The Bicycle Adventure Club - Come Ride With Us!

Durango Fandango 2017

July 30th to August 5th

Ride Director: Thomas Rossman
Ride Co-Director: Peggy Rossman
Report by: Mary Rudolf

To quote Larry Shiller poem about the 2016 Durango Fandango:

We found this strange BAC ride called Durango Fandango

Not a waltz or foxtrot, samba, cha-cha, rumba or even tango

Or maybe it’s an app for buying movie tickets there,

So I googled it to figure out if it was worth the fare.

Fandango: A provocative Spanish courtship dance in triple time, no less

Performed by a man and woman playing castanets.

This trip was spectacular...even without the castanets!

We had four days of riding in ‘drop to your knees’ beautiful terrain. We were close to the Four Corners area so we rode north, south, east and west on the ride days. Each ride was unique, with rolling terrain, challenging climbs and amazing downhills. The rides took us to Bakers Bridge, Wildcat Canyon, near Vallecito reservoir and the southern route La Posta Road that surprised us by being basically downhill both directions! The majority of riders didn’t make it all the way to Vallecito Reservoir but those who did found some unexpected construction. Peggy and Tom made a quick change of plans and relocated the picnic we were going to have at the reservoir back to Durango at the City Park alongside the bike path trail system. It worked out perfectly and we were back to our hotel before the rain started that afternoon!

The town of Durango is so rich with history of the early mining operations and life in southwestern Colorado. We all enjoyed a very special day with the narrow-gauge train ride from Durango to Silverton that is a classic attraction for this area. We had the Silver Vista glass-topped car which gave us the best views as the train made its way to Silverton along the Animas River thru areas that you can’t get to by automobile.

The train trip took 3 ½ hours, 6 tons of coal and lots of water. The town of Silverton is filled with history of the people and the mining operations. The Silverton museum is very impressive with the collections of tools, equipment, clothing, rocks, gemstones and displays that showed how life was in this small Colorado town in the late 1880s.

The museum also houses the original county jail. There is so much history including stories of some of the tom-foolery that went on in the Wild, Wild West that ended with a stay in one of the cells. The restaurant/bar named The Pickle Barrel is in one of the original buildings of Silverton and is designated a historical site. The Pickle Barrel had the BEST buffalo wings I’ve ever eaten!

Some of the group toured the Roundhouse Museum in Durango. It is filled with railroad cars, miniature train displays, a telegraph machine, firefighter equipment and tools and other historical displays too numerous to mention. There is music, shopping, really great places to eat and 6 local craft beer breweries.

The weather was perfect, the rides were wonderful, and the town was truly full of excitement and adventure.

Submitted by:

Mary Rudolf