14 miles (22km) up
14 miles (22km) down
5,300’ (1615 meters) climb
12,100’ (3688 meters) summit elevation
10,100 (3078) average riding elevation
Dream ride, as the road is closed for the season. It will open next week. I saw 4 bicyclists all day. It is plowed to the summit, so riding up is world class, not one car on the road. Get here quick if you can, it is EPIC. Enjoy the photo’s. Cheers:D
theres still that much snow up in the mountains…dang…down here in pueblo theres none…lucky u got roads closed for cars…
looks steep…like bring a bc wheel on it and you will pee yourself steep…
Awesome ride. Always an inspiration.
I’ve got a ride planned with Irene tomorrow up Hurricane Ridge. Similar elevation gain and distance to your Independence Pass ride but we start at sea level rather than 6,800 feet. And being Spring in Washington it will probably rain on us.
Beautiful pics as always, Mike 
What crank length did you have?
[quote=“john_childs”]
[Awesome ride. Always an inspiration.
I’ve got a ride planned with Irene tomorrow up Hurricane Ridge. Similar elevation gain and distance to your Independence Pass ride but we start at sea level rather than 6,800 feet. And being Spring in Washington it will probably rain on us./QUOTE]
thx john, how did the ride go up Hurricane Ridge? Is there still abundant snow up high?
I think I am the only guy left using long cranks these days, but all is ride is mountians, so I use 170’s. The control going down these long descents is solid with long cranks and NO brakes.
Yeah, still snow up high. Ski season isnt over yet. This is actually my favorite part of ski season, Corn skiing. It requires hiking, but the turns are more than worth the effort. The road is not that steep, as is true for most paved Passes in Colorado. It is just long, with high elevation riding. The steep roads are the off road trails.
oohhh…
yeah its raining like crazy so its got to be snowing up north a lil bit…
have u tried to ride any of the off road trails or go off of the off road trails…
cuse i know the BLM and park rangers around here are up tight if they see you goin off trail sometimes…but im sure if u stayed on trail they wont kill you…
Great pictures. Love to see those long cranks. I won’t trade my 170’s for anything. I use them on a 28 to climb hills in San Francisco. I mostly climb short hills,but steep ones. I can find a 1 mile hillin the city, but it’s not very steep. It’s the 1 block >18% grade hills that kicks my butt.
The ride up went very well. There is still a bit of snow up at the top. There were a few skiers hiking up the slopes and skiing down what remaining snow there was. We got a picture of the Cokers in a patch of snow up top in the parking lot. Temperatures at the top were in the low 40s or upper 30s. The wind was also gusty at the top. Made it a bit chilly and a bit challenging to balance out the clothing layers when riding in and out of the wind. And then once at the top the clouds were obscuring the view of the surrounding peaks and glaciers. So not much sight seeing opportunities at the top. Still all great fun and a good climb.
I used my adjustable cranks in the 170mm mode. I like the long cranks for the climb up. Grade on the climb ranges from 5-7%. The 170s make it easy to stay seated and just easily pedal up grades like that.
But the way down killed my legs. My legs are still slightly sore. I used the brake with a slight bit of drag for almost the entire way down. Still didn’t save my legs.
I can feel that my pedaling technique is not very smooth when backpedaling on the way down. I get in to a jerky pedaling movement rather than a smooth spinning movement. I’m sure that makes it harder on my legs and knees than if I had the technique to smooth out the downhill pedaling.
Is there any advice you can give to learning how to better spin smoothly with long cranks on a descent? I just moved to a new place that is on a modest hill. I’ll have to take advantage of my new location to practice my downhill pedaling.
I bet the hills are steep, perfect 28-29er stuff, especially with long cranks. I’ve ridden some sustained 20%+ hills and yes, it is hard to keep aerobic for along time. I have family in HMB, someday I will get to ride some of the great climbs in your area.
Nice work; it is nice to be relaxed and enjoy the view on the climb up. I will get a PM to you on downhill spinning techniques, I think I have some ideas.
Mike - great pics and great ride, as usual. You are my inspiration as I prepare for some NE climbs. I was debating whether to switch to 165s on my KH29 or just leave on the 150s. I think you’ve swayed me to the longer cranks. There are 5 unis signed up for this year’s Whiteface climb. (www.whitefacerace.com). I did it alone in 05 and 06 but now there’s competition - should be a blast!
[ot]I agree that corn snow is the best, too. Springtime in the Wasatch taught me that![/ot]
You just gotta love the Colorado Rockies. Always beautiful stuff. I’ve yet to get up there this year, which is a bit unusual for me. Your climbing abilities never cease to amaze. Don’t be stingy with those downhill spinning techniques either.
