Day 12: Fairplay to Frisco, CO

39.4 miles, 2098 ft ascent, 9% max grade, 3:06 saddle time, current elevation 9075 ft.
Today I crossed over the dreaded Hoosier Pass.  At 11542 ft, it is the highest point on theTransAm route.  My day started with my old friends, Curtis and Ellen from the Annapolis Bicycle Club coming to join me for breakfast.  Afterward Ellen drove back over the Pass to Frisco and Curtis accompanied me on my endeavor.  Coming right out of FairPlay there was a climb of 171 ft in 0.6 mile.  What a way to start!  I like to start out easy, but there was none of that today.  We quickly climbed up above 10,000 ft, which is a new personal record for me.  I found myself breathing heavily in response to the exertion and the altitude.  We proceeded to climb 1,589 ft in 11 miles.  Of that, 1,037 was in the last 3.6 miles.  The cumulative effect of riding 11 days in a row and the altitude made the summit of Hoosier Pass very challenging for me…but I did it!  
Over the Top

Curtis and Ellen

And down again


The ride down the other side was a RUSH.  I was on my brakes the entire time because I am generally not comfortable bombing down hills, and still I reached a max of 31 mph.  I don’t have photos from the pass because I didn’t want to stop when climbing a long grade, and it would have been difficult to stop on the descent (my touring bike has rim brakes).  The descent from Breckenridge to Frisco is a long winding bike path with a steady downhill grade of 1 to 2%.  The altitude in Frisco is about 1,000 ft lower than FairPlay, so my descent for the day was 3,282 ft.  Tomorrow I am taking a rest day in Frisco.

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