If there were one summertime activity to match the thrill of skiing or snowboarding, it’s charging down the mountain on two wheels. Not only is biking the answer to your high alpine adrenaline craving, but also the best way for families to explore the area and friends to get around town.
Mountain biking/fat tire biking
Oh the dirt, how we love it! Breckenridge is one of the world’s rare places where you can ride continuous singletrack and doubletrack for hours without seeing a trace of paved road. From the Colorado Trail to the endless spider web of trails along Gold Run Road and Sally Barber to the glorious views and spurs from Boreas Pass, you can grind nothing but dirt all day, every day.
Downhill biking
Did someone mention grind? Stop right there. If you want none of the lung-busting effort of pedaling uphill and would rather have a machine do the work of transporting you to the starting point where gravity is on your side, perhaps Peak 8 is the place for you. It’s free to take a bike to the base of Peak 8 on the BreckConnect Gondola and from there, bike hauls on the chairlifts start at $11 (for a single ride up the short Rip’s Ride) to a $34 unlimited day pass on the Colorado SuperChair, offering access to about 10 singletrack trails of varying difficulty, meandering through pines and over streams down the mountain.
Bike rental: Situated conveniently within a few steps of the BreckConnect Gondola on the north end of Main Street, Elevation is the place to rent burly downhill, Enduro and Fat mountain bikes as well as kids bikes, path bikes and trailers.
Lodging: About a half-mile up the road from the BreckConnect Gondola and the ideal end point after a ride down the mountain, look no further than One Breckenridge Place. These luxury, three-bedroom townhomes feature vaulted living rooms, private hot tubs, one-car garages, access to outdoor heated pools and are a mere two blocks from Main Street.
Biking around town
With the majority of its restaurants and bars situated along or near Main Street, Breckenridge is delightfully walkable. But if you want to hit a handful of happy hours in a short, two-hour window, pedaling is the best way to make it happen. Not only can you easily cruise the patios on Main Street (we recommend Kenosha Steak House or The Crown for sun-soaked happy hour spots), but also quickly zip up to Ridge Street for a small plate at Twist. A bike is the obvious means to reach the Breckenridge Brewery on the south end of town or locals’ favorite Broken Compass Brewery just outside of town.
Lodging: Naturally, you want to have the easiest possible access to your bar destinations. So here’s Brittany Place, a three-story private home that comfortable sleeps 11 people in three bedrooms, complete with private outdoor hot tub (soak til the wee hours after your bar cruise!) and situated smack in the middle of Main Street, directly across from the starting point of your happy hour tour, the delectable and iconic food haven, Blue River Bistro.
Family biking
While riding down the mountain can be harrowing, there are plenty of gentler routes around town suitable for families, including the rolling, wide-open Blue River recreation path that runs between Breck and Frisco. For families that want to put their fat tires to the test, there is a dirt singletrack that runs alongside the river itself, presenting an opportunity to ramp up skills riding over small roots and rocks on a relatively flat surface (not easy to find around here!).
Lodging: The Corral offers ideal lodging for families interested in biking. Located in a quiet neighborhood on the south end of Main Street, the townhome-style, two and three-bedroom units are equipped with full kitchens, fun Western-style décor and private patios or decks. Some units come with grills, private hot tubs and breathtaking mountain views and all guests are welcome use the outdoor hot tubs, steam sauna and game room.
Bike Rental: The Corral is also within a few steps of Charter Sports, which rents a broad spectrum of bikes ranging from high-end road bikes and full suspension mountain bikes to comfort bikes and kid-sized bikes. Families inclined to push their own thrill button will also want to look into Charter Sports’ Vail Pass Bike Tour, which involves a shuttle ride to the top of Vail Pass and swift but gradual plunge down 3,000 vertical feet on the bike path to the pick-up point in Frisco.