As promised, myself and Mikedebar climbed Pikes Peak on Tuesday Sept. 5th. It can be summed up with one simple word - Tough! That ride beat the heck out of us.
We started the ride @ 7:30 up Barr Trail. The trail starts off with a section of tight switchbacks that climb quite a bit of elevation very quickly. By 11am we had made it to Barr Camp and felt we were doing great. After Barr Camp the trail changes a LOT, from nice smooth uphill to rocky/technical switchbacks that require quite a bit of hiking. Unfortunately after about a mile we ran out of water - ouch! Luckly, after about 20 minutes we finally made it to the A-frame @ the timberline. What a view!
Mike pulled out the PUR Waterfilter and we pumped some water, mixed in some gatorade, had some grub, and then on our way for the last 3 miles. Those were the hardest 3 miles as they took almost 3 hours! The trail is basically deep gravel that is normally rideable if you hadn't already pushed your bike for 5 hours and if you weren't at 13,000 feet. The last mile of the trail is almost all hike-a-bike. Finally at 2:30 we reached the summit! Woohoo!
It wasn't all bad, the 2 hours of straight downhill was an absolute blast!!
Not a ride that I would do every week, but definately a once a year thing
We started the ride @ 7:30 up Barr Trail. The trail starts off with a section of tight switchbacks that climb quite a bit of elevation very quickly. By 11am we had made it to Barr Camp and felt we were doing great. After Barr Camp the trail changes a LOT, from nice smooth uphill to rocky/technical switchbacks that require quite a bit of hiking. Unfortunately after about a mile we ran out of water - ouch! Luckly, after about 20 minutes we finally made it to the A-frame @ the timberline. What a view!
Mike pulled out the PUR Waterfilter and we pumped some water, mixed in some gatorade, had some grub, and then on our way for the last 3 miles. Those were the hardest 3 miles as they took almost 3 hours! The trail is basically deep gravel that is normally rideable if you hadn't already pushed your bike for 5 hours and if you weren't at 13,000 feet. The last mile of the trail is almost all hike-a-bike. Finally at 2:30 we reached the summit! Woohoo!
It wasn't all bad, the 2 hours of straight downhill was an absolute blast!!
Not a ride that I would do every week, but definately a once a year thing