Colorado 500, any info?

The 500 is a blast. Rode it for the first time this year and I will be back. It is not really much like an enduro in that you're not racing. It is five days of as much riding as you want. Wally Dallenback (organizer) sets up destinations for each day. You basically wake up in the morning and they tell you to be in Ouray by dark. How you get there is completely up to you. There are numerous skill levels riding so it is easy to hook up with a group that fits your desires. You can then ride the road, jeep roads, two track or the gnarliest single track that Colorado has to offer (my prefrence). When you do pull in your stuff is waiting for you at your hotel (hard to beat that!). Last year the schedule was from Basalt (Wally's ranch) to Crested Butte. Day Two Crested Butte to Ouray. Day Three- Mellow sightseeing around Ouray/Telluride. Day- Four Ouray Back to Crested Butte (New trails of course). Day five-Crested Butte to Snowmass. Best of all, the ride is a charity event so when the costs are covered the rest of your entry fee goes to local charities. Sounds too good to be true? Well it kind of is, you have to know someone who has been on the ride at least three times for them to invite you. Unfortunately I can't help you as I was a "rookie" this year. Ask your friend who told you about it to invite you are see if he knows someone who has. Best of Luck-If you get invited, its a no-brainer!!!!

I hear it's pricey too. $1000 or so? Course it's tax deductable!

Could be wrong

The cost was $820 this year not bad for fives days of supported riding.

I don't believe the CO 500 is an enduro. It is an invitation-only dual sport ride last time I checked. There may be a different CO DS ride that you could enter that is a multi-day event.

Check out the AMA web site for a listing of the two day ISDE qualifiers. www.ama-cycle.org Our club is putting one on this year. The Ohio one is definately worth the trip, if the weather cooperates. Most of these have "clubman" classes so that you don't have to live up to the qualifier rules (inspection and marking, Park Ferme, etc.) that the contenders do but you can still ride and compete in the whole event.

If you are up for dual sport instead of enduro, there is the Six Days of Michigan ride, the two day Buffalo 500 (kms) in Indiana, and the Terlingua Dual Sport 2 day ride in Texas. If you go early enough to the last one you can easily ride on Friday as well - lots of areas to ride in around there if you like gravel roads and high desert mountains. Not sure, but I think most of the Suzuki National Dual Sport Series events are two days.

Another invitation only multi-day trail ride in Colorado is the Rocky Mountain 300. There are some good pages with pics from '99 here:
http://www.partsmag.com/offroad_issue99_9/99_rocky_300/rocky_300_99.html

One of my friends did a multi-day trail or dual sport ride in CO that was not the 500, but I can't remember the name of the event.