You're coming from Pittsburgh directly and heading straight up by bike? Have you ever climbed altitude like that before? I know you mentioned Mt. Hood, but I don't have a full understanding of the inclines and altitude there, or really even what you did there exactly, but if you never have been here before, it is no walk in the park. Coming in from sea level, sitting at 6000 feet, and then climbing up and down steep climbs like that, not to mention pretty much ascending most of the way from Denver to those places you mentioned, is a lot for even seasoned riders I would think.
You mentioned "mental challenge." What does that mean exactly?
Most of the time for me that means pushing my body through something it's not use to and saying, "you can do it kind of stuff..." You better be past that point if you are seriously going to climb up to those places at altitude. If you're not use to climbing hills in general, especially Rocky Mountain hills at a mile up, you might want to really think about this.
Even if you are in shape, you're not guaranteed that you will acclimate to the altitude right away either. Just getting up out of Golden area into the hills by bike is going to be a hell of a start for your endurance, lungs, and physical agility if you are not in tip top shape. I can't honestly answer you about routes up into the mountains past the foothills and what that entails exactly. I would be curious to find out with you as I don't ride that way and probably will be soon though.
Have back up plans in the event you don't acclimate right away. And hydrate constantly. Plan your hotels ahead of time so you don't run into surprises on that route. I honestly think your biggest problem is getting through Eisenhower tunnel but I think there are other ways to deal with that. I am sure some of the more season veterans will explain shortly on how to do it. I am all ears too. Need to learn that part myself. I would like to head up that way in the next few weeks and get more back country for the remainder of the summer. Also be prepared for drastic changes in weather. You can have a thunderstorm role up on you anywhere. There was a major road in Denver in the last two weeks called Colfax, that was literally under water up to the middle of the cars because of a flash flood from rains that came in to quick. Also temp's drop severely in evenings and night the higher you go and even on a bike you need to be prepared. You can go from your bike shorts to multiple layers in just a few hours, or you can catch it just right and get beautiful weather the entire way. That's the awesome thing about here! It's spectacular until, Pow! Then it's spectacular again!
Going to look at the map now on that but I won't know enough to help you there even looking at it. It's different from biking to driving out here. Almost like two different worlds in many ways! Truly one of the best bike places to ride in the world though!
Last edited by Bike Jedi; 08-02-19 at 12:12 AM.