dark13star

I am looking through a tunnel of light filled with sparkles when I hear a voice. I hear it again and realize it is addressing me. The tunnel widens and I remember that I am standing over my bike on the top of Mt. Evans and that I just had the brilliant idea to sprint through the last switchback and into the parking lot at 14,130 feet above see level. As my hypoxia dissipates, I see a child standing in front of me. "What," I say, assuming the voice came from him. "Do you need a special kind of bike to ride up here," he asks, a bit impatiently this time. "No," I say. "You just need to be a special kind of crazy," I tell him as I fumble for my wind breaker.

His family smiles and takes my picture as I put my bike in front of the summit sign. I ask them if they will take one with my camera as well, and they agree, summing me up to be the harmless crazy type. Here I am at 14,130 feet above sea level, windbreaker removed for effect.



By Colorado standards, riding a bike up Mt. Evans is no big deal. I got an early start and was the first cyclist up there today, but I passed about a dozen others on their way up as I headed back down. I even did this the easy way, starting from Echo Lake, instead of Idaho Springs, another 14 miles down the road. Being my first time up there on a bike though, I decided to keep it sane. Here is the sign in the lot at Echo Lake.



My quick ride stats were:

Distance: 29 miles
Climbing: 3,777'
Time to summit: 1:54
Total time: 2:47

I have a full write up with a lot more photos on my weblog, if anyone is interested. There are no adds on the site. It is just too long to post here.

Edit: map and elevation profile are on the weblog too.

mattm

nice!

thx for a meaningful post about actually riding bicycles, unlike 99% of the rest of BF..

FrankBattle 

I thoroughly enjoyed that. Thanks. Sounds like a blast ..

pagliaci

Not sure the event still exists but I used to race that climb from Idaho Springs every year. It was called the Bob Cook Memorial, named after a Colorado rider that died in the 80s. It's brutal by any name or distance.

dark13star

It is, for crazies

I think it does still exist. I was looking at some times from Idaho Springs for 2006, and the racers make it to the top in like 3 hours. That is crazy.

You are welcome. I hope it starts a trend (on BF, that is)...

Hammertoe

Great climb and report...

Looks like you were on Top of the World...

Some day I hope to do that climb (but first I would need some EPO)...


To bad the road is in bad shape, that decent would be incredible...

Any need to stop and cool the rims...

Myfirsttrek

+1, Nice ride. I always enjoy threads like this.

BF has more clique then my highschool days. This is what its about.

80vette

Being from Fl. I don't think I could even breath that hi up.
Congrats to you.

lgravityh

That is awesome! As a newb with a piss-poor motor on my bike I am green with envy. I hope to be able to make a climb like that at some point. Great job!

dark13star

Hammertoe, you would love this ride. It is nowhere near as steep as those that you do, but the views are quite different, and certainly less O2.

I didn't need to cool my brakes because it isn't crazy steep. I stopped once, 5 miles down, but that was it. I checked my rims and they were fine. I have a pretty good pattern of braking now, since I do a lot of descending.

Also, a big thanks to everyone who has commented. I knew my experience with the kid was going to open my blog entry while I was on my way down.

orcanova

that's not the mile high club I signed up for...!

Congrats, man. Biking is some kind of portal to heavenly experiences, but we often don't break the clouds. The few times we do, its complete and unadulterated euphoria. Like you just did.

[/jealousy]

DataJunkie

Congratulations! It is a fun ride that is for sure.

dark13star

I guess it is the 2.68 mile club

dark13star

Thanks. I still want to go up both the Evergreen and Idaho Springs routes. I know I can do them now, but I need to plan on being pretty spent after them.

DanielS

Nice I wish we had mountains that high around here! Highest we've got is 727m

DataJunkie

I need to try the idaho springs route. However, I think trail ridge is my next challenge.

dark13star

Ah, but you have the Borassa Valley and I love wine.

dark13star

It is on my summer list (probably August) too. Make sure you do it really early in the morning, before the Winnebago hatch starts.

UGASkiDawg

You should try the ride from Golden up Lookup Mtn onto &0 off at the Evergreen exit over Squaw and Juniper passes up Mt Evan and back to the way you came. It's right at 104 miles round trip and according to my buddies Forerunner 305 about 14K of total climbing. Takes a long time and lot of effort.

DataJunkie

I heard mid week was also preferable. Somewhere around here I have a colorado cycling routes book that mentions a few tips on riding trail ridge.

Oh and when I rode up evans they were having a marathon. I thought I was crazy biking up mt evans but here were people running up it. Nuts! Towards the summit I had a few runners yelling encouragement and me returning them. It was all a bit goofy (possibly due to the lack of oxygen )

UGASkiDawg

Oh and I like your blog! I rode the Deer Creek High Grade Loop on Friday the 13th just the day before you did in almost exactly the same amount of time.

bsyptak

I'll be doing the Idaho Springs to the summit route on Friday. It's become something of a 7/4 tradition for me. Looks like you had great weather.

dark13star

Weekday rides are the key to happiness.

Thanks. I actually ride that loop once or twice a week. I am just not very good at blogging about my rides. Do you ride the same connectors as I do? City View is awesome!

Weather was good today. A friend of mine just did the Idaho Springs route and said he was tired for two days afterwards. Best of luck on the 4th! I will be flat-landing it in Wyoming

DanielS

Impressed that you've heard of it! One of the big recreational ride type things here finishes in the Barossa at a winery

dark13star

I have been there. Also, the wines are quite popular here in the US. I would love to ride there.