Bob Cook Memorial Mt. Evans Hill Climb

The Bob Cook Memorial Mt. Evans Hill Climb is an annual bicycle race starting in Idaho Springs, Colorado to the Summit of Mt. Evans. This event is the longest-running hill climb in the USA! The race starts at 7,540 feet in front of the former Clear Creek Middle School and proceeds to Echo Lake where the race turns and climbs to the summit (14,264 feet.).

In 1962, a group of bicycle racers decided to challenge 14,264-foot Mt. Evans by racing to its summit. Started by just a handful of riders, the race quickly became an annual event celebrated by the hardiest athletes, at a time when bicycle racing was considered an oddity at best.

The Mt. Evans Hill Climb was renamed in 1981 in honor of five-time race winner Bob Cook, who died of cancer at the age of 23. The race is a climber's delight and the scenery cannot be beat by any other place in the world. Riders meet all kinds of indigenous Colorado animals including Mountain Goats and sheep as well as an occasionally marmot along the climb as well as run into all kinds of weather.