Climb & Punishment

Saturday, October 7th, 2023  

Please join us for our ninth annual CLIMB & PUNISHMENT—a 66.6-mile unsupported ride that covers all kinds of terrain. It includes paved roads, dirt roads, and single track. It gains approximately one bazillion feet of elevation. Start time for 2023 will be 7am. The Start/Finish line is in the Yawp! Cyclery parking lot. The route includes the Clear Creek Path, North Table Mountain, White Ranch, Drew Hill, and Mountain Lion Trail in Golden Gate Canyon State Park. There is a lot of bike path as well as some of the most technical singletrack terrain on the front range. A mountain bike is strongly recommended for this ride.

This is a ride and not a race. There's nothing to prevent you from using a computer, though, if you want to time yourself. There will not be prizes for first place.

You must: carry a 500+ page Russian novel with you for the entire ride. It must be made of paper. No pages may be torn out. Ukrainian novels are also allowed.

Registration for 2023: We've always been proponents of riding bikes for free, but the cost of our events has increased every year, and we'd rather ask for help than stop doing them. The registration fee for C&P is $15.

Register here.

Climb & Punishment FAQ

Will the course be marked?

No. You can see the route here as well as download the .gpx track. There are some small but important changes to the course this year. If you’ve ridden this event before, be sure to download the latest route. The course is not marked, and despite being luddites ourselves, we begrudgingly admit that using a GPS device for navigation might be a good idea. The route is almost entirely off of streets, so cue sheets won't be of help. If you don't have or don't want to use a GPS device, we'll have Singletrack maps for sale at the bike shop that we'd be happy to mark the route on for you. 

Will there be an afterparty?

We will provide some beverages.

Will there be a drop bag service?

No. Feel free to hide your own stuff on course ahead of time. Sometimes we get lucky and Jeffco hasn't turned off the water fountains at the North Table Mountain trailhead for the season. Sometimes there's no water there. However, we do ride fairly close to a convenience store in Golden, once on the way out and once on the way back. There's water there, as well as yellow dye #5, bacon chips, and pickle sauce. Carrying a filter isn’t the worst idea.

What if I start but decide I can't finish? 

We understand that a variety of things can happen out there, from mechanicals to illness. If you need to abandon the ride, at the very least please call the shop to let us know. There is no sag wagon. 

How long do I have to finish the ride?

As long as you finish the ride on October 7th, you will earn a finisher’s patch. I’ll stick around the finish line for as long as I can, but I’ll likely make my way home to sleep off the punishment around 7pm.

Is this a group ride?

No. Most of the rides that we offer here at Yawp! are group rides, but because this ride is so lengthy, riders need to be able to ride at their own pace. 

Why would I do this?

Why wouldn’t you?