AGranquist

I am thinking of doing this climb and descent next summer but I am curious if other "flat-landers" have attempted and completed this climb. https://www.strava.com/segments/642991

• Distance 27.54mi
• Elevation Gain 6,639ft
• Avg Grade 4.5%
• Lowest Elev 7,441ft
• Highest Elev 13,951ft
• Elev Difference 6,510ft

I would spend about 4-5 days to get acclimated to the altitude as I'd be coming from Iowa (elev 780). I am not planning to set any records but rather complete it safely. Any words of advise?

tomato coupe

Carry lots of warm clothes for the descent.

terrymorse 

It’s a fun climb, and not very steep. As long as the weather is good.

I stayed in Aspen, then Breckinridge. I did warmup climbs up to Independence Pass from Aspen side, down to Twin Lakes, then back, for about 5 days prior.

Chandne

If you have been riding, do not try to acclimate. Hydrate well even before you arrive and get after it once you get a good night's sleep. 4-5 days will not help you acclimate. Many say it gets worse if you wait 3-5 days. It is a great climb but the air gets thin the last thousand feet. Be careful on the way down....part of the road has cracks and humps that are jarring. Air down a bit before the descent. You can hit 50+ if you don't check your speed. I don't live far from there but I never managed to do it this year. I was mostly riding near Vail and Breckenridge (also great riding) but I will definitely do it a couple of times next summer. I have climbed on a road bike, a gravel bike, and a mountain bike. It is a great climb. The decent is best on fatter tires. Funny thing- one time I stopped on the descent and a big marmot waddled up over the side and came to me. I stayed still, and it looked at me for a good 5 seconds and then proceeded to start CHEWING on my front tire. My laughter did nothing to worry it so I had to yank the bike back a bit. It looked annoyed and waddled back down the mountain. If you're lucky, you will run into it.

Colorado Kid

You be fine. Folks around here climb it on a Fixed Gear!

Koyote

I've done the Bob Cook/Mt Evans Hillclimb race a couple times. Some of the other advice is spot-on: 4-5 days of acclimation won't help, and may make things worse; bring warm clothes for the peak and descent; turn around at the first sign of foul weather, as it can roll in quickly at that altitude; and this last bit is important: about 2/3rd of the way up (I don't recall precisely where, so perhaps do a little 'net research), you'll hit a little descent and pick up some real speed, which feels great in the middle of a long climb. BE CAREFUL! This is a stretch of road which gets frost-heaved and pot-holed, and it is easy to lose control and crash. It'll feel wrong, but you need to stay on the brakes at that point.

You'll want to start early in the morning, as afternoons often bring precipitation and other foul conditions at 14k feet. I've climbed about two dozen of CO's fourteeners, and we always planned to be heading down by 1pm; on a bike, you'll want to be heading down earlier.

Iride01 

I did it back in 2021. Once you get above the tree line, the vistas looking out as you go up will help keep your mind off the slow and steady grinding away in the low gears. If you haven't got experience with weather going up to high altitudes, then you probably should do this in July or August. Even in August that I did it, I almost got hypothermia at the top because I was looking at all the scenery and snapping pictures and didn't realize how cold I was getting. Thankfully my wife and D-I-L had driven up to meet us so my son an I could get in a car to warm up with the heater. It also snowed briefly after we summited... in August!

Plan your hydration and food carefully. I heard that the store at Echo Lake is closed for good. Maybe someone will take it over and re-open it. I just started right there at Echo Lake. You might also check out the route from Evergreen CO, if you want to ride longer. Besides the two bottles normally on my bike, I taped a bottle to my top tube and another to the underside of my down tube. That way I didn't have to stop to refill or be off the bike long enough for my legs to say "no-more".

https://www.mybicycleroutes.com/xmtevansinfopage.html (page is from 2009. Info is useful, but some is dated)

https://pjammcycling.com/climb/50.Mt-Evans

terrymorse 

YMMV, but I always feel and perform better after a few nights at altitude.

AGranquist

Thanks for the responses everyone! I was thinking of putting 32mm gravel tires on my rims to account for the poor surfaces.

I think I read somewhere that there may be some construction on the road in 2024. Can any locals confirm or know who has jurisdiction over the road so I can find out?

EDIT: What time of summer is best to attempt? I was thinking first week of July but I remember skiing at A-Basin around then back in 2001.

Iride01 

Just to add another caution and opinion...

Staying properly hydrated while out there in the higher altitudes is something that many don't think about. The low humidity just makes it so more comfortable that you forget you need to drink and don't notice you might be thirsty. When I started going to the Denver area regularly, I found that after a few days I'd be tired and fatigued. I don't think it was the mile high altitude at all. I'm of the opinion it was just simply me getting dehydrated because the comfortable temps and dry air had me not drinking as much as I should. After a few trips I figured that out and now don't have the issues as I make certain I hydrate as much as I do here. Altitude wise, efforts pedaling didn't seem to be an issue till over 9000 feet. And essentially all that meant was feeling like I was continually gasping for air while pedaling when getting above the tree line.

The convenience stores have some little bottles of O2 that they sell in those higher elevations. They are about the size of a large asthma inhaler. My son found them useful to help him catch his breath at various times when he was over 12'000 feet. For me the altitude wasn't a bother other than just the continual very heavy and fast breathing when pedaling that can be exhausting work for the lungs.

32mm tires will help for the ride down. There were large expansion cracks in the road. So the fast descent can make those cracks annoying. Going up they weren't an issue. I was on 25 mm tires. Probably will do the next on 28 mm tires. Road was smooth though in most parts other than the cracks. So I would still use a road tire for smooth pavement that is good rolling with little to no tread pattern.

jrobe

One option is to start at Echo Lake Park and not the highway from Idaho Springs. I remember doing that once when my time was limited. That was the more interesting part of the climb and about 15 miles as I recall.

I also remember having some altitude sickness after I did that climb once although it was early in my arrival to Colorado. I think I camped at 10,000 ft that same night after the climb which was a mistake and I didn't feel better till I went lower.

Koyote

I'm sure that's true, and perhaps the recommendations have changed since I was racing at altitude...But back then (15 yrs ago, give or take), I think the consensus was to either go straight out and ride at altitude right away, or take about two weeks for proper acclimation. Anything in-between was less effective.

Chandne

Haha yeah, I have seen a few of those guys.

AGranquist- pot up in the Colorado forum if you want some company when you go. Some of us meet up for social rides and Team Evergreen often trains on that climb. I usually spend each summer weekend in Breckenridge but I'll make time to do Mt. Blue Sky from both sides (separate days/weekends- from Idaho Springs and from Evergreen). Unfortunately for us locals, that cool restaurant/gift shop seems to have permanently closed down. I loved buying stuff from there and they saved me once with their WiFi. I locked my keys in my vehicle and there is zero signal around there.

terrymorse 

No more lodge at Echo Lake? Bummer. Does that mean there's no longer a place to fill you bottles?

Chandne

Yeah, such a bummer!! It was such a cool place for us cyclists and even the tourists loved it. I loved it and made it a point to eat and buy stuff there. They put a food truck there but I bet that is gone now that the snow arrived. I am going to encourage our local community to start pressuring the director of Denver Mountain Parks. I'll start with Team Evergreen. Here is the story:

The city declined to renew Carle's contract earlier this year, effectively shutting down the concession store and restaurant. Carle, though not heavily involved in the day-to-day operations of the store in the past, took over operations after his sister passed away last year.

“I'd been trying to meet with Denver for months before the lease ended,” he said. “They brought me in in December and said, ‘Well, (your sister) did a great job at Echo Lake, but we want to go in a different direction.’”

That different direction includes returning to what Shannon Dennison, the director of Denver's Mountain Parks, calls “mission based” use. Exactly what that looks like is still being planned by the city, but some early plans include overnight use, reopening the upstairs to the public and making repairs to the septic system.

Dennison has worked for the city of Denver for five years and became the Mountain Parks director last year. She became a park ranger in 2004 and has worked in many national parks.

“I'm excited about bringing back more mission focused use to the lodge,” she said. “Using it as a visitor center, giving people an opportunity for overnight programming, being able to use the upstairs rooms again and being able to stay overnight in the building.”

The process will take three years and during that time, the lodge will be partially open. While preservation architects and construction workers come and go, tourists will still be treated to food and beverage services through a food truck. Dennison hoped the lobby could reopen as a visitor center as soon as next year.

The work to restore a historic building is not as simple as renovating a home or office. Outside on park grounds, Dennison says Denver's outdoor adventure and alternative sports master plan should be a great help for Echo Lake Park.

"One of the focus areas is going to be Echo Lake Park and trying to again bring some of the winter recreational activities," she said. "In the 1970s we used to do ice skating up there, so we'd love to bring that back."

Dennison also said Denver is looking at how the lodge, which is not open during winter, can be improved to support snowshoeing and cross country skiing. The lodge is not winterized, meaning it doesn't support running water in the winter. Exploring winter use is one of the tasks preservation architects have.

Dennison said Denver hopes to reopen the building for its 100-year anniversary in 2026.

All of these plans left a sour taste in Carle's mouth. His family has been in this business for 130 years, starting at Pikes Peak and slowly but surely expanding outward and upward.

"My sister got up for 40 years making pies. Somebody in my family made sure that the donuts got made for 99 years on Pikes Peak," he said. "It takes somebody getting up every morning, doing this to make these things legend, to make them iconic and make them part of the culture. You can't come in and invent this stuff."

Carle recalled a number of stories people shared with him during his last days at the lodge. Some used it to celebrate anniversaries, others birthdays and some just came for the restaurant. One person, a 99-year-old, came in to eat at the restaurant one last time. She'd been coming for many of those years, sharing a picture of her sister at 3 years old eating in the restaurant.

Memories like these make Carle think Denver hasn't thought out its move.

merlinextraligh

The data I’ve read supports Koyote. My personal experience and how I feel subjectively goes with Terry.

Net net, I don’t think it matters much either way. And the difference in power output between unacclimated and fully acclimated is relatively small; enough to matter at the front end of a race, but not likely to be the difference between finishing and not

merlinextraligh

Some numbers. The difference in power output at 10,000 feet between acclimated and not is about 4%. By 14000 feet it drops to 1%.

https://www.trainingpeaks.com/blog/t...tput%20quicker.

6thElement

I'd been wondering if there was water at the campsite in the summer, as I'd never used the Lodge. I've only ever climbed to the top of then Evans when starting at Echo Lake starting with enough for the 2 1/2hr hour ride. When riding the Squaw loop I've also always had enough water on me to do the ride without stopping.

But I've wanted to do the climb from Idaho Springs for a while, hoping for a low traffic day due to there being no good shoulder going up Hwy 103. Refilling on water near Echo Lake and then again when coming back down was the sticking point though.

Both times I've been to the top has been on a rigid 29er, much preferred for the descent because of the poor road condition in places. Definitely need warmer gloves and a jacket for the descent, even in July/August.

edit: Not sure if you need a reservation for cycling up there. Haven't been up since they introduced that a couple of years ago for cars, not sure if it applies to cyclists.

Chandne

There are plans to make sure a food truck is there. Often it is BBQ sandwiches and other items, and they do have drinks and water you can buy. I have bought food/water for them a few times as well. I saw them the last two times and I hear it is a permanent thing now on weekends and possibly all week in the summer due to tourist traffic.

Chandne

Descending the higher part...hope it is viewable