A few weeks ago, I wrote about my first attempt up North Cheyenne Canyon Rd. in Colorado Springs but most of the data I talked about was hearsay and educated guesses.  Last Saturday, I picked up a Garmin Edge 305 GPS/HRM/computer from Colorado Cyclist and now I can provide a lot more detail and proof of the mountain’s difficulty. 

This was really my third time up and the conditions weren’t great.  I’m still suffering the after affects from a weeklong flu and their was a fierce wind pouring down the canyon last night.  I was also carrying a lot more gear than last time (cell phone, spare tubes, pump, tire levers and food) because I had no one to call to come pick me up should something go awry.  Anyway, on to the numbers.

Here is the elevation profile for my 27.7 mile ride:

What’s so astonishing to me is that NCC dwarfs all of the other climbs, most notably the street I live on, Farthing Dr.  Farthing is a 1.91 mile hill with an average 8.5% grade but in comparison to NCC, it looks about as difficult as a neighborhood speed bump.

The climb itself, according to my Garmin, is 3.17 miles, average grade of 8.9% with a maximum grade of 23%.  The climb gains a total of 1,004 feet of elevation and tops out at 7,464 feet.  One thing that isn’t captured is how tough the descent is.  After 5 minutes, my neck, shoulders and back was screaming for mercy and begging to start fighting gravity again.

If you live in the Colorado Springs area and haven’t done this climb yet, I highly recommend it.  Not only does it provide a great test of fitness but it’s a classic mountain climb, with fabulous switchbacks, views and wildlife.  The fall foliage is a nice bonus as well.

I’m not a conspiracy theorist by any means but I found this interesting. And it’s not from some left wing anti-Bush group, it’s from a news report that aired on Canada’s Canadian Broadcasting Company.

So, let me get this straight… 

Our president will spend $720 million dollars per day or $262 billion per year on the war in Iraq (that figure does not include expenditures in Afghanistan or other countries in the Middle East where we wage our “war on terror”) but will veto a bill to provide healthcare to kids who fall through the Medicare and private health insurance cracks that would cost a mere $7 billion per year?

I’d like any Republican (including family members) to rationalize this decision and tell me how it is in Mr. Bush’s own words “unconscionably irresponsible.”

I normally like to stay away from politics here on RCS, but this in outrageous.

I purchased a new toy this afternoon but before I write up a full review, I wanted to give a glimpse of what an "easy" spin is around the Cheyenne Mountain neighborhood.

Exhibit A (click for full size image)

To try out my new toy, I embarked on the easiest ride I could just to get some data points to use with the accompanying software.  But as you see from the graph above (X axis is distance, Y axis is elevation/grade), there aren’t any really easy rides near home.

Three hills in 13 miles of riding, each with 18% grades and all above 6,100 feet in elevation.  The 91 degree temperature didn’t help any, but this post is just about the terrain.

There are plenty of flat roads around here but they’re all 40-50 miles east of Colorado Springs so I better just keep losing the weight and learn to love climbing.

Here’s the map (click on the image to see it on Google Maps):

And the .kmz file for Google Earth.

All the above data was collected and transmitted automatically by my new toy which I’ll review here shortly.