Riding the Switchbacks

Roaring Fork Mountain and Wind River Peak, coming into view at the top of the Switchbacks.

Since the finished up paving the loop road up past Frye lake last fall, we now have a great mountain road ride in our back yard. 3000 ft. of vertical in all- from my house to the top. A 35 mile ride (round trip)... 17 or so going up. I've been riding it nearly every week now. It was awesome in April, May and June because it wasn't open to cars yet. Didn't really open up all the way, enough for bikes, until late May. The day I took these pictures was June 5th, 2010- a great day!

A bearded roadie!

Click on map to enlarge.

Chuck and Karla pedal past Frye Lake.

Seems like the standard view as you're climbing- takes me a little over an hour. My fastest time so far this is year is 1:10:30 (starting from intersection of 9th).

Looking down on Chuck and Karla as they climb their way up.

Over the top!

The view as I crest the top.

Zoom, zoom!

Down hill to Frye Lake from here.

Chuck and Karla, Frye Lake in the background.

Motoring down the final stretch.

Getting er' done!

Karla's view.

Lucky to have such a nifty ride so close to home. Though I opposed the paving of the road for quite some time- I'd have to say it took an alright MTB gravel road ride/ climb and turned it into a world class road ride/ climb. More good stuff!