Now THAT was a good climb! (Pics)

baxnelly · February 17, 2009, 6:44pm

Feb 13th, Climbing the Pico Veleta near Granada, Spain.

~6,000 feet of climbing in just under 19 miles. Some sections in the first 3-4 miles over 20% grade. Warm and sunny at the base. Cold, sunny and lots of snow at the top.

Going to make the ‘hills’ in Northwestern PA seem a little smaller after that ride…

Looking up towards finish (route went around village/resort) but you can see the road up near the peak:

Looking back at road from top after finishing the climb:

Another rider finishing in the mountain top ski resort parking lot:

Looking out from the parking lot at a great view from the top:

VIP parking spot for the bike at the top:

Ride profile from my Garmin:

JAC · February 17, 2009, 6:54pm

Nice! I’m jealous.

baxnelly · February 17, 2009, 7:01pm

Some more pics:

The road near the start of the climb:

Still going up about 14 miles later, road just kept going up and up …

The ride down was as nerve racking as the ride up was hard:

islandman · February 17, 2009, 7:02pm

Very cool! I love these posts - amazing to get a glimpse of all the possibilities existing out there.
Thanks for sharing.

OneGoodLeg · February 18, 2009, 12:38am

That bad boy ever show up in the Vuelta route?

Macho_Grande · February 18, 2009, 2:14am

Once you’ve climbed really big mountains, everything else is small in comparison. The biggest I’ve climbed is the Six-Gap loop plus Brasstown Bald in Northern Georgia and everything here in Maryland is small now.

Bob

TriBriGuy · February 18, 2009, 2:17am

Nice!

Tom_Demerly · February 18, 2009, 2:33am

Litereally and figuratively- breathtaking. Thanks for posting those. Awesome.