jppe

26 miles up and 26 miles down. Average temperature per my Garmin was 80 degrees. I was on the road at 6:30 am and back around 10:45 am. Took a few stops to take some pictures. Enjoyed a conversation with another cyclist at the top and he took the picture of me at the Ski Valley.

It took just under 3 hours to get at the top. The grades were a nice 5-6-7 per cent with a short 9-10 percent here and there. The last mile or so was a little steeper but not bad. If you're out in Tucson plan to take some time and do this one. Really, really nice views and the climb is not bad at all. You'll love the ride back down.......if the darn squirrels don't jump out in the road.

The ride started at around 2500 ft and went up to 8400 ft. My Garmin indicated about 6700 ft of climbing as there was a slight downhill for a couple miles at 21 miles up that you climbed back up at the end.

There were lots of cyclists on the road after 5am-was light enough to ride safely. I was still on Eastern time so I was up and awake at 4:30am. Many were doing intervals the first few miles up the climb screaming past me.

I had to get a picture of the van in there as well. It made it out there and back without a hitch. Not bad for 455,000 miles.........

Enjoy!!