jppe

This pops up every once in while in my Facebook feed. I think it was June, 2011. Estes Park, CO to Grandby via Trail Ridge Rd (Rocky Mountain National Park) on Bike Tour Colorado. Snow, sleet and 30 mph winds that tried to push us off the road and over cliffs. Zero visibility at times. Only about 100 of 1200 of us made it up and over the 12,000’ peak elevation. The pictures are just a couple miles from where the Park Rangers had opened the gates after we stood around in frigid temperatures for 45 minutes.

Stopping was not an option for My brother and me!! If you stopped you froze…..The remainder were bussed from the Visitors Center. Lost feeling in my fingers and toes. I think I remember seeing my brother standing behind a car tailpipe warming up his fingers on the descent. Other than the ride over Berthoud Pass a few years later this was the coldest I’ve ever been.

After we got off the mountain we rode through another rain storm on flooded muddy roads before we got to the finish. All those wet clothes were in the tent with me that night.

An unforgettable day!

rumrunn6

oh man that's brutal

Tony Marley

You definitely had a tough day. Congratulations on gutting it out.

BobbyG

Not to mention the altitude. I remember when I moved from 600 feet in the midwest to 6500 feet in Colorado Springs. Took me a couple months to fully acclimate. I've lived at 6500 feet 30 years and I still feel the thin air over 8000. We drove Berthod pass three years ago and really felt the altitude.

So coming from North Carolina and riding Berthod Pass, even under ideal conditions would have been tough enough.

Very impressive!

jppe

Interestingly the altitude never really bothered me as I’ve always been in pretty decent riding shape when I’d go out for these rides. However, I would feel it when I’d get above 10,000’ but I’d just ride a little slower. Funny, I’ve climbed Berthoud Pass from both sides and each time it was snowing.

rsbob 

Your story reminds me of a metric century I would rather forget. Not as brutal but it involved climbing a Washington mountain pass in October and it was raining like crazy and the wind was blowing. We rode our tandem up Snoqualmie pass about 3000’. When we got to the summit we ducked into a restaurant to wait it out to see if the rain would improve and of course it only got worse. They day started in the 50s so we just had light tyvek wind breakers, not anticipating a monsoon. Anyway the route was on Interstate 90 so vehicle were wizzing past us at 70 MPH and the semis wore the worst because they would lash us with spray as they went by. After we decided we should bite the bullet and go down 30+ miles we immediately got a rear flat which is a PITA on a tandem, but we had a spare tube and changed it in about 10 mins. Part of The interstate is elevated and has large steel expansion joints which made the bike less than stable in the wet. The bike didn’t have a drag brake, just old style calipers. To keep the speed down, we braked just about the whole way down so as to not build up too much speed especially over the joints. As a result the brake pads wore down almost to the metal. Our hands were cramped. We were hypothermic due to not putting out any energy coasting and shivering, utterly soaked through. Then the trucks, one after another, soaked us with their contrails. To top things off, at the bottom of the first big decent we had another rear flat but had only patches. It was raining so hard that when the tire was off the bike, the low section completely filled with water. And then we went through four patches because none of them would stick on the wet tube. Bending over the tube repair to shield it from the rain, and wiping the tube with the only shred of dry clothing we attempted our last patch. Miracle of miracles, it took and we got back on the bike for the last 10 miles, hands cramped, teeth chattering and shivering. We completed the ride and both vowed never again, and we stuck to it. What a cluster.

andrewclaus

My wife had those conditions once on that road on Ride the Rockies in June. She was one of the few who finished the ride that day.

I've cycled, hiked, and skied in the Rockies and Cascades my entire adult life, certainly lots of cold limbs and digits, but the closest I've been to dangerous hypothermia was a sunny day in May on the coast of California. I'd crested a 2000' hill climbing from a warm inland valley, then coasted down to a beach in cool marine air, probably high 50s, wearing a soaked cotton shirt. By the time I stopped at the beach, I was shivering uncontrollably and could barely get more clothes on or get something to eat. My wife and I were touring and she had to get the stove going to get me something warm, and wrap a sleeping bag around me.

rsbob 

I have backpacked up and down the west coast in snow and rain and the coldest night I ever spent was one night on the beach near Crescent City Calif. The damp in the air went right through my down mummy bag, (no tent). The entire night I was dreaming of motels and hot showers.

rydabent

I am a totally fair weather rider. No way would I ride in conditions like that. Any temp below 60 degrees is not fit for man nor beast.