Mavic Haute Route Rockies 2018 - Pikes Peak on day 7

[g-boaf]

Just got the message about Haute Route Rockies in America, 2018.

They'll include a ride up to the summit of Pikes Peak on it on the final day.

2018 Mavic Haute Route Rockies schedule:

Saturday, June 23 - Stage 1: Boulder to Boulder
Sunday, June 24 - Stage 2: Boulder to Winter Park
Monday, June 25 - Stage 3: Winter Park to Avon
Tuesday, June 26 - Stage 4: Avon Time Trial
Wednesday, June 27 - Stage 5: Avon to Breckenridge
Thursday, June 28 - Stage 6: Breckenridge to Breckenridge
Friday, June 29 - Stage 7: Colorado Springs to Pikes Peak

That's the highest any Haute Route goes to. That looks amazing:

https://www.hauteroute.org/events/overv ... ckies-2018

[RonK]

That would be a great event, but it's a sportif, not cyclotourism. You could of course ride the route as a tour. Others here have done the Pike's Peak ride.

To be noticed it probably should be posted in the Road Biking forum where there are other threads about sportif's.

[MichaelB]

Col Collective did a nice video up Pikes Peak, and Guy Martin did a good run on a bike. With a motor and turbo ...

[g-boaf]

I figured it was overseas, and it was a multi day tour rather than criteriums and the like that was usually in that forum.

That's a monster final day. I make it to be going up to 4270m. That will be tough.

Edit: 1:51 in that promo video - that guy is the best person you want to have looking after your bike. He worked on mine at 5am on a pouring wet and cold morning fixing up a loose cassette.

[dalai47]

I have ridden Pikes Peak along with other climbs in Colorado such as the slightly taller Mt Evans back in 2013.

Due to the altitude (estimated as producing ~72% Sea level FTP over 4000m) and gradient over 10% near the top I'd rank Pikes Peak as one of my toughest climbs!

If considering this I would recommend acclimatizing by riding gradually higher peaks as I did traveling via the climbs of the Eastern Sierra first or living in an altitude tent for the month before!

[queequeg]

Here's the Pikes Peak Climb. I would so love to do this one



Mount Evans would also be a good one...

[RonK]

There is only one Pike's Peak ascent worth watching - the iconic Climb Dance, with il maestro Ari Vatanen in the incredible Peugoet 405 T16

[g-boaf]

Here's the Pikes Peak Climb. I would so love to do this one



Mount Evans would also be a good one...

Me as well. Put them on the bucket list.

You'll be back in action later down the track.

I've gone up to 2200m, that felt okay but I couldn't imagine 4000+!

RonK: nah, must be on a bicycle.

[dalai47]

Definitely worthy of a road trip. To be honest the climbs ridden on my trip are equal to or actually even better to the cols I've climbed in Europe!

It's not quite as contained as the French Alpes or Pyrenees though, so a road trip can involve a lot of driving if you want to include the best climbs. In my 3 week trip I ended up driving over 5,600km solo!

USA 2013 - 1705km 42,009m vert

California - San Francisco
Old La Honda + Pescadero Creek road +Tunitas Creek road + Kings Mountain road
Sierra rd + Mt Hamilton
Mt Diablo via North Gate am + Mt Tamalpais loop from Fairfax pm.
Eastern Sierra California
Mosquito Flat from Bishop. 3,124m above sea level
Bristlecone from Big Pine.
Horseshoe Meadows + Whitney Portal.
Onion Valley
Colorado
Grand Mesa (both sides).
Independence pass (both sides).
Copper Triangle.
Trail ridge rd (both sides).
Mt Evans 4,315m!
Pikes Peak 4,301m
Arizona
Mt Graham.
Mt Lemmon
California
Palomar Mountain South Grade and East Grade.
Glendora Mountain road /Glendora Ridge road + Mt Baldy

@RonK - can watch that clip repeatedly!

[dalai47]

Huge difference between 2,200m and +4,000m!

Had Mt Evans nearly to myself from Echo lake onward as the road was closed to vehicles due to landslides caused by flooding the day prior... Only car was a Ranger out checking on the mountain goats. Was quite eerie up there alone in the clouds!





Pikes Peak was the opposite experience being covered in tourists, which also meant lots of cars though traffic was respectful. Almost rock star status around the summit from the people being incredulous I could have ridden up the monster. Got asked to be in a number of photos!

[RonK]

Huge difference between 2,200m and +4,000m!

For sure. I've spent quite a bit of time trekking the Himalaya at those kind of altitudes. I know that it's hard enough to walk let alone ride a bike.

You could make yourself very ill attempting that climb with proper preparation and acclimatisation. In fact even the start of the climb is high enough for many to feel the effects of altitude sickness .

I take my hat off to you.

[RonK]

@RonK - can watch that clip repeatedly!

Yes - as impressive at Sebastian Loeb's run in the Peugoet 208 is, it's just not quite the same now the road is sealed.

[g-boaf]

Those photos are stunning. Ordinarily I'd be interested in the car videos, but they just don't compare.

[dalai47]

Huge difference between 2,200m and +4,000m!

For sure. I've spent quite a bit of time trekking the Himalaya at those kind of altitudes. I know that it's hard enough to walk let alone ride a bike.

You could make yourself very ill attempting that climb with proper preparation and acclimatisation. In fact even the start of the climb is high enough for many to feel the effects of altitude sickness .

The Himalaya is definitely on the bucket list. Very jealous!

Idaho Springs which is the starting point for Mt Evans is already 2294m above sea level! Average gradient isn't steep but pretty much all climbing from the start with 2000m vert over 46km... Highest paved road in North America!

[RonK]

The Himalaya is definitely on the bucket list. Very jealous!

Don't leave it too long. Development is rapidly encroaching on many of the popular trekking areas. For example, road construction has reduced the famed Annapurna Trek to only 6 days of remote trekking.

The Three Passes trek would be a good one for you to tackle.

[BenGr]

Pikes Peak is an incredible climb, as is Mt Evans, with lack of traffic being great, but as others have said the traffic on Pikes was very respectful.

For me it was the last 300m vert where the altitude made itself known, especially with ~10% average. This was after weeks above 2000m altitude including several 3000m+ passes. I hope people taking part arrive with time to acclimatise, as even the early stages could cause problems.

[g-boaf]

They are doing Infinity Pass, entry to all 2019 Haute Route events at the moment.

I've got one already.

[nezumi]

My curiosity was piqued, so I had a bit of a look around the site.

What stood out to me was the accomodation options on the 7 day routes, e.g.: https://www.hauteroute.org/events/how-t ... /alps-2019

Budget: "Group/shared accommodation (e.g. apartment, holiday centre, bungalow, gymnasium floor with temporary beds or nuclear shelter)"

[Warin]

Budget: "Group/shared accommodation (e.g. apartment, holiday centre, bungalow, gymnasium floor with temporary beds or nuclear shelter)"

I have staid in one of those. It was a Youth Hostel in Europe. ~350 beds ... I wandered up and down trying to find it .. must be big I thought .. so up I go looking for a building at that address... no ... I wander down looking ...no ... puzzled I take very close attention to the numbers ... it must be here .. but that is a park .. then I see it .. an underground entry with a small YHA sign ..in I go. There were less than 20 of us in 350 beds .. showers were hot and strong. Beds ... well you could chose a room for yourself. An interesting experience. Don't get lost inside.

[g-boaf]

My curiosity was piqued, so I had a bit of a look around the site.

What stood out to me was the accomodation options on the 7 day routes, e.g.: https://www.hauteroute.org/events/how-t ... /alps-2019

Budget: "Group/shared accommodation (e.g. apartment, holiday centre, bungalow, gymnasium floor with temporary beds or nuclear shelter)"

I remember last year in Dolomites, some of the accommodations in Innsbruck were gymnasium floors with temporary beds, not the most enticing. The next level up accommodation was Ramada Tivoli - very nice indeed, where I was staying.

I'd go the next level up if you can. Never seen the nuclear shelters.

The places I had this year were:

Hotel Les Portes de Megeve (comfortable, but quite far away from the village)
Résidence Le Hameau de Valloire (apartments, quite average)
Hôtel Les Flocons (somewhat run down hotel, comfortable enough, good breakfast)
Résidence Vega (ski lodge/apartment, reasonable - but looking old)
Le Bataclan, Auron (nice hotel and friendly staff, but far from the village)
Hotel de Monsigny, Nice (last minute change, really nice place)

The express option can be sometimes better, you might avoid having a hotel or apartment that is 1.5-3.0km away from the village (for race start/end and briefings). You could also try AirBnB.

The briefings / after stage functions are at 6:30pm usually, so if you do dinner after that - then get back to the hotel at say 9pm, and a 7am rollout next morning, the closer the accommodation is the better.

Anything else you want to know, feel free to ask.