Twin Lakes-Aspen, CO: Independence Pass 12,095 feet Yahoo!!!

June 30, 2014

I was wide awake at 3 AM, thinking about climbing to over 12,000 feet. !!! Wide awake. Not going back to sleep awake. I tried to give myself a pep talk to calm my heart rate. We had less than 3,000 feet to climb from Twin Lakes. We've done more feet than that several times this summer. It's going to be just another day on the bike. Except for the 12,000 foot part. And the wind part. The wind was a real wild card. That could make the day REALLY long. At 3 AM the temp was 45 degrees and wind 7 mph from the east. Oooohhh. I would love to have an east wind for the ride.

I tossed and turned and used the bathroom multiple times. I expected Jacinto to complain, but perhaps hiking to 14,000 feet helps one sleep all night.

We had agreed to leave around 7 AM because it would be cold outside. I finally decided to give up and get up. I hadn't fixed my own oatmeal last night as we had breakfast included here - fresh fruit, homemade rolls, and instant oatmeal. I took my craisins and pecans with me to put in the so, so delicious sweetened instant oatmeal. I had my own milk.

We loaded up our stuff in the truck. I took off first at 6:45. Oren soon caught up with me. Bill had stayed at the place next door. Their breakfast wasn't ready until 7 AM. He would be along later.

I had looked in the bicycle guide to get an idea of what to expect for the day. It was kind of hard to tell because he had ridden the route the other direction. MM 66 - 68 was a flat area, he says. After that was rollers. Which meant we had rollers first. We rode along just fine. Any miles in the middle chain ring were fine with me. Oren had dressed very warmly and we were hardly down the road before he was taking layers off. For me, the shady parts were a touch chilly, but there was plenty of sunny parts, so it was good. We were still down low going through tall, tall pine trees. We could see just the roadway in front of us. Occasionally there would be a small parking area for a trailhead.

I think Ken and Oren were subtly babysitting me because I'd told them how I'd woken up last night having to do the deep breathing thing to calm myself. I had told them both at breakfast that I used to have that problem all the time and always felt fine when I got on the road and expected to feel fine again today. Nonetheless, I think they were riding a bit slow. "Just taking a break." so I could catch up. I stopped once for a bush break and Oren got some ahead of me, but I could still see him. Then the valley opened up and we could see a giant switch back ahead of us. Good. The real climbing was beginning. ~MM65. I could see Oren right at the curve and I waited to take his photo on the switch back on top. But I never did see him. I guess that part of the roadway wasn't visible from my viewpoint. Darn. Oh, well. I ate a couple of grapes and glanced down the road and there was Ken. We chatted a minute about how happy we were with the nice day and NO WIND. We took a few photos and decided to get with the climb.

The next time Ken stopped, I pulled up and mixed a Spiz bottle. The irony is I was carrying 6 bottles of water, Spiz, and Gatorade because I had expected the climb to take much longer. Now I had used only 2 bottles and was starting a third. Should I pour all of the extras out so I didn't have to carry it the last 900 feet of climbing? No. I didn't do it. I was very happy with how the elevation was increasing in relation to how much effort the climb took. I think it was a very steady 6-7% on the switch backs. Before that, I had been mostly in the middle chain ring - maybe around 4% grade - I didn't even look.

Ken stopped a few times. I was getting pretty suspicious that he was stopping so I could catch up. Stopping is not his style. He insisted he was just taking photos because it was so pretty. Which was admittedly very true. It didn't matter which direction we looked, the view was wonderful. It was extra rewarding to look WAY below us and see the road snaking around.

Besides the cooler temperatures, which we might have had anyway because of the high elevation, a big advantage to the early start was the lack of auto traffic. At this hour there was a car maybe every 5 minutes. That slowly increased through the morning. But it was quite a pleasant ride, traffic wise. Riding wise also -because the grade was never too hard. Just steady. The views couldn't be beat. Heck, what was I doing awake at 3 AM worrying about this ride?

As we got closer to the top, the wind did kick in. On one switch back, it would be a tailwind. The next switch back, a headwind. It didn't seem the wind was that strong - but it also seemed the tailwind sections were far, far easier than the headwind sections. I wondered if the grade was the same on all areas, or if the headwind parts also had a steeper grade. Oren and Ken got a kick out of that idea.

This side of the pass is nicer to climb in that the road is wider and there's more room when there is a car. The Aspen side of the pass is much, much steeper and in several places the double yellow line is gone because the roadway is only wide enough for one car. In those areas, if you're driving a car, you need to pay attention and make sure both vehicles aren't moving forward at the same time. I've heard of people having their side view mirrors scraped off on Indy Pass.

We were climbing the easy side with the more gradual grade. Easy is all relative. It was still 18 miles to the top, from an elevation of 9,200 to 12,095 - not to say we didn't put in a good day's work.

At the top Oren was waiting. He'd been there about a half hour and was all suited up for the downhill. A nice man from Florida took our photos. I had a few bites of my apple/peanut butter/raisin snack. I could tell from Oren's tone of voice when he asked me what I was eating that he wouldn't be asking for a bite.

Ken and I used the restroom and we were ready to go. I told the guys I wasn't excited at all about the steep, twisty, turny downhill. I planned to stop whenever possible to check the rims weren't overheating. Ken mentioned that the headwind might be helpful in slowing us down. I hoped so.

I kept my speed down. Maybe 25 mph. There were enough non-steep parts and the wind that I ended up not checking my brakes even once. There was a middle section that was fairly gentle. I'm sure the cyclists climbing appreciated that section. We saw a number of riders going up in ones and twos. Perhaps 20 people all together. I wonder if that is typical or if they were together? We didn't see a single other rider on our side. Bill told us later that he chatted with a few cyclists and they were just out for a day ride from Aspen.

We kept going down, went through some nice aspen tree areas I would have liked to take a photo of if there had been any place at all to pull over. None. The roadway is carved right out of the mountainside with only inches to spare in many places. Then there were the 'narrows' areas, as they are called.

We hit a little spot where we actually had to pedal. My quads really whined about that. I thought to myself that I was happy we decided to stay in Aspen rather than Basalt. I was ready to be done and so were my legs. Although I hadn't really thought they were too tired - obviously it was work getting to 12,000 feet!

I had told the guys that Clark's Market deli had good food, let's eat there. I wasn't positive how to get there, just that it was a couple blocks off the main drag. When we got a bit lower I tried the phone and it had service, so I googled the address. Puppy Smith Road (what a name) off of N. Mill St. I remembered the store being on the very edge of town, and got us a little lost as I was watching only for N. Mill St. and not for Hwy 82. Aspen is crazy busy with cars, delivery trucks, cyclists, and people walking. We got right in the thick of it/lost when Jacinto called to say he was at the top of Mt. Elbert again. Yesterday Strava hadn't recorded all of his hike, so he went back to do it over. Apparently if Strava doesn't know about it, it didn't happen.

Turns out N. Mill St. was more in the center of town and we weren't there yet. In the meanwhile Ken plugged the Lodge into his GPS and guided us there. We signed in and got keys, but the rooms weren't quite ready. We had been at the top at 10:10 - and we were in Aspen at 11:10. Why is the downhill always so much faster? :)

Oren was for showering and walking to lunch. But I didn't have a change of clothes with me. We ended up cycling back to Clark's Market. As we were pulling in the parking lot, Bill called. He was in town. I gave him almost good directions. He had to call back once. Ken stayed outside to watch the bikes and wait for Bill. Oren and I went in and bought lunch. Mine was $8.15 - I'm trying to make up $$$ for that waste of money last night. No, I am not over that horrible, expensive meal yet. Oren had a really good looking sandwich with a giant slice of grilled red pepper on it. I had a variety of hot deli items. Clark's has a good deli, as you would expect in Aspen. Fresh items, not from the deep fryer.

We all sat in the shade and ate lunch and exchanged stories of the day. I think we were all satisfied with how we did. Bill and Ken were especially impressive. They had just arrived to Colorado and were cycling at 12,000 feet on their second day. Don't try this at home kids!

We got to talking about lodging. The three single guys are sharing a room. Bill understood there was only two beds and he insisted he'd take the floor, that he sleeps on the floor sometimes at home. None of us believed him. However, at the Tyrolean Lodge all of the rooms have two queens, a twin, and a kitchen. It's located right on Main Street and is a very good price at $172. with tax included. Cough if you like, we are in Aspen and that's a good price. End of the story is Bill would be happy to take the twin bed.

I called Jacinto and he had service. He was still on the downhill hike, but yes would like some lunch. I went back in and bought more deli food. Ken carried it in his pannier for me to the lodge. We all dispersed to shower and rest. I had no clothes or anything else. I showered and took a nap.That's a good excuse for a nap isn't it - no clothes?

We went to dinner early, at the Rincon Mexican restaurant. This is the first place that wouldn't give us individual tickets. On the last trip we had twelve people and not one place batted an eye at separating the tickets. The food was good, if a bit pricy. Aspen.

Jacinto walked us down to the bike path so we would know how to get on. He's frequently in Aspen for work and knows all of the paths around here. We made our way back to the lodge and sat around outside having a beer and enjoying the evening air. No mosquitoes here. We had quite a discussion on the Rio Grande Trail. Bill thought he would be behind us and had some questions. There's one section of trail by Woody Creek where cyclists have always had to get on the road for a mile or so. Bill's smart phone satellite map showed the trail to continue on. That's possible. We haven't been to that section of the trail for almost two years. it will be interesting to see tomorrow if they've finished the last little chunk.

We are leaving at 8 AM tomorrow, easy day, nice weather. What's not to like?

Wish you all were here - it's might nice having done a good day's ride and getting to have a beer and dinner. We are off to the Rincon Mexican Restaurant down the street. Jacinto has found a 14er's tshirt so he's happy.

Lodging edit added 8/13/17 -

Jacinto pointed out that Snowmass could be cheaper than Aspen proper. http://www.wildwoodsnowmass.com Is a screaming deal. In August, 2017 - with the Colorado resident discount, rooms are $52. AARP rate is $58. compare this to the Tyrolean Lodge at $210. a night or just a bed in the hostel at the St. Mortiz at $59.

When I checked the Wildwood in July, the price then was $113. - still an excellent deal. Who knows if this is typical or not, but I will look at them next time I'm traveling in the area.

I have stayed at the Wildwood before, for a music festival. It is an upscale lodge. It is 700 feet more of climbing to go up to the Snowmass ski area than to head into Aspen. If you are going over Independence Pass, you will go back down that 700 feet and add an extra ten miles to your trip.

I highly recommend the Twin Lakes Roadhouse. It was very nice.

The sun was just starting to shine through the trees.

I felt a great deal of satisfaction to see WAY down where we had cycled.

There was still snow near the top. Here's Bill's interesting snow photo.

Jacinto's second ascent of Mt. Elbert in two days. This time Strava recorded the entire trip and said Jacinto was in third place for the last, steep 1.3 mile section at the top with 30.14 minutes.

Today's ride: 38 miles (61 km)
Total: 89 miles (143 km)

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