| Author | Subject: Elevation Grades |
| David | Posted At 12:51:08 06/11/2003
I rode over Cottonwood Pass and Trail Ridge Road in the 2001 Ride the Rockies comfortably on my double with a 38/28 lowest gear. Are the grades significantly higher for this route including Mt. Evans? I am contemplating switching plans to use my triple and going back to using my double with a 38/29. If there are extended grades above 10%, I might use the triple as originally contemplated. |
| Randy |
Re: Elevation Grades (Currently 0 replies)
Posted At 16:56:13 06/13/2003 I have ridden Trail Ridge and it is easily as steep as Mt Evans. I have ridden Mount Evans many times for about 28 years, most recently on opening day this year. It is simply one looooong climb. In the final 2000' of vertical it is common to bonk and believe it is too steep. Upon trying a short anaerobic sprint you find that it is very easy to accelerate and move up a few gears. I am 54 years old and a little out of shape and I ride a double with a 39/27 low gear. It is plenty of gear for me, but if you're not used to long climbs you might need a lower gear near the top. Eat and sleep and don't get too sloshed at the Little Bear the night before. Don't go out too fast too early. When I first raced Mt Evans I couldn't understand why the peloton was so slow for the first several miles. Boy, did I find out! |
| David |
Re: Elevation Grades (Currently 0 replies)
Posted At 23:35:43 06/18/2003 Thank you for your reply Randy. As I am an AARP qualified peer of yours, I'm now more comfortable with using my double 38/28 or 38/29. My estimate of the Evans grade from the BTC Day 2 map is a 4.77% average from roughly 11,100' at the bottom of the small descent above Squaw Pass to the Evans summit. This is consistent with Carl Mowery's response to "steepness/mt evans ride" posted on the board in which he quoted the Magsamen book. However, I cannot reconcile BTC's Day 2 total elevation gain of 11,355' with their map and this makes me question the data. From the BTC map of Day 2, an approx. 38 mile sustained climb starts at roughly 7,700' to the summit at 14,250'. The single downhill section above Squaw Pass before reaching the summit is roughly 300'. This equates to a 6,850' climb to the summit (14250-7700+300). How do we get to 11,355' of climb? Does the map fail to show many small downhill sections which account for the difference? Compare the Day 1 map which shows the up and down sections. |
| Dave |
Re: Elevation Grades (Currently 0 replies)
Posted At 12:52:33 07/02/2003 This is interesting info,thanks all, unfortunatly in my 20 years or so of serious biking (distance riding) I have never gotten to technical. At 54, living in Maine with no right knee and having done a combo of 8 of the BTC or RR tours and the infamous 2001 Mt Washington NH bike race with an average grade of 12% I find it helpful that grades appear steeper at a distance, say to yourself I will not get off the bike, tell yourself not bad for an old guy and don't worry about others passing you, they are probably your kids ages, I can endure anything if I know there is an end, but most important live the moment and enjoy the experience. A good time will be had by all |