When we got to the entrance to Mt. Evans (the highest point one can ride / drive to in the USA at 14,264 feet, it was blowing and snowing! A couple of HD riders were coming down and they indicated it wouldn't be wise to continue on. So we took their advice and headed off for Squawk Pass and do the loop we planned with the hope that we could ride up Mt. Evans later in the day.
The ride around was wonderful. We crossed over 7 passes (6 were over 9,900 feet, and 1 was 11,500 and 1 was just under 12,000 (Loveland). Lunch was at the Brown Burro in Fairplay where we had buffalo burgers.
We refueled and rode through Breckenridge (a huge ski complex) and up to Dillon and passed over the Dillon Dam. Next we found Keystone (site of a company meeting that I attended a number of years ago and that was cool to revisit).
Loveland Pass was then conquered at over 12k feet per the GPS:
Arriving at our turn-off for Mt. Evans at Idaho Springs, we looked at the weather and decided to make a run for the mountain. So off we headed.
This time there was no rain or snow although the roads were a bit damp from earlier rain. The 2 lane road is in good condition and it really climbs from around 10,000 feet to the summit. There is one stretch at 13,000 feet that suffers from severe frost heaves. The last 2 miles are a series of 180 degree 30 foot radius hairpin curves which terminate at a parking lot on top of the mountain. Just below the summit there was a herd of mountain goats that we learned live in that area on a permanent basis. I initially parked the bike on the sidestand, but the wind was so strong that I moved it to face into the very strong wind, and got off of the bike and took the necessary pictures.
The rock remains are from a restaurant that used to be operational way up here.
I was feeling the effects of the oxygen deprivation (chest tightness and tingling in the legs) and Angela was feeling a bit of anxiety. So we headed back on down the mountain making a stop at 13,000 feet to use a restroom. The rest of the road down was nice and the road surface had dried out.
Would we do it again? I don't think so. It's one of those BTDT events for us. The oxygen deprivation was real and we both sensed it. The views were spectacular, but riding a large bike on very sharp ascending or descending hairpin turns with no guard rails in strong cross winds isn't my idea of fun.
Arriving back at the Marriott Tech Center, we enjoyed chatting with conference attendees and retired around midnight. Tomorrow morning would come early with the first session starting at 7:30am.
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