Pikes Peak
14,110’
September 7th, 2013
54/54/28
The second time turned out to be the charm for Pikes. With good weather predicted for the weekend I decided on Thursday to down to Colorado Springs and giving biking up Pikes a second try. Once again all the regulars were busy, so it would be a solo trip again.
I left home at 4 a.m. for the two and a half hours drive to. As I pulled out of the driveway the skies
still held the night’s stars, but not a cloud in sight. My spirits were high,
and my doubts were nonexistent as I headed south. Looking at the Pike Peaks
Highway website before the trip it looked like there was one section of road
that still was not paved. I was not sure if it was still that way, but it was a
good enough reason to bring the mountain bike instead of the road bike. It
sounded like a good enough reason, though the real reason was due to the lower
gearing on the mountain bike.
Once down to the start of the highway I had to wait at the
gate for an hour for the road to open.
By the time it did open at 7:30 a.m., there was a long line of cars and
motorcycles. It looked like it was going
to be a busy day on the road. There were
two extra events going on, on the road today: a downhill skateboard race and
filming for the movie Fast and Furious 7. Because of these events I was not sure where
I would be able to park my car before beginning my ride. My hope was able to be
able to make it up to the old ski area parking at 10,600’. I figured that this would give me about an 8
mile ride with over 3,000 feet of elevation gain. I was able to work my way up
to the ski area parking and found a parking spot between a bunch of cranes they
were using for filming. After getting geared up the movie site organizer helped
me shuttle my car a little lower down the road to the Halfway Picnic Area, then
back up to my bike so that my vehicle would be out of their way for the day. I figured I would not mind the extra mile and
a half on the way down, but I really did not want to add it to the start of my
day, so I was grateful for the ride back to the ski area parking area.
As I planned this trip, I was worried if I would feel like I
cheated by biking up rather than hiking, however, this was soon put to rest. The
first two miles of the ride felt the steepest of the day. I am not sure if it
actually is, or if it was just due to not being warmed up yet. Either way by
the end of the first mile I was starting to doubt if I was going to be able to
make the summit. My heart felt like it
was going to jump out of my chest, quickly followed by both lungs. I guess when
attempting to ride to the summit of a 14er, one should get on a bike at least
once or twice in the months prior to the attempt. Eventually my body settled down, and I began
to steadily move upwards, one peddle stroke at a time. 
About 2 miles from the summit, my legs were begging for a
break and I ended up walking my bike for 100 yards or so before I sat down for a 10 minute break. This section of road was
not especially steep; it was just that my legs were beat. I did manage to get about a ½ to ¾ mile downhill
section which gave my legs a reprieve before the final push up to the summit.
Despite the traffic at the gate this morning, very few cars
passed me as I worked my towards the summit. I did not see any other cyclist
until about ½ mile from the summit, when I was passed by 3 others bikers in two
groups. Coming around the final turn into the summit parking lot was a surreal experience.
Suddenly the alpine environment gives way, and you find yourself in the middle
of a zoo, in the form of a large, filled parking lot.
I worked my way over to the summit sign for a picture, which
is actually below the true summit, but only 10 yards for the gift shop. Gift
shop? That is right! It’s the only 14er summit with a gift shop. I just had to go in. Turns out the sell the
same crap here at 14,000’ as they do down at 7.000’. Guess I did not need to take the long ride
after all. Who knew?
I worked my way up and over to the true summit for my actual
summit picture. The hardest part of this
was scrambling over the rocks in my cycling shoes. After a short lunch break, I decided it was
time to head down, so that I could avoid the thunderstorms that were starting
to build. My hope was that the ride down
was going to be pure joy. Only one small
uphill, and 10 miles of downhill before #28 was in the bag. Three hours of hard uphill work, and now 30 or
so minutes of easy downhill.
The reality of downhill biking quickly set in as I left the
summit. I worried about the disc pads glazing
up on my disc brakes as I had to continually check my speed to stay in control. I ended up switching between my front and
back breaks, with the hope of keeping either of them from overheating to the
point of failure. Every time I started to pick up some good speed I had to
break to avoid flying off a hairpin turn.
Just past the ski area parking lot, where I began the day, I
stopped on a bend in the road to watch the downhill skateboard race for 45
minutes or so. Those guys are nuts! They were coming down the same steep slope
as me, without any breaks. The only way to check their speed was to skid out
the backend of their boards. I flinched
every time one of them approached the hay bales that I was standing behind on
the curve. A few of the riders did not make the corner and were thankful for
the bales to stop them from sliding down the drop off on the sign of the road.
Another quick15 minutes of downhill had me back down to the Xterra. Number 28 into the book and most likely my
last 14er of the season. 2013 will go
down as the year of the solos. This was
not my intent when I planned my year, as I enjoy the company of others on these
outings, but it was the way things worked out.
Going solo did help build my confidence in myself. This is something that I will need next summer
as I attempt to solo the John Muir Trail and summit Mt Whitney. Because of this trip I do not know how many,
if any, 14ers I will be able to get in next summer. Maybe with a light snowfall this winter I will
be able to get in a couple as training for the JMT. At least the altitude on the JMT should not
be a major issue after tackling the 14ers the last couple of summers.
Until next season…. HIKE ON!
Complete Trip Photos Here
No comments:
Post a Comment