Editor’s note: Lonnie Cook of Muscatine recently led four other Muscatine-area bicyclists to the mountains of Colorado. They returned from their week-long cycling experience on July 4.

FRISCO, Colo. —On June 27, after a 14-hour drive from Iowa, we settled into a condo in Frisco that would be our home for the next five days.

We began a systematic existence: rising before sunrise, eating a quick breakfast, cycling most of the day, showering, eating and doing it all over again the next day. We cyclists call this fun.

We conquered 11 mountain passes during our visit in Colorado: Loveland, Fremont, Tennessee, Vail, Hoosier, Red Hill, Juniper, Squaw, Berthoud, Iceberg, and Milner. We also went after the one of the “Holy Grails” of cycling: Mt. Evans and Trail Ridge Road.

Luckily, you can’t see the top of Mt. Evans from the bottom or many cyclists would probably turn around and give up right away.

The road up to Mt. Evans is the highest paved road in North America and tops out at 14,130 feet. Once you get to the parking lot at the top you can walk another 134 feet to the actual summit at 14,264 feet.

We started the climb in Idaho Springs. According to the Mt. Evans Web site, it is a 30-mile climb with a rise in altitude of 6,724 feet to the top, where the oxygen level is one-half of what it is at sea level.

There is really no way to train for something like this in Iowa, as our longest climbs are for the most part less than 1 mile and usually not as steep. You need a light bike, the right gearing, a good cardio-vascular system, strong legs and lots of patience. You soon learn to find a pace that you can do hour after hour after hour.

I previously did this climb in 2007, and this year I cut an hour off my original time. I used a lighter bike and was in better shape (never mind that the record is 1 hour and 41 minutes set by Tom Danielson a few years ago). Reaching the top gives you a sense of accomplishment and the views on a clear day are awesome.

The famed Trail Ridge Road is one of the few highways in North America that traipses its way above the tree line for miles. On our last day of riding in the Rocky Mountains we woke up to a light sprinkle in Estes Park. Donning rain gear and warm clothing we left the Fall River entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park on July 3 at 6:30am. Ahead of us we had a daunting 4,500 foot climb to get to the high point of Trail Ridge Road. Little did we know what lay ahead in the 21 mile climb to the Alpine Visitor’s Center.

At our first stop, Rainbow Curve turn-out, a friendly driver coming from the other direction warned us that there was some serious fog ahead. And he wasn’t kidding! After we left this stop the fog kept getting thicker and thicker until we could only see about 50 yards in front of us. We made sure to check our flashing red lights on our rear saddle bags. Traffic was light and moving slow due to the bad weather, which was in our favor. Our biggest worry was a random elk wandering out in front of us.

When we reached the top, we were literally in the clouds and the temperature was hovering in the low 40s. After a short break in the visitor’s center we stepped outside to find the fog was slowly lifting and there was clearing to the west and north. The views from the top were worth the effort we had made.

We had a great group on this trip and each person was able to accomplish his individual goals. No one had any problems adjusting to the altitude, although your power output at those elevations is going to be less than in Iowa.

The biggest challenge I heard from the group was the length of the climbs, the gradient and the fact that the downhill sections come all at once after you reach the top rather than dispersed through the route like our rollers here in Iowa.

OnlineIf you wish to view Lonnie’s daily journal about this trip you may go to his web-site: www.iowacyclist.crazyguyonabike.com.