Travels of The Mercury: 2017 Travels, Bicycling Dillon Reservoir, Vail Pass and Breckenridge, CO

Our view from Peak One Campground across the reservoir to Frisco.

This is our second visit to Dillon Reservoir to bicycle the bike paths. The paved paths offer great scenery and bicycling. The communities of Frisco, Dillon and Silver Thorn offer good restaurants and shopping. It's a short bike ride to Frisco if you want to eat out.

Our favorite campground is Peak One, a White River National Forest Campground right on Dillon Reservoir. A primitive respite in the middle of the bustling towns that surround the lake. There's another Forest Service campground on the north side of the lake but it's near the freeway and noisy. This one is the best and has more room and was just right for our van. There are no hookups,but flush toilets, water and dump station, and good internet. The cost was $24.45 per night or $14 with the Senior Pass. We paid a $10 transaction fee to make our reservations on line. This campground will be full on the weekends.

Peak One Campground has widely spaced sites and mountain views even though it's in the middle of lake side communities.

We planned on riding all the paved bike paths. The best ride is to Vale Pass, a 30-mile round-trip from the campground with a 1500 ft. altitude gain. The trail goes through the Copper Mountain Ski Resort.

At the beginning of the climb to Vail Pass.

Arriving at the Copper Mountain Ski Basin.

Arriving at the Copper Mountain Ski Basin. Ski runs are on the right.

After we rode through the ski resort we began encountering people of all ages from old folks to little kids riding down the mountain. Most were riding cruiser bikes. We couldn't imagine how all these people rode to the pass, especially the little kids, and were already riding back down the mountain. The answer was at the pass. There are several bike rental companies in Frisco. They rent the bikes, bus the people to Vail Pass and let them loose to cruise back down the mountain.

The section of the bike path between Copper Mountain Ski Basin and Vail Pass is the steepest and requires some bike handling ability. We saw people with varying skills. One little guy riding behind his Dad down the path was dragging his shoes for brakes. Bet those soles were well worn by the time he got back to the lodge. I was imagining the soles starting to smoke. Another girl went flying off the path when she didn't make a curve. Our bike skills came in handy trying to avoid all these people as we climbed the pass. So be forewarned if you ride the Vail Pass.

Here we are at Vail Pass.

The next day we rode our favorite flat ride on the bike path that circumvents Dillion Reservoir. It was 32 miles starting from Peak One Campground, around the lake, a steep climb around the shoulder of Swan Mountain (not flat), up to Breckenridge and back to Peak One. It's a terrifically fun ride.