From May through October, hundreds of riders of all shapes and ages gather on the last Tuesday of the month for the Golden Cruise. With music, costumes and good spirits, the bike pack cruises Golden bringing smiles to riders and passersby alike.
Golden has been long associated with bicycling, dating from the 1980's when Golden's Coors Brewing Company sponsored the Coors Classic Bicycle Race. The Coors Classic came to be the world's fourth largest bicycle stage race, and it was the first major race to include women racers. Much of the 1985 bicycle cult film American Flyers, starring Kevin Costner, featured the Coors Classic (dubbed the "Hell of the West" in the film), with scenes shot in and around Golden.
In 2011, Golden hosted the final stage start of the inaugural USA Pro Cycling Challenge, as world-class professional cycling returned to the USA and Colorado for the first time since the last Coors Classic in 1988. The race circled through Golden three times before heading for the finish line in Denver. The event was a spectacular local success, and Golden was selected to host a stage start in the 2012 race as well. Racers traveled from Golden to Boulder and eventually to a mountaintop finish at the top of Flagstaff Mountain. The Pro Challenge bypassed Golden in 2013, but passed through Golden and up Lookout Mountain on the way from a Boulder start to a Denver finish in 2014. In 2015, Golden once again took its rightful place as host to the final stage start. The USA Pro Challenge will not be staged in 2016, but is expected to return to Colorado (and hopefully to Golden) in the summer of 2017.
Miles of trails connect Golden's neighborhoods to one another and to all parts of the Denver metropolitan area. A popular route into Golden from Denver, Wheat Ridge and other points east is the Clear Creek Trail, a paved bike and pedestrial path that leads visitors straight into the heart of Golden for a day of fun, exercise and enjoyment. For mountain bikers, a bike skills park with a downhill flow trail, bi-directional access trail, skills area, beginner pump track rollers, berm turns and table-top jumps opened in 2010.
On June 22, 2016, a bike library will open at the Golden Visitors Center at 1010 Washington Avenue. Visitors will be able to check out bikes in various shapes and configurations. The first two hours are free, and rent after that is nominal. For hours, prices and details, click here
There are four bike shops in Golden: Big Ring Cycles, the Golden Bike Shop, Peak Cycles, and Pedal Pushers Cyclery.
