Day 6 Leadville to Snowmass Village 68.5 miles with 4426' of climbing

Last night we were at the Delaware Hotel in Leadville.  This is an old original building from the gold rush days and it is a really neat building.  The only downside I saw was being on the third floor and very steep stairs.  With the altitude at 10152 it was really tough climbing the stairs with our luggage.  We left our bikes at a local bike shop as they do not allow bikes or cycling shoes in the Hotel.

Today we loaded our luggage at 645 and then ate at the Hotel as the meal was included with the room and then we got on the road at 715.  The temperature was 46 when we started and we had a 15 mile downhill  out of town and it was a little cool coasting at 20 MPH with little or no effort.  We then turned and started a slow climb up the valley.  We had an official rest stop at mile 20 and then the road started to kick up a little bit. We all knew it was going to climb as we were topping out at the pass a little over 12000 ft.  We dropped about 1000' after leaving Leadville and we had to make that up.

After going up the valley for quite awhile we then could see where the climb really started as the switchbacks started and the road most of the time was between 6 and 7% all the way to the top. After we got to the top another rest stop was on top and we ate fueled up and took the traditional top  of the pass picture.

We then decided it was time to descend and we put on our jackets and arm warmers and began the 15 mile descent into the town of Aspen.  The road down was really rough with pot holes and we were real cautious so no one had any misshaps.  After arriving into Aspen we stopped and ate lunch and then Rick who was eating with us said we had the big climb still to come to the Hotel.  We had 10 miles to go and it really was a steep climb or between 9-13% grade most of the way up to the Snow mass village.  Everyone was really tired after all the ups today and we are all resting up for the last day tomorrow into Glenwood Springs. The route is only for 52 miles and it is all downhill.  We have and optional ride up to the Maroon Bells which will add another 20 miles with 1500' of climbing, so most of us are doing this extra loop.

That's it for today and more on tomorrows post,