Originally Posted by
tFUnK
Glad you made it happen. Sorry you were overbiked. I guess since this was a special trip it was better to be over-prepared than under-prepared, anyway.
Thanks!
Frau Toad is almost more interested in returning to this challenge than I am ... LOL. We were just talking this morning about the pro & cons of the Bianchi vs the Breezer. The Bianchi will be an asset with better gearing for the steepest ramps, and is much lighter to haul up the 45 miles getting to the short segment of unpaved road. I'm serious considering the revisit will be on the Bianchi and accept there will likely be some walking on the unpaved segment ... I think I'd end up walking anyway, only the fastest riders are going more that 5 mph so walking isn't sacrificing that much speed.
For reference: there is 4.65 miles of unpaved roads, starting at the visitor's center (9,200 ft); the last 2.5 miles to the summit is paved, and VERY steep, at high altitude. The whole segment from the visitor's center to the summit averages 11.4%, and kicks up to 20%.