Ridge of the Rockies Tour - Day 0

The Ridge of the Rockies begins in Albuquerque NM and follows the Rocky Mountains north for almost 1800 miles to end in Kalispell MT on July 25.  PAC Tour (owned and operated by Lon Haldeman and his wife Susan Notorangelo) has been offering this popular mountainous tour for over 30 years (not every year), and has run it in both directions.

Today involved rider check in, bike assembly, a shakedown ride, meeting, and send off meal.  It was great to get reacquainted with some folks we had met on previous tours.

At the rider meeting, Lon emphasized that the first few days are designed to be a little less demanding and not to start out fast, but take it easy and build up to tougher days.  In spite of this advice, there are always a few riders who push it too soon and regret it later, forgetting that 55 - 70 year old bodies take more time to recover.  I plan to ride with my good riding buddy Jack from Fort Collins CO, as we spent many miles together on the 2016 Northern Transcontinental.

Crew members set up for check in

L to R: Susan, Lon (at truck), Zoe, Phil

The lunch van and trailer

Retta Deane updating a bulletin board.

Inside the lunch trailer

One of the few steel bikes on tour - a custom fillet brazed model

Charlie, Bob and Lon discussing previous events

Heading back on the bike trail to complete the shakedown ride

The bike/pedestrian trail runs along the Rio Grande