This was, without a doubt, one of the most gruelling rides I've ever done. The elevation chart doesn't do justice for what we had to do today. Not only did we ascend over 10300 feet, reaching a elevation of 11,307 feet across Berthoud Pass, we faced strong headwinds during the ascent as a storm moved in. Then, nearing the top, we were greeted by freezing rain, then snow blowing across the highway. The worst, however, was the descent. Snow, then again freezing rain with strong blowing winds obscured vision, made the roads slick with water (thankfully it was not ice!!), and brutally cold. By the time I reached Winter Park, I was shaking to hard, it took over an hour to warm up in order to limp my way the extra five miles to Fraser, and Lawrence's cabin. Hours later, my fingers are still tingling from frostbite. Huge numbers of riders were caught on the pass and had to be brought down by vehicle, rather than risk the descent. When I called Liz around 7 pm, (our friend who is a senior volunteer on Ride the Rockies), she said there were several hundred cyclists still stranded on the mountain. What a way to start our six-day tour. Tomorrow should be better. Sunny skies are predicted, and though the route does go over a mountain pass, it should not be as difficult as the one we did today.