From Fort Collins we rode up to Estes Park. We gained 2,000 feet of elevation, and stayed the night, getting ready for our biggest climb of the whole trip... Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park.
This day would take us to the highest point we'll see all trip, right around 12,100 feet. During the day, we climbed for 25 miles, and gained over 5,000 feet of elevation. It was maybe the greatest day of riding in my life. The climbing was tough, be we knew what was ahead. We made frequent breaks to adjust for elevation, but in reality we all knew we had this climb in us. After over 2,000 miles on the road, we were so, so ready.
At 11,000 feet I definitely was feeling the elevation, and had eaten an unbelievable amount of cliff bars and Jody's granola bars! We started seeing snow around that point and were well above the tree line. The views were just amazing. We had a perfectly clear day, and once we reached the crest we could see for miles.
A group of 15 of us reached the summit at nearly the same time. There was much hoisting of bikes over our heads, and chants of "Coast to Coast!" It was a fantastic feeling...riding up over the Rockies fueled by pasta and granola bars. We stopped for lunch at a lodge near the summit, and then began our descent...15 miles of curvy downhill! I think the passing back into the tree line was almost as amazing as going above it. We could breathe easier back at 7,000 feet, and once we made it to our host site for the night, we ate lots of Indian food Noah's parents brought us!
No comments:
Post a Comment