Sooo I was supposed to follow yet another Strava guide and do Golden Loop going down Coal Creek Canyon and up Golden Gate Canyon. Unfortunately they closed off Coal Creek Canyon for cyclists and I didn’t feel like going down Golden just to climb it back up. :/ The furthest I went was visitors center (like 1/3 down). Beautiful indeed and I bet it was even more so further down. Will have to come back to do it properly.

Instead I continued towards Idaho Springs and up to Mt Evans in order to set up a good base camp for tomorrow’s summit attack. While doing so I learned that summit is closed and I won’t be able to reach 4300m above sea level just a mere 3900m. And exactly before the coolest switchbacks 😢 Bummer. A big one. I was really looking forward to reaching 4k by bike. I will most certainly have to go back here then.

Climbing today was extremely poor from my end. Ultimate spaghetti legs and getting out of breath easily. I guess glycogen depletion and altitude? Only going up Mt Evans road after a loooong break and a lot of fries at McDonalds I was able to put out some watts. It’s crazy how above 3000 meters I have to be really focused on breathing properly and deeply, engaging my belly. Otherwise if I miss one breath (while taking a sip or a chew) I instantly go into a red zone, legs start to burn and dizziness kicks in.

Camping at Echo Lake (3261 meters according to my watch). It’s gonna be a cooooold night.