Tour of the Moon
We don’t generally feature tours on other planets, but we’ll make an exception for the Tour of the Moon.
OK, it’s not really on the Moon – it’s in Colorado. Between 1980 and 1988, a stage of the Coors International Bicycle Classic race was held in Colorado National Monument — a ride coined “tour of the moon” because of its otherworldly monument scenery.
The new Tour of the Moon is not a race, but a one-day tour which will raise money for two nonprofit organizations. A website with information regarding February registration should be up and running by Feb. 1, said Scot Harris of Rocky Mountain Events, who is promoting the bike tour along with Mike Heaston of Event Marketing.
There are two different routes from which to choose: The “classic” Tour of the Moon is a 41-mile course that starts in downtown Grand Junction at Two Rivers Convention Center, enters the east entrance of the monument, exits through the west entrance and then returns to the convention center. The other, 62-mile extended course includes an additional 21 miles through Fruita’s farmland area. It will also begin and end at Two Rivers in Grand Junction. Cost is $110, of which $10 will be split between two nonprofit organizations, the Riverfront Commission and Bicycle Colorado, an advocacy group for Colorado cyclists. We’ll provide more details as they’re available.