Mount Evans by bike

Yesterday I fulfilled a goal for myself of riding to the top of Mount Evans (14,264 ft) from my sister's house in Evergreen, CO (7400 ft). It was a long ride: 36 miles almost all uphill, then 36 miles down.

With a forecast for good weather, and the temperature in the 40s, I started out around 7:30 AM from Evergreen and headed up Evergreen Parkway towards Bergen Park. As I was going up the first hills, I started thinking, "This is not going to happen!" I was not warmed up and my legs were feeling tired already. However, I started to get into a rhythm and by the time I turned up Squaw Pass Road I was feeling better.

Up Squaw Pass Road was a long grind. The forest changed from mostly ponderosa pine to spruce and lodgepole pine. I was surprised by the amount of development in the area. There are houses all along the road (although mostly hidden) and even a few subdivisions. I wonder what it is like to live at 10,000 feet in the winter.

As I was riding, I was slowly watching the elevation creep upwards on my GPS. 8500, 9000, 9500 feet above sea level. Sometimes it seemed to be going painfully slowly. At certain points, there would be views from the road and I would stop to take a break and some pictures. What I soon found was that breaks are not always beneficial. After starting off again, I would feel good for a minute or two, and then my legs would start to hurt. Standing up and pedaling for about a minute would usually wake them up, and then I would be able to sit down, shift down to a low gear, and spin.

Eventually I got up over 11,000 feet - 3600 feet of climbing. Unfortunately, at that point the road drops down 500 feet to Echo Lake and the entrance to the Mount Evans Auto Road. While it was nice to have a brief downhill, that 500 feet would be a huge bummer on the way home.

At the Echo Lake lodge, I stopped for some coffee and ate some of my food before heading up the auto road. I did not want to bonk on the way up, so I had brought a lot of food with me. It was pretty warm in the sun there, but probably still in the 40s. After about 20 minutes, I paid the $1.50 entrance fee and started up to the summit.

After a short but comparatively steep section, the road quickly rose above treeline at around 11,500 feet. At that point the views opened up dramatically, and a panorama unfolded to the north and west. I passed a couple of riders who had started from Echo Lake. Since it was a weekday at the end of the summer, there was very little car traffic on the road.

Although the road is not very steep (around 5%), the length of the climb and the thinning air were starting to take their toll. I was definitely going slower the higher I went. While the views were spectacular, I was happy to finally get to Summit Lake for a short break.

It is definitely a cold, hostile, but very beautiful environment there. A few of the tourists were looking at me as I rested, then continued on the last 1200 feet to the top. After Summit Lake, the road was closed to car traffic but open to hikers and cyclists. It was nice having the entire road to myself. The road started to go up many switchbacks. It was satisfying to look down and see where I had been, but demoralizing to look up and see where I had to go!

After what seemed like an eternity at 6 mph, I reached the summit. I was exhausted but felt good. I immediately changed some of my wet layers and put on a wind jacket. A couple of German tourists took a picture of me and then I walked the short trail to the true summit. After I came down, the pair of cyclists that I passed arrived and we talked for a bit. Since the weather was looking threatening, and I was getting cold, I headed back down.

The descent was a little nerve-wracking because the condition of the road is not great; there are a lot of cracks and some frost heaves. I didn't take any pictures on the way back because I was tired and just wanted to get home. I stopped again at Echo Lake to refuel, then hit that annoying 500 foot climb. The descent on Squaw Pass Road was a lot of fun and very fast, and the air became much warmer. After about 8 hours (including stops) I rolled into my sisters driveway.

Stats:

Distance: 73.6 miles

Moving time: 6:19

Total Climbing: 8200 feet

Net Elevation Gain: 6900 feet

Average Speed: 11.6 mph