The statistics:
Cross bikes
3000+ feet of dirt road climbing
3000+ feet of paved descending
elevations between 9000 and 12000 feet
30 miles
3 hrs 45 minutes

The Reality:

We set out on bikes in Rocky Mountain National Park tonight. Chris brought up this ride a few weeks ago on our drive to Steamboat. "You know, there's a ride we do here every couple of years that's pretty fun. We start at the bottom of Fall River Road. Climb Fall River Road to the Visitor's Center, climb a little on Trail Ridge Road, then descend on Trail Ridge all the way back to the car. We should really do it next time there's a full Moon."

We initially had this ride scheduled for last Tuesday, the full moon, but we got shut out due to weather. Chris made plans, though, to do the ride Saturday 9/1. Alas, we found ourselves in RMNP on 9/1 pedaling by 7:30pm. We started late enough in the day that there was not much daylight left. In fact, the sunset left quite an impact as it blazed on in faraway skies.

The climb started immediately. Also immediate was the grade that we would be climbing for the next 11 miles. It mandated an easy gear from the get go. I settled into a good groove (in my easiest gear) and pedaled on.

After an hour or so of climbing, we stopped for our first snack break. The recently leftover 6" sammich from Subway particularly hit the spot. It was getting dark, but the crags and spires rising in the distance were feeling closer by the minute.Does anyone have any Ibuprofin?
We continuted on for another hour of climbing. The grade was never too bad, but towards the top, we did encounter genuinely tough grades in the road. They weren't much, but seemed harder at the end of a long, long climb. Total climbing time was just over 2 hrs and included a snack break or two. We topped out at the visitor's center. It looks much, much different under cover of darkness with no cars at the top. We forged onward, now on Trail Ridge Rd. We probably climbed another 500' or so, but it didn't feel like too much. It was also starting to get chilly, so we stopped at a pull off in the Rock Cut to put the layers on. I added booties, warm gloves, knee warmers and a waterproof/windproof jacket. Well, the gloves would have been warm, but for some reason, one of them was wet. Not good, but it proved to be bearable. Chris took it to another level. He was bundled up! The descent was amazing. The top part had crappy pavement and construction, but we finally rolled into some excellent freshly paved road. The road was smooth and black, and the stripes were bright and reflective. It was nice to be able to take up an entirey lane and not have to worry about cars. We stoped about 1/2 way down from the top to soak up the views of the Estes Park city lights. Pretty good! What gear were you guys usingAfter that stop, it was pretty much a blur. The descent continued to kick much ass. There was 1 hill in there, though, one that noone told me aout :) You probably could have heard the explosion down in Lyons.

Great ride fellas. I'd do it again in a second!