the bike forward. One important thing to note is that e-bikes are not allowed on the recreation paths in Breckenridge, so keep them on the road. These bikes are powerful and can reach speeds on flats up to 20 miles per hour. It is about ten miles and a couple thousand vertical feet to the top of Boreas Pass from our office. The bikes are heavier than normal bikes, so it is a great feeling when the motor kicks in. We found that the pedal assist was more than enough to propel the bike. The throttle was not necessary as it didn’t make the bikes go any faster, but it was a lot of fun to just crank it and let it go.

The first real test came when we started to climb up Boreas Pass Road just past the Stephen C West Ice Arena. The road climbs considerably and the bikes performed amazingly. It’s fair to say we really didn’t break a sweat and were able to maintain speeds of about 15 mph heading up the hill.

After a couple of miles, the road turns into gravel, which can be rough in spots. The bikes did great though, easily handling the bumps and pot holes of the road as we kept going. We stopped often to enjoy the views and amazing fall colors on the lower sections of the road.

After a while, the trees thinned out a little and the mountains started closing in. We reached the top in good time and were struck by the beauty of Baldy Mountain and the views into Park County.  At the top of the pass there is a Summit Hut and historic structure called the Section House. Built in 1882, the Section House served as a way station to house the railroad men and their families who took care of a section of the Denver South Park & Pacific narrow-gauge railway that ran from Denver to Leadville over Boreas Pass. There is also a little museum called Highline Railroad Park at the base of Boreas Pass Road, which houses some of the railroad engines including a rotary snowplow engine that braved the treacherous mountain pass back in the day. This is worth a stop on the way up or down.

Eventually we had to turn back and go down into town. We were able to reach some impressive speeds on the way down and had so much fun.

It was such a great change of pace for us, and we can’t wait to try it again. We highly recommend e-biking. The next time you are up in Breckenridge, stop by Craniologie and rent some e-bikes. There are a lot of back roads that go to incredible places, all easily accessible from Breckenridge.