Colorado ElliptiGO Double Peak Challenge Trip Report

7/27/2019 Colorado ElliptiGO Double Peak Challenge Trip Report

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Last weekend in Colorado there were two notable hill climbing cycle races:

July 20th - The Bob Cook Memorial Hill Climb up Mt Evans from Idaho Springs July 21st - The Pikes Peak Cycling Hill Climb from Manitou Springs / Crystal Lakes

This was the first time these two annual races have been held on consecutive days and provided an opportunity for a

cyclist to do both to complete the World'sHardest and Highest Cycl ing WeekendI had already signed up to do Pikes Peak and then was persuaded by my friends at ElliptiGO that I should also come out

to Colorado for the Mt Evans race as well

I also popped into the Qualcomm Boulder office on Thursday boy what a great location!

The night sky from Eldora Lodge, Wondervu, Golden, CO (8000ft)


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On Friday I wanted to do a small warm-up ride as I hadnt been on my bike all week. An

interesting route looked like riding down to Gross Reservoir then up to Flagstaff. The early

morning had beautiful weather and I really was in the middle of nowhere I saw more deer

on the trail then people!

The dirt track was pretty bumpy as it had rained the

previous couple of days so lots of ruts caused by rain

washout. These caused my 2nd

water bottle to jump its

cage and unfortunately to open so I only had half my

water left

Once I got off the dirt and onto Flagstaff Rd things were

better even if pretty steep (15-20% spikes!). Made it up

over the top past the lovely Lake Hoosier then down to

Flagstaff itself. Great views down into Boulder, but no

water at the restrooms so decided I couldnt go back the same way, I would have to

go through Boulder instead. A short descent plus a long journey south on the not-so-

pleasant 93 then it was time to climb back up to Wondervu via Coal Creek Canyon Rd.

Approximately 5000ft ascent.. A nice warm up


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Saturday July 20th

. Bob Cook Memorial Hill Climb. Mt Evans, CO. 27.3 miles. 14,130 Finish Elevation

Very early on Saturday I drove down from Wondervu to the start of the race in Idaho Springs, where I met up with the

other ElliptiGO riders some local, some from the ElliptiGO Company in Solana Beach (who flew over) and some other

owners from Oregon and California. All of them athletes in much better shape than me!

The climb up Mt Evans was totally gruellingyou start out 7,500 so you are already a bit out of breath by the time I

got to 11,000 I was seriously light headed and had no energy in my legs because I wasnt sucking in enough oxygen! The

last stages of the climb are really nasty lots of corners to go round where you find another flight of switch-backs which

still dont take you to the top. I knew two ElliptiGO riders were behind me somewhere. I thought I was close to the top

when some of my friends went past me on their descent - I still had over an hour to go Finally made it to the top in

5hr09min (Rusty came first in 3hrs!) Everybody was packing up as lightning had started so time for a quick photo and

my descent

The road surfaces was pretty bumpy

and there were some big drops over

the side at one point I moved to the

right to let a car past but didnt see a

huge pot hole in the road until it wastoo late to avoid or brake so I did

my first ever bunny-hop on the

ElliptiGO is a desperate attempt to

not end up in a big crash or worse

sailing over the mountain side Took

over an hour to get down

We refuelled in Idaho Springs before driving 100 miles south to Colorado Springs

to pick up our race packets for the Pike Peak ride. The organizers recommended

we leave our hotels by 4.30am to get parking at Crystal Lakes for the start of therace. Nice have to get up before the sun!


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Sunday July 21st. Pikes Peak Hill Climb, CO. 12.4 miles. 14,110 Finish Elevation

Though Pikes Peak is much steeperits also a lot shorter. This suits the ElliptiGO well we can can crank up really steep

inclines in a pretty competitive time.

We were at the start by 5am ready to begin the

Fun (!?!?) ride at 6am.

The average gradient made it tough going for an hour I was tracking someroadies who had to repeatedly get

off to catch their breath whilst I

just slowly crept up the mountain.

Ideally I would have geared down using a smaller chain-ring like some of my

friends didbut we didnt have enough of the slightly different length chains

so whilst they were spinning in a higher cadence I had to grind it out

The views going up Mt Evans had been great but the views from Pikes were

spectacular especially with the early morning light.

After 3hr 28min I made it to the top and met

up with the others who had got up much

quicker (and one who came in later).

The Summit Station on Pikes Peaka long way up from the start!


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Then after a couple of photos it was time for a VERY quick descent


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Aftermath and Manitou Incline Sunday Afternoon.

After lunch, when the rest of the crowd had set off for home, I decided to

round the weekend off with a quick hike up The Manitou Incline an

ascent of 2000ft at 43% average gradient (up to 68% in places!) rising up

from Manitou Springs I think this killed

me more than Pikes Peak!

Colorado ElliptiGO Double Peak Challenge Trip Report

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