Idaho Springs to Mt. Evans weekender ride September 14 2012
Went for a casual ride from Idaho Springs up to the top of Mt.Evans. The climb from 7,540 ft. to 14,264 ft. elevation takes place on the highest paved road in North America. My imaginary girlfriend Cindy came along firmly attached to the top tube of my Weekender. With her additional moral support I was sure I would make it to the top in record casual time. Far more time than the current record holder Tom Danielson’s unreal time of 1hr 41 min and 20 seconds to the top of Mt. Evans from Idaho Springs. If you ever do this ride you will appreciate how scorchingly fast that time is for the terrain, Dudeman. I started out in Idaho springs with plenty of energy after doping my body the night before with pasta,tuna,spinach and grape juice. Brought a peanut butter and jam sandwich and plenty of water along for some additional casual ride performance enhancement. Once you start you can`t stop until you stop. The first couple miles are pretty mellow not much elevation gain with it getting steadily steeper as the air gets thinner towards the top where the road tops out around 14,264 ft. ! You get light headed and weak at the top at the least and the views are awesome! On the way up I saw mottled Ptarmigan camouflaged with the rocks.Hard to see,really cool.(they turn white in the winter) What about Ptarmigeddon! The radical fundamentalist Ptarmigan movement sweeping the mountain bird communities, be warned! On the way up I breathed a good amount,drank alot of water met some Marmot,Ptarmigan, Mt. beetlegrasshopper`s(see pic), Mt. goats, Mt.Sheep, a couple humans, pika, and some other buddies. I made it to the summit, quickly took some pics, saw a rainbow appear between my hands and temporarily turned into a Mt. Goat. Started shivering, it was 35 or so degrees on top,80 degrees where I started,big drop especially when you`re sweaty. Put on wool socks, legwarmers, armwarmers, gloves, hat, jacket and proceeded down for the long fast cold ride down the mountain.I arrived famished in Idaho Spring. Had a nice meal and a couple coffees at Tommy Knockers and put the Weekender,Cindy and myself to bed. Cheers, Leif
