Everyone said this ride is a tough one because you gain a lot of elevation in relatively few miles. I was told the first 2 miles are the toughest but it was more like the first 5 miles. Fairly consistent 8 to 9 to 10% grade according to my Garmin so I am out of gears in a hurry and it is a grind for most of the afternoon. Beautiful day but got warm. Surprised that I drank 3 bottles of water, one of which was given to me in a parking area near the top. Seemed like a lot of traffic even though I got a late start and assumed most of the cars would already be at the top. Wrong assumption. Slight construction on the road but the park entry is now at mile 5 in a temp building and the back up to get officially into the park was 30-45 minutes. A lot of unhappy drivers waiting and creeping.
View at the top was stunning. Perfectly clear day but getting late to head down. 3 tunnels to go thru and they can be very disorienting to me. Too dark inside to have any perception of the road surface and if a car enters the tunnel, the noise level compounds the disorientation for me. Focus on the light at the end of the tunnel. Glad my helmut has a blinking front light so cars could see me in the tunnel.
Data: No assist for the first 4.1 miles.
Level 1 from 4.1 miles to 14.1 battery at 75%
Finally gave in to Level 2 from 14.1 to 18.1 (summit). Battery at xxx%