Morgul-Bismarck

The Morgul-Bismarck Loop is a popular cycling route or stage south of Boulder, Colorado. It was featured in the bygone Red Zinger Bicycle Classic and Coors International Bicycle Classic, and is still commonly ridden today. Riders who have traversed the stage include Greg LeMond and Davis Phinney. The course was also used by the Red Zinger Mini Classics youth road bicycle racing series from 1981-1992.

The loop is 13.1 miles (21.1 km), and includes undulating terrain and several steep inclines, including "the wall", which is located at the south terminus of McCaslin Boulevard where it intersects with State Highway 128. "The wall" is a one-mile gradual incline that increases to a 12% grade.

In the days of the Coors Classic, which folded in 1988, riders would circuit the loop eight times and culminate with a dramatic sprint to the top of "the wall", which has been attested as a very painful stretch and the source of the climb's name. Back then, the route traversed open prairie land which is now largely developed by Superior, Colorado. Many cyclists lament the encroachment of urban sprawl onto one of the world's favorite stages, but most cyclists seem unfettered as they continue to ride Morgul-Bismarck to this day. The city of Superior has made an effort to this effect by furnishing most of McCaslin Boulevard with a widened shoulder and designated bicycle lane as of 2007.

"Morgul" and "Bismark" were the names of Lynn Pettyjohn's (the race organizer) dog and cat respectively.

After the Coors Classic ended, Randy Gaffney, Davis Phinney, Ron Kiefel and Art Allen opened the shop on University Hill in Boulder, called 'Morgul Bismark Bicycles'. Following the closure of the bicycle shop, Rainbow Cyclecraft of Niwot purchased the rights to the Morgul-Bismark name from Phinney, and produced bicycles from 1998 to 2002.

In the 1985 film "American Flyers", the first race in the film was shot on location at the Morgul-Bismark.

Both spellings of Bismark were used in various years of the Coors Classic.

External links

* [http://www.trailcentral.com/gps/gps_details.php?key=101 Morgul-Bismarck at TrailCentral.com]
* [http://web.dailycamera.com/recreation/getout/sum00/morgul.html Best of Get Out! article at Daily Camera]
* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088707/ American Flyers (1985)]