Trail Ridge Road

Forgive me for going out of order.  I had a plan, each blog was one day, in order.  Things got a little messed up when I got busy in Texas, but I've mostly stuck with the plan.  The rest of the days are still coming,  don't worry (I may be 50 when I finish, but I made a promise to myself and I intend to keep it).  However, something so great, so amazing, so magnificent happened yesterday that I absolutely must talk about it now! This may even tie the rides into and out of Santa Fe (see upcoming blogs :) ).  Yesterday (and today) were days that I only dreamed about.  22 miles up curvy mountains, only inches from the edges of cliffs leading to 22 miles of the same curvy mountains, but 10 times faster.  How can it get any better? (besides adding 33 of my closest friends)  But I'm getting ahead of myself.  Let me start at the very beginning, a very good place to start (to quote Sound of Music, an appropriate musical to talk about when one is "Climb(ing) Every Mountain" ).

July 3, 2010- Central US route climbs Trail Ridge Road (TRR) on their way to Granby, CO.  I get a picture soon there after (ok, so I thought this was Trail Ridge, until I took the two seconds to look at the caption "Top of Grand Teton Pass" ...but in my head this is what I pictured TRR looking like for the last 13 months so just go with it)

Beautiful!  Anyways about a month or so later Kristen and I are back at our apartment having one of a thousand conversations about B&B.   The obvious question comes up:  What was your favorite day?  After giving the usual "every day was great!"  response, I get the real answer: Tie between July 3 and July 31.  Granby, CO and Cannon Beach, OR.  Now Cannon Beach is pretty obvious, but why Colorado? And why no-where's-ville, CO (I live here now...I can say that).  Granby has two things going for it...TRR and Prom.  Now, I don't remember the exact words, but I imagine our conversation when something like this:

Me: "What's Trail Ridge Road?"  K: "KELLY! AHHHHH!  Its...Its amazing!  Ahh!  SO pretty and ahhh!  It was the best ride ever!"

Like I said, probably went something like that.

Anyways, TRR is the highest continuously paved road in America topping out at around 12,100 ft above sea level, just under 2.5 miles above sea level.  Ehh...whatever... I'm of the "most results for least effort" school of thought, so mountains...not really my style (this will change in 10 months! If only I knew what the future held haha).  And extreme mountain climbing...on bikes...not so much... I ohh'ed and ahh'ed over all the photos, chatted some more and thought that would be the end.  Not so much!  Spending lots of time around Kristen in her last semester at CMU, I got used to all the questions that people would normally ask her "How far did you go every day?  Where did you sleep?  You really rode a BIKE across the country?"  and "What was your favorite day?"  I knew the answers by heart:  average 75 m/day, churches schools community centers, yes a BIKE, and Granby/Cannon Beach.  Hearing how awesome a place is on an almost daily basis gives it a bit of a mythical quality.  It became the symbol of all that was good in Colorado...and there was a lot of good in Colorado.  Then October rolled around and I finally stopped thinking of all the reasons why not to ride.  I let myself see the WHY.  I could do it... I think...maybe?  I applied, I got accepted and Bam! I was a B&B'er.  Wow!  I thought I had heard everything about B&B, but when I became part of the legend that is B&B, Kristen dialed up the info (in her defense it was mostly because I relentlessly questioned everything).  Which meant I heard more about Granby and more about TRR (the legend grows).

May, June, July, August 2011-I bike across the country.  Along the way we encounter mountains (which I still call hills, just because they didn't seem that big when we went up them)  We make it up to 8800-ish ft, but not the magical 12,000 of TRR.  To make a long story short, mountains aren't so bad.  I may struggle up them at around 2 miles an hour, but I get to coast down.  At a much greater speed than 2mph :)  Totally worth it (with the exception of Delano, CA-see upcoming blog).  Lots of fun, good times.

Still August 2011-I need a job.  Snow Mountain Ranch needs lifeguards. Score!  And you get one guess where SMR is...and its not Cannon Beach :)  While not in the proper "city" of Granby, we're pretty near close, only 4 miles away and all our mail goes through the Granby PO.  So I consider that Granby.

Which brings us to Thursday, 2 days ago.  I had said I would bike TRR...now I just needed to do it.  Which is harder than I had planned.  Mentally preparing yourself for biking the "highest paved road in america"  takes a surprising amount of craziness.  Especially after hearing two co-workers (one a CO native) say, "You want to bike WHERE?"  Hearing them describe the snowfall, how icy it was on the passes, how steep the cliff drops were really didn't help the resolve!  If you've been reading this blog for a while, you've heard me describe the last incident involving snow, ice and a bicycle.  If you have no idea what I'm talking about, check out one of my first posts... Its kind of funny.  Anyway's I had told some people at work about my "dream" to bike TRR before it  closes in Oct from too much snow.  Sarah thought I was crazy, but she had just driven though the park and paid the $20 entrance fee, good for a week of park entry.  She offered it to me. There's one reason to go.  #2 was the weather.  At the summit, it can be cold. And by "can be" I mean "is". And by "cold" I mean "so cold that there is a permanent snow pack next to the visitor's center (It provides their water as it melts)."  Thunderstorms can appear almost instantly. So when I heard it was supposed to be 76* F at the bottom and  sunny all day, I knew this was my day.  And I had the whole day off.  I could figure it out, right?  Since it's just me (no Vanessa, no wonderful leaders to drive Vanessa)  I had to do some logistical planning.  I bought some good ol' PB & J, found some water bottles (I don't have my camelbak anymore) and figured out a route.  Acting on Kristen's recommendation of "The first half was prettier"  I decided to drive to Estes Park, bike the 22 miles to the Alpine Visitor's Center, just past the summit, then return down the same side to my car. I parked the car at the ranger's station, put on lots of layers and I was on my way.

At the beginning of the day I had a lot of doubts.  A mountain, sure, I could climb that. But the highest paved road in America?  Mmmm... I mean, just look at the comparison Me: walked 7 miles up hill with 400 elevation gain (see future blog post) TRR:  22 mile climb, 4000 elevation gain.  And that was when I was biking every single day.  I biked a lot in Michigan (I'm not sure it counts...Michigan is flat) but I haven't had a ton of chances to bike in CO (where there are actual mountains).  Can you see how my brain was working against me?  I was fighting to make sure I had enough daylight (I got a late start at 10am and didn't want to still be biking at twilight at 6pm)  and to make sure I had enough water (I'm used to a 100 oz Camelbak and a trailer with 5 giant containers of said liquid).  I figured I would bike till 12:30pm or until I only had one of the three waterbottles left.  Whichever came first.  The visitor's center was where I told everyone I was headed, but really, I wasn't going to make it.  It was going to come down to time or water.  Or so I thought...

TRR starts off in the East with a wonderful little meadow area around Beaver Creek.  As I settled into my rhythm, my confidence rose (not 100%, but at least 75%).  Hey, this wasn't too bad...hmm...who knew?  I had seen a chart that said TRR averages a 6% grade.  If it stayed this way, maybe I could get to one of the pretty overlooks?  Well, lets not push it, we'll just go one step at a time.  Pedaling, pedaling, pedaling.  Normally, I don't like riding by myself (See Athens, TX) but this wasn't too bad.  I didn't quite have the breath to sing out loud (we are at 8000 ft after all) but with just myself that was ok.  I sang "Livin' on a Prayer" "America the Beautiful" and "Wagon Wheel" (both regular and SUS '11 versions).  After running through every Mumford and Sons song I moved on to Avett Bros.  I had plenty of time for reflection and thinking.  It was great!  After a ways, the meadow gave way to forest.  First brilliant aspens in every fiery red, yellow or orange hue, then conifers towering over the roadway, dark green and foresty ( I know, not a word, but hey, this is my blog :) ). I stopped at most overlooks, knowing that there was no way that I was going to stop my momentum on the way down :)  Many Parks Point was a big highlight.  The first of the major overlooks (it has a parking lot, not just a pullout), it is also the point where the road closes in the winter.  I took some pictures and headed up.  Things really weren't so bad.  Sure, I'm in my lowest gear, but I'm pedaling without a problem.  No standing up, no straining my knees.  I'm not even as tired as I should be from only 4 hours of sleep (I know, bad me!)  and little biking practice over the last month.  hmmm...I guess I'm doing ok.  Maybe I can make it till 1pm.  Then I'll turn around so I make it back before dark.  Ok.  Thats the new plan.  Onward and upward.  At Rainbow point I met a lovely man who took my picture.  He really wanted to make sure that I got the road in the photo so that people would know I biked up it.  I think that wearing spandex, a helmet and holding onto a bike while looking like a smelly mess probably would have given everyone the hint, I appreciated the thought :)

Through the forest, past the sign for 2 miles above sea level.  Finally I broke through the tree line and onto the top.  I cannot recommend the view enough.  Beautiful.  I'm not going to try and describe it, I'll let the pictures do that.  While passing the first snow cliffs, I stopped to put my arm warmers on.  A man who was also stopped at the pull-out got out of his car and saluted me as I slowly rode past.  It was kind of a strange feeling.  At Forest Canyon Overlook I had a lovely chat with a woman and her husband.  It kind of reminded me of the B&B shpeil that we always gave, but not nearly as cool.  "Where are you coming from?" "The bottom." "Where are you going?" "The top..." I even tried to suppliment it with, "...but this is lovely just like my ride from Jacksonville, FL to Monterey, CA this summer to raise money for affordable housing organizations like Habitat for Humanity."  Her response was to call her husband over "She's biking up this road..."  like that was the most interesting thing I just said.  Not 4000 miles, but 22. Oh well, I tried.  As I was leaving the parking lot another lady stopped me to ask about my leg warmers.  She wanted to know if they were warm.  Which they were. Pulling out of the parking lot, I immediately had to stop.  An elk was crossing the road.  Which would have been super cool if I was in a car.  I would have been taking lots of picture and just looking at it.  Which is what everyone in the car AHEAD of me was doing...as the elk slowly ambled toward the unprotected cyclist behind them.  At this point I was evaluating my options: A: stay put, be attacked by giant antlers or B: point my bike down the hill and lose all the work from the last hour.  Luckily some lichen distracted the elk, making it less cute, so the people in front of me left and I could leave the scene as quickly as my legs could carry me (about 3-4 mph if you were wondering).

More biking, pedaling, moving, heading up hill... not going too bad...maybe we'll make it to 2pm.  I still have 1.75 water bottles left, not bad.  All the sudden I see a giant rock outcropping.  It's Rock Cut!

On my drive to Estes I had mentally marked off landmarks so that I would know where I was, even without a mileage counter. Rock Cut was only 4 miles from the Visitor's Center!  What?  When did I get here? Well, I can't come this far and not make it. Seriously!  I absolutely have to make it now. After Rock Cut the road turned downhill, then back up, then down again.  There! There it is!  The visitor's center!  Ahhh! I made it!  Really, really made it!

 

The day couldn't have been more perfect (except for the 33 missing people) and I hadn't even gone downhill yet.  The weather was a balmy 57*F at the top, unseasonably warm.  All of the snow acquired over the last weeks had melted from the roadways, leaving no icy spots to fall on.  Cars had been courteous and people friendly.  Even my brain was having a great time.  In every ride, I reach a point of combined boredom and frustration where I just want to give up.  I get in a mental funk, usually lasting just a few minutes, but still. Yesterday there was nothing.  Everything was perfect.  I truly wanted to be on my bike the whole time. I was one with the bike.  Slowly, slowly we had conquered the highest paved road in America together.

I watched some Elk play at the bottom of the valley, then went in the shop for a candy bar.  No Snickers, but a Hersey bar was an acceptable substitute.  After a look in the exhibit hall it was time to go down the hill.  The best part :)  It had taken me 5 hours to get up, but it only took 45 minutes to get down, with a climb back up the two hills to get to Rock Cut.  I sped down the hills, relishing every curve, every smooth bit of pavement that flew under my wheels.  I had missed mountains, but this was something else entirely.  The road kept going onwards and onwards and onwards, never ending.  It was like Zion, but higher, faster, and just as pretty.  I zoomed past the curves (a benefit of not having a speedometer: you don't have to be scared when you take a 15mph curve much faster, because you don't know how fast you are truly going).  I made it to the bottom safe and sound.  After loading up my bike and changing into civilian clothes I headed over to Estes Park to explore the town.

Was it worth it? Yes!  I know that I just wrote a novel to try and describe this experience, but it is still not enough words to describe what happened and how I felt.  I overcame every doubt about myself and pushed on, even in the tougher spots.  Physically, this wasn't as challenging as I thought it was going to be, but it was mentally draining.  At one point in the road, you turn into a valley.  It's a gorgeous valley, but the notable thing about it is that you can see the road ahead.  It follows the mountain, making several switchbacks before curving to follow the next mountain.  Eventually it ends up there...well, where is there?  Its across a giant valley and about 2500 higher than I was then.  Which is huge.  I was able to see the next 8-ish miles of my journey from this spot.  For me, being able to see that far ahead is a disadvantage (as is already having driven the route).  I like to hope for a flat section...if I can see everything, there is not hope :)  But I did it.  Really, really did it.  I'm not sure how, but it was amazing.  If you happen to be in Estes or Granby during the summer months, go to Trail Ridge Road.  Totally worth it... Pictures will be coming soon!

Things I left out due to time contraints/this already being a novel (ask me later)
Bear at the entry visitor's center
Cliff drop offs on the side of the road
English Mountain biker
Estes Park
Watching both the sunrise and sunset over the mountains
Lots of mule deer on the drive home
Riding to the continental divide on Sat