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It was a touch windy but not too cold at my campsite last night. I only had one family camping a couple of sites down from me. They were absolutely silent and I slept fantastic.
I rode away and instantly had a medium length climb to start. I actually like it that way as the cool morning air keeps me from sweating as much. The climb really dragged on, although it was fairly gradual and the surface was pretty well maintained. Eventually I climbed all the way up to even higher than I'd been before on the trip. I sat down and ate a good amount for a second breakfast before I rolled away to start the long highway descent into Lake City. It was a very nice little town and it was packed with people. I enjoyed a little respite from climbing, stopped by the country store for a little snack and then began the climb.
It started out extremely gradual and the grade increased as time went on. I caught up with a couple of riders bikepacking the Alpine loop, Slade and Kyle. I rode with them for a long while and we it was nice to have some folks to chat with. Eventually I rode away as our paces didn't match very well.
The first 2/3rds of the climb were easy and as the miles kept ticking away and the total amount to be climbed remained a huge number, I began to realize how steep the last few miles would be. It got very rocky and the off road vehicle traffic began to increase. I was determined to ride as much of it as I could. Sometimes there was only one good line and I had to wait for a jeep or two to pass. The scenery was jaw dropping especially above tree line. As I climbed the grade and technicality of the climb increased dramatically. But I kept on crawling upward, most vehicles cheering me on as they passed. They were all going slow, both up and down because of just how incredibly rocky it was.
At length I pulled myself to the top and at the sign were several other bikepackers! I had seen several bike tracks on the way up and thought I was seeing things. They cheered me on as I rolled up and we chatted about our routes. They were doing the Alpine loop, a 110 mile loop popular with Off road vehicle people. Our routes overlapped till Telluride. One of them snapped a pic of me with my camera in front of the sign and I rolled away with them after only a short break because they seemed cool.
We actually had to climb another hundred feet above the sign and the scenery was just unreal. I had already ridden through one brief storm on the way up and there were dark clouds ahead as we moved on. We paused at the actual top and took some more pictures, then began the plunge down.
Unlike the way up, the way down the other side started out pretty reasonable but got completely ridiculous as we descended. Really really steep and rocky beyond belief. It became less a road and more of a guide to roll down the side of the rock face itself... All but one of the guys were on MTBs. One guy, Hayden, was on a Surly with gravel sized tires, although bigger than mine. Periodically the faster riders would wait up for us as we had to carefully pick our way down so.we didn't go over the bars or kill our tires. It rained off and on. Much less miserable riding in the rain when around other people. It was a great group to ride with and I had a blast. The scenery was as good as the road was bad. It was just so amazing I didn't know what to stop to take pictures of, it was all picture worthy.
After what seemed like an eternity we reached the paved highway and stopped to filter water at the creek we followed. They all decided not to stop in Ouray because they needed to make a certain number of miles to get finished with the route by Sunday. I was fine with this as I really didn't need anything in town anyway. I was having fun riding with everyone.
We began the climb up Imogene pass into yet another rainstorm. It was really steep but smooth gravel. I had done more miles and climbing than they had and was pretty tired. We all stopped at a campground to consider what to do next. They decided to push on to about halfway up the climb, and I decided to just camp there as I was exhausted. We parted ways but it's possible I might see them again tomorrow, most of the climb and possibly portions of the descent also into Telluride is hike a bike.
After they left I rode through the little first come first served campground and found it full. So I ended up stealth camping up a hill away from other campsites in a sort of flat spot next to a big Douglas Fir.
By: | WTR4 |
Started in: | Hinsdale County, CO, US |
Distance: | 56.7 mi |
Selected: | 56.7 mi |
Elevation: | + 8021 / - 8796 ft |
Moving Time: | 06:59:37 |
Gear: | 2020 Lynskey GR300 |
Page Views: | 642 |
Departed: | Jul 16, 2021, 7:27 am |
Starts in: | Hinsdale County, CO, US |
Distance: | 56.7 mi |
Selected distance: | 56.7 mi |
Elevation: | + 8021 / - 8796 ft |
Max Grade: | |
Avg Grade | |
Cat | |
FIETS | |
VAM | |
Ascent time | |
Descent time | |
Total Duration: | 10:36:47 |
Selection Duration: | 38207 |
Moving Time: | 06:59:37 |
Selection Moving Time: | 06:59:37 |
Stopped Time: | 03:37:10 |
Calories: | 3591 |
Max Watts: | |
Avg Watts: | 143 |
WR Power | |
Work | |
Max Speed: | 44.3 mph |
Avg Speed: | 8.1 mph |
Pace: | 00:11:13 |
Moving Pace: | 00:07:23 |
Max HR: | 139 bpm |
Min HR: | 59 bpm |
Avg HR: | 107 bpm |
Heartrate zones: | |
Zone 1: | 2 hours 25 minutes |
Zone 2: | 9 minutes |
Zone 3: | 0 minutes |
Zone 4: | 0 minutes |
Zone 5: | 0 minutes |
Best format for turn-by-turn directions on modern Garmin Edge Devices
Best format for turn by turn directions on Edge 500, 510. Will provide true turn by turn navigation on Edge 800, 810, 1000, Touring including custom cue entries. Great for training when we release those features. Not currently optimal for Virtual Partner.
Useful for uploading your activity to another service, keeping records on your own computer etc.
Useful for any GPS unit. Contains no cuesheet entries, only track information (breadcrumb trail). Will provide turn by turn directions (true navigation) on the Edge 705/800/810/1000/Touring, but will not have any custom cues. Works great for Mio Cyclo. Find GPS specific help in our help system.
Estimated Time shows a prediction of how long it would take you to ride a given route. This number is based on your recent riding history, and represents an estimate of moving time. Each time you upload a new ride, your Estimated Time profile will adjust to reflect your most recent riding. Only rides exceeding 10 miles (16 km) will affect these estimates.
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