A Winter Adventure In Breckenridge, Colorado: Fat Biking It

This is day three of our winter adventure in Breckenridge, Colorado, in February of 2024. We had arrived on Sunday of President’s Day Weekend in the evening and today is our second full day in the popular mountain town. You can find our arrival at: A Winter Adventure In Breckenridge, Colorado: Our Arrival.

Sunrise With A View Again

I may have taken a picture every morning as I was getting ready to start my day in Breckenridge. The Ten Mile Range on the horizon was always striking, even with white puffy clouds muting the bright blue skies.

Planning My Day

With a hot cup of coffee, I settled down at my iPad to assess which adventure I wanted to do today. Don’t get me wrong, I had done plenty of research ahead of time and had a short list of activities I wanted to embark on for the week. However, I was paying attention to things like the avalanche forecast and how I was adapting to the elevation to choose which one I wanted to try each day.

I had been hoping to do one of the snowshoe routes outside of the ski resort boundaries but being solo and with a considerable avalanche forecast, I also needed an option that did not necessitate a car. With that in mind, I opted to go with fat biking for today’s adventure and went about making breakfast and getting my daypack ready.

I mentioned yesterday that the air was super dry so today I started a habit of boiling some water on the stovetop for a few hours to add moisture into the air. It really helped a lot!

My breakfasts for the week consisted of fried eggs and spinach, something I eat regularly at home, too.

After sustenance and packing snacks and water, I headed out to walk the couple of blocks to the bus stop. I was going to take a loop that would get me close to the bike rental shop (Jefferson/French). I could have walked the mile or so but I must have subconsciously known how exhausting the day would end up being and I was saving my energy.

The type of buses in Breckenridge vary and for this route it was an old school bus outfitted to accommodate folks heading to the slopes. I was the first to get on this circuit of its route, this was about 9:30am. Clearly I was being rather leisurely on this trip, the bike shop opened at 8am so I could have gotten up earlier.

It wasn’t long before the bus started filling up with colorful skis and boards carried by folks with the stiff-legged gait one has when walking in ski and snowboard boots.

Renting A Fat Bike At Ridden

I did not have to make a reservation, Ridden had plenty of bikes to rent. It was $65 dollars for a full day (8 hours) and my only restriction was I needed to be back by the time they closed at 6pm. Seeing as sunset was well before that, my goal was closer to 4pm. This was my first time fat biking so I felt every bit like a novice but they were super friendly. After signing my life away on a liability form, having the bike seat lowered and donning a helmet, I was off.

Breckenridge To Frisco On The Blue River Rec Path

I rode down Main Street towards the center of town on the established bike lane and turned left on S. Park Ave to join the Blue River Rec Path I had been on the day before. It took me once again behind Main Street and towards City Market, continuing along past the Breckenridge Recreation Center and out of town. Up to this point, the trail alternated snow and bare pavement.

I stopped here after passing City Market to take a few layers off, this is looking back towards town.

Once I crossed Coyne Valley Road, it was all compact snow. There were a variety of people out running, dogs walking their owners and brave visitors wondering out further than most from downtown. The rec path ran along State Route 9 that runs between Breckenridge and Frisco.

Despite being so close to the road, the scenery was stunning.

At about 4.5 miles from the bike shop and a short distance before the Gold Hill Trailhead, I passed a sign reminding e-bikes it was time to turn around. I was not sure if this was because of the amount of charge on the bikes or if this was how far they would be willing to come rescue you if you needed it. Later on there would be a moment when I wished I had heeded this sign.

I stopped for a short while at the Gold Hill Trailhead at 11am, this was one of the spots I was scouting for a future snowshoe adventure. I knew this was a part of the Colorado Trail and thus a part of the Continental Divide Trail. Why not spend a little time on what was surely a beautiful area?

The trail continues on north basically to Canada and beyond but there is a junction for the Peaks Trail that could make a loop back to the ski resort and Breckenridge proper.

Around 11:20 am, the rec path left the highway, wove through a few homes and buildings, back under the highway and began to round the Blue River section of the Dillon Reservoir on the Dillon Reservoir Rec Path. I was glad to have Colorado Trail Explorer to help me navigate where the bike path was supposed to go!

I was also glad that the trail was groomed because as soon as you step off you are knee deep in snow. Belle Barbie is demonstrating in this photo and in the next you can see the holes I made to take her picture.

As I approached the town of Frisco, the beginning of the Ten Mile Range came into view with Peaks 1, 2, 3, etc.

The trail also gained and lost some elevation.

From here the trail runs close to the Frisco Nordic Center which for the most part is private (has a fee). Because it was a bit hard to tell where the “free” trail continued I ended up on the road (Recreation Way) briefly to avoid breaking the rules but ended up reconnecting on the other side of the Nordic center building.

The rec path continued into Frisco and then along the Ten Mile Creek section of Dillon Reservoir. This was rather industrial unless you were looking out at the water and mountains. I stopped a few times for pictures, snacks and water. I could see the rec path would take me on a loop on the north end of Frisco close to I-70 so I did that before turning around for the return trip. I was feeling pretty good and it was about 13 miles so far.

Leaving the loop (the Frisco Rec Path), I decided to take a slight detour for the return trip so I turned up E. Main Street to W. Main Street and connected with the Vail Pass/Ten Mile Canyon Rec Path. My thought was that I would avoid the Nordic center and the rather steep hill up from there. This turned out to be quite the adventure because unlike the previous trails, it was not groomed and relied on users to compact the snow.

All was good until it became a foot wide path about halfway before I was supposed to reconnect with the Dillon Reservoir Rec Path. Anything to the left or right was sink city.

I was game for a while until I kept falling over into the pow so I cut off through the Summit Medical Center parking lot to connect back up with the Dillon Reservoir Rec Path.

Making a wrong turn somewhere in the back side of the trail system of the Nordic center, I found myself looking down to where I wanted to be. It may have been an attempt at a short cut but it did not work to my favor!

I briefly contemplated throwing the bike off the side and sliding down on my butt but since it wasn’t my bike I recalibrated and turned around, going back to find where I had made my mistake. Needless to say, I was starting to tire at this point. I was 18 miles in and still had to ride 8+ more miles back to Breckenridge. And it was an uphill incline.

One of the things I now know about fat biking on groomed trails is that early in the day the snow is firm and you sail along. However later in the day, say after 1pm, the snow is soft and not your friend. Especially when you are 18 miles and almost 4 hours into your ride.

That was the longest 9 miles I have ever ridden, it took me over 2 hours to get back to the bike shop. I stopped multiple times and even took breaks by pushing the bike. It was a real struggle and at times I wished for a local friend I could call to rescue me. Anyone with a truck?? But I suffered through and I was never more glad than when I finally got into town enough that there were at least patches of bare pavement.

Another rest break, there was interesting art pieces along the path to justify a picture stop.

I dropped the bike off back at the shop a little after 4pm, exhausted. The total mileage was almost 27 miles with 1044 feet in gain. Then it was time to walk back to the condo, I didn’t want to wait for the bus and had mentally been motivating myself with a stop at the Breckenridge Market that was between there and the condo. This is what my body made me buy:

I just drank one kombucha, had a scoop of ice cream and promptly took a nap.

Dinner At The Tin Plate

Around 6pm, the kiddo and I walked down a few blocks and put our names in at the Tin Plate. The restaurant had come up in my search for restaurants that offered gluten free options and we only had to wait about 20 minutes or so before being seated.

I had the Tender Greens Salad with pistachios, dried cherries and goat cheese,

and the Chicken, Pancetta, and Ranch pizza on gluten free crust that was clearly not a generic cauliflower crust pulled out of the freezer. The menu was not labeled for dietary concerns but it did say most things could be made gluten and dairy free by request.

The kiddo had pepperoni, par for the course. Everything was generous and full of flavor and we also had plenty of leftovers to take home for lunch the next day.

Both of us were pooped so we headed home after dinner. My favorite part of walking at night in Breckenridge was that the trees are decorated with lights everywhere, so festive with the snow! With hearts and tummies full from another wonderful day, we settled back into our condo for the night. Or should I say, I fell into bed sore and depleted but ready to do it again tomorrow.