Why book a guided gravel and mountain bike ride in Steamboat Springs?

• We tailor the route to your ability level, current conditions, and your desired riding experience. For someone visiting a new area or for a rider looking to improve their skills, this removes a major barrier of not knowing what you are getting into while making the most of your time on the bike.

• Our pre-ride interview is all about listening to your needs, fears, and excitement for your ride with us. Based on that interview we will come ready to incorporate the right level of professional instruction, local perspective, along with getting you onto the best terrain.

• We are a permitted outfitter by the City of Steamboat Springs for Emerald Mountain trails and follow all permitting requirements for commercial activities in US Forest service public lands.

Our Focus Is Your Experience

After 20+ years working in the bike industry I’ve concluded there is not a shortage of experts and quite the opposite it’s easy to find the best bike mechanics, promoters putting on [insert superlatives] events, and manufacturers developing the latest cutting edge products.

However getting an hour of professional and undivided attention to help you have a better riding experience and answer a range of questions can be difficult. Ride Workshop’s vision is to fill that need for support and positive experience with an inclusive and non-judgmental space backed by the level of support you choose.

Thoughts On Community Impact

New trails, new events, and cycling businesses (like Ride Workshop) should be considered ‘development’. As such I take to heart many of the concerns that I am hearing from riders and non riders alike about the impact of new guided services. As we roll out we will be mitigating our impact with the following guidelines –

• Our rides on Emerald are only offered weekdays between 8am and 5pm and are limited to 5 total riders (1 to 2 is our target size). We’ll never be operating on weeknights or weekends as the trails are already packed creating a bad experience for our clients and more trail congestion for locals enjoying their trails.

• All guided rides includes an etiquette component to educate on the importance of rules for sharing trails and roads. As a trail runner and someone who grew up with horses, this is hugely important to me and trail/road conflict seems ever present.

• While our gravel roads will survive a few more riders, the Emerald trails are under immense pressure from more rider traffic requiring frequent maintenance. As part of our permitting with the city of Steamboat Springs, we are limited in how many sessions we can offer in a season (200), how many can go each day (1 per day), and how many times we can ride down NPR (1 a day). Additionally $5 per rider fee goes back to the city on top of our commitment to yearly contributions to the Trail Maintenance Endowment fund.