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Grapevine Road summit(u)
This is Denver's unlikely
close-to-the-city quasi gravel climb. I say quasi,
because every second year it seems to me like they
tried to pave it, ie with a very rough surface.
And then every other year, they dump sand on it
again, and I'm not sure if it's a gravel road or a
sand road. So that it explains, why on the "rides"
page, I sometimes put the same ride under "paved",
and sometimes under "partially unpaved" -
definitely a judgement call though. Still - this
little road seems to become more popular with
cyclists every year. Even bike clubs run rides
over it, see the picture page for an example (link
on top of page).
This is one of my favorite
summits in the Denver area, despite the surface.
Besides it's great on a mountain bike too. It's
the fastest way to escape from metro traffic into
hills with more picturesque houses, sometimes
fronted by old car wrecks and the occasional
broken trampolin or snowmobile, the closest thing
to an American hilltown. That's the Idledale side
anyway. The Genesse side is quite another story.
And on the Ideldale side too, uncontrolled wealth
is encroaching. I wonder how much longer this
unique road will be allowed to exist. Oh I almost
forgot, it's a nice climbing workout too.
From South. Two separate Grapevine Roads,
south east and south west, leave Bear Creek Canyon
in Idledale. The junctions on Bear Creek Canyon
are signed, but it is easy to miss the eastern
junction. If coming down Bear Creek Canyon this is
a test to shift from highest to lowest gear in the
shortest amount of time. The climb through the backyards of Idledale
housing is - for me - the most intersting part of
the ride. This road has more curves than most
roads up to a castle on a hill. But there is no
castle on a hill. Instead the road provides
interesting insights into various lifestyles, as
well as automobile and garden maintenance
procedures. When you live like this, no matter in
what country or civilization, you become more
protective of your privacy, at least when you are
close to a city, and my experience here
corroborates this. The road is paved till beyond
the junction of the two Grapevines, then a very
short section of dirt (sometimes), you may even
detect a wave of washboard or two - or then again
it may be just one big pothole, but then quickly
becomes hard medalled. Approaching the top the
housing style adjacent to the road reverts back to
the recently built antiseptic entrance gate
variety.
From North. A short descent skirts more
recently built housing developments at a safe
distance. The cars on this side seem to be shinier
too. A very small climb is necessary to connect to
the I70 service roads. The Paradise Road approach
to Lookout
Mountain Road(sh) is just a few yards uphill
from here. Otherwise it's a fast straight roll
down Mount Vernon Canyon back to the usual
traffic.
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Approaches
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