Originally Posted by
Dalai
I stayed one night at the Difficult campsite, located 5 miles above Aspen towards Independence Pass and had no complaints. Not sure other options for riding in the area given it is in one long valley other than Maroon Bells and Independence pass? Both sides are good though Aspen side of Independence pass is my pick of the two IMO.
White River National Forest - Difficult Campground
Realise that regardless of acclimatisation, your power produced does reduce as elevation increases.
The Effect of Racing at Altitude | TrainingPeaks
Hard to say if Independence Pass a few days prior to the Gran Fondo is wise, really depends on how hard you find the climb and how quickly you recover? The climb is rarely steep (average 4.7% 7% max) but is just under 20 miles of climbing from Aspen...
Thanks for the input. I'm just now getting reacquainted with the logistics of camping in Colorado. I remembered the lack of electricity, but forgot that many campsites don't have showers. What I'm seeing is that my old campsite at Ruedi Reservior doesn't even report having showers and I know it did in 2012. That was the closest to Aspen that I found before that did. I know they have those camp showers, but I'm not sure those would fly if I were very near a river - I know they are super touchy about that. I could use the biodegradable wash possibly as an option. I can't do a week cycling and camping with no shower.
I appreciate pointing out that there really are only the two climbs. The book lists a number of rides in the area and I had not really nailed down which were climbs and which were just rides. Those two might be all that I need though really. Independence Pass was one of my favorites when I rode through on my motorcycle anyway.
If anyone has any input on anything else or knows about the camping situation that you can enlighten me about I would love to hear it. I think I could manage with one of those camp showers if they didn't freak out on me about the runoff. I see some have traps for the runoff too though.