Today, the team had a plan for off the bikes. After climbing 30 miles (on the bike), up a mountain to Loveland Pass, we were planning on hiking to the top of Mt. Sniktau - a 13,240-foot thirteener in the Arapaho National Forest! Not only did we spend the day biking upwards, but hiking as well! We decided to take on the challenge knowing that after the hike, we had 18ish miles of descents until we reached our stayover for the night, making the trek to the summit of the mountain after a long bike climb seem feasible.
quote of the day
“I don’t know you, but I’m proud of you!”
ride overview
Mileage: 48.4 Miles
Elevation: 5,395 ft.
Points of Interest: Frothy Cup Coffee, Loveland Pass, Mt. Sniktau
Ride Dedication: Stanisław Tchorz
Tales of the trail
Who knows what this group of cyclists would be without their morning coffee. To start the day, the team biked opposite of the route to head back into the town of Idaho Springs for a slight detour to get their much needed coffee to tackle the physically demanding day ahead, and to lift spirits. Once everyone was energized from their caffeine, we hit the pedals to start climbing for the day at a slow, very slow, 5mph average pace. The first couple miles of climbing were along a scenic bike path which made climbing the hills much easier. With a bike path, teams were able to talk and not worry about traffic, as well as enjoy the mountainous scenery around us, take in the fresh air of the trees on both sides of the path, and take it all in. Looking at the scenery, talking, and appreciating where we were definitely helped take our minds off the fact that we were all struggling to catch our breath up the hills at higher elevation, but we made it!
After the scenic bike trails, we climbed along Route 6 and were met with the tougher and longer climbs up the mountains! The amount of times people said, “this is so pretty” on today’s ride was record breaking, as every couple of minutes, although we would see similar mountains, the perspective would shift, giving us a new angle of mountains, trees, and sky to gaze at. Along the route today, we also learned that Colorado drivers are some of the nicest drivers we have encountered throughout the ride. Multiple teams got thumbs up from divers, “good job”, “keep going”, etc. This was a shock to us as we know not all drivers can be the kindest to cyclists, but Colorado drivers definitely have a nod of approval and appreciation from us!
When the groups got to Loveland Pass (a mountain at 11,990 ft above sea level in the Rocky Mountains), many of us quickly changed to sneakers, packed snacks and water, and hit the trails to summit Mt. Sniktau or get to a “no name” mountain along the trail to Mt. Sniktau for additional beautiful views of the surrounding mountains (Grizzly Peak, Cupid Peak). Upon hiking the trail, the team just had to stop when we saw snow! Snow only means one thing - snowball fight! We started forming snowballs and throwing them at each other, with Veronica (unfortunately) being the main target. It was a great way to get some more fun in and cool down! Our hands were freezing by the end of it! After the snowball fight, we continued to trek onward to the scenic lookout, and others went further ahead to summit Mt. Sniktau. When groups got to their final destinations, either at the summit or scenic lookout, we all decided to take a seat on the nice rocks/ground and admire the views (and catch our breath). Standing above the tree line, all of us took a look around to admire the mountains, take in the fresh air, and trace the paths we took to get here - a rewarding moment for the team.
After spending a while at the top of the mountains, the team hiked back down to finish the rest of the ride. We (mostly) had descents for the rest of the ride until we hit our stayover. Everyone was careful while descending down the ginormous mountains, and it was a fun experience to be able to zoom down the mountains and enjoy the views without having to put as much power into the pedals. All hands on the breaks for these descents, no pedaling required. Getting closer to the stayover, teams had to bike along a one-laned dirt path due to construction, and received encouragement from the road workers to keep going! The ride ended along a bike path once again, and we were all ready to hit the hay once we got to the stayover after such a long day, despite it only being 48 miles.
At the stayover, we were provided with resources to make our own spaghetti dinner, but this time with better pasta sauce and meat! We also received fresh bread and were able to end the night with some good-ol ice cream. After such a physically demanding, yet exciting and fun day, the team knocked out when the lights turned off, getting our rest for the ahead. Thank you to the Summit County Church of Christ for providing us with dinner resources and a place to sleep. Having this location be along a bike path also made it much more convenient for us to get to and from on our route! Thank you!
From the Saddle: A Question for You
Today’s Question to You: Would you rather bike uphill for hours or hike steep switchbacks-why?