Best Road Cycling Events Southwest 2024

Strambecco rates the Best Road Cycling Events Southwest 2024 based on factors including reputation, route quality, location, rider feedback, and the event’s or race’s overall uniqueness. Spanning California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico, the Southwest terrain features of Strambecco’s best list include mountains, canyons, mesas, buttes, high broad basins, plateaus, desert lands, and some plains characteristic of the Basin and Range Province. The entire southwestern region features semi-arid to arid terrain. The list includes events in Northern California marked by old-growth forests, spectacular coastal routes, and generally cooler temperatures.
If we had to pick the best of the best road cycling events Southwest 2024, or those you’d classify as bucket list events, we’d recommend two Northern California events, Levi’s Gran Fondo in the Spring and Tour of CA Alps (aka The Death Ride) in July. We’d also recommend the Utah-Cache Gran Fondo in the Fall. We find a strong correlation between the best events and professional event producers. The Southwest premiere event producers include Outside Events, Life Time Events, and the Gran Fondo National Series.
Strambecco does not list every event. We strive to identify and review events that are special and noteworthy. If you have suggestions on other events we should consider or review, please get in touch with us here or send us a note at editors@strambecco.com. You can also see some of our other best guides here:
The Sea Otter Classic, produced by Life Time Events, is a classic and the largest festival and gathering of cycling enthusiasts in North America. Professional and amateur athletes make the annual pilgrimage…
Holualoa Companies hosts the 30th El Tour de Mesa ride of 100 kilometers, known as the most scenic Metric Century in the world! The start and finish lines are Red Mountain Park…
The LoToJa Classic (Logan, UT to Jackson, WY) was started in the 1980s by two Logan cyclists who wanted a race that resembled the difficulty of a one-day European classic. LoToJa’s first…