Bike Ride to Jacob Lake

Page to Jacob Lake: 80.1 miles

Total mileage: 2749.0 miles

The first group I left with was WAY too speedy so I hopped on with Megan, Julie and Alicia. We knew going into the day we were going to have some major hills to climb and they started right off the bat. The first fifteen miles or so were a steady up hill climb and when you are averaging only 8 mph it seems like you are on the road forever. As a result I decided to put Julie in the hot seat which was great. The two of us have not done too much riding together so it was a good way to get to know her - definitely some good TGT time. After some serious hill climbing we were rewarded with a 12 mile down hill and allows of nearly 2000 feet in elevation. We knew that we would have to pay for it later on, but the views and the speed made it totally worth it.

After first lunch the temperature climbed significantly. With no trees or clouds for shade and newly paved roads we were baking. Some of the groups stopped on a bridge over the Colorado River and were jealous that they were enjoying a lazy rafting trip.

We did make a quick stop for some cool rocks, but decided we should keep going instead of stop at the general store because of the climb that awaited us.

The final part of the day was a 12 mile climb at a 6% gradient. This would be our biggest challenge yet and I will not lie I was definitely nervous. I had made a pact to myself that I would try my hardest to get to the top without stopping. This would be a good marker for my level of fitness and how much of a challenge Tioga Pass will be in a few weeks (that is a 12 mile climb with an 8% gradient).

The fist part of the climb was definitely the hardest part mainly because the sun was beating down on us and I was trying to get into hill combing mode. Dear readers I should let you in on a little secret that I am that biker who used to go a few miles out of my way to avoid hills so I have come a long way in these few short weeks if I do say so myself.

The group I started out with this morning decided that we would each ride our own ride up the hill and once we got to the top we would ride into the host together. As we started our ascent, we could see how steep of a climb it was going to be thanks to the group ahead of us. What was nice was the fact that the van was passing us as we got started and the hoots and hollers got us going. We ran into them two miles up the first part of the pass at a scenic overview for another wave of encouragement. While I am a bit sad that I did not stop for a photo I had a bet going on with myself to get as far as possible/finished without stopping.

The ride up was beautiful and because I was crawling at some points, I got to take in the scenery... a lot of scenery. At some points it was a bit rough, but I was able to get to the top without stopping. It was a huge sense of accomplishment for sure and made me feel like I would have a fighting chance to tackle in a few weeks.

When we arrived a whole bunch of us headed over to the only diner in town and housed some sandwiches. Between the carb overload and long bike ride I pretty much passed out for two hours until town hall meeting. Because we would be camping a handful of people decided to set up tents; the rest of us just broke out thermarests and sleeping bags and grabbed a picnic table. Mine was right on the edge of the gazebo which meant that I had a prime viewing point for stars ... The first legitimate stars I have seen in a while.

Elevation run down for the day: 4200 to 6000 to 4000 to 3500 to 8000 feet. Wahoo!!!

 

Interestingly enough this was not the most climbing we had done in one day. On the 4th of July we climbed over a vertical mile.

 

 

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