IM ON UR MOUNTIN...

..P0WNING J00! Do not fear Mt. Evans! This was a very pleasant ride. 5% grade the whole way, tree-lined and then spectacular views above the timber line (if you're not afraid of heights that is! Easily do-able in a 39x26. Probably the highlight of the climb was the mountain goat ambling along the road. I stopped to take a picture, and a car climbing up behind me stopped while I did, and then they took some pictures too. Traffic was very well-behaved along this route, clearly either used to cyclists, used to them by that point anyway, or too scared themselves of the narrow twisty road to drive carelessly! In any event, the goal was to duplicate the annual Mt. Evans Hillclimb and compare myself to Scott Moninger, Ned Overend and the like. Google maps screwed up the start point though and I ended up starting 6 miles into the route, so my excitement over my time of 2:35 was short-lived. Since we were figuring something closer to 3:30, my time waiting for Sascha at the windy, cold top of Mt. Evans was unfortunately long-lived. While trying to stay warm I got to hear a ranger presentation on mountain goats and big horn sheep, and chatted with some of the many other cyclists that passed through.
I'm glad I got a ride down, though, as I was pretty cold after I got off the bike. If I'd turned right around and went down I probably could have been fine, but the accounts of the climb all agreed that the trip back down is more unpleasant than the trip up due to cool winds and not pedaling. So now I can check off climbing the highest paved road in North America!