On Saturday, July 11, 2020 at 6:13:14 AM UTC-7, Mark Cleary wrote:
Has anyone here done this and what gears did you use? I just have no clue what is needed for a regular reasonably fit cyclist.

Deacon Mark

I used to ride with a guy who won the Mt. Evans Hill Climb five times, Mike Engleman. When we rode together, he rode a 39/21 low.

A quick search of the interweb shows reasonably fit sport riders using compact 34/28-30. The average gradient is moderate, although there are some steep sections. I'd be more concerned about heat and altitude. You're starting at 7,000 and ending at 14,000. I've ridden Rocky Mountain passes fully loaded on a touring bike as high as 12,000 (with a low of 36/28), but I was at altitude for a week or weeks before that, and those passes had very moderate grades. Doing weekend trips to Salt Lake and starting at 5,000 feet and riding up to 10,000 (Mirror Lake), I'm panting and sweating coming from balmy sea level Portland. You'll be used to the heat coming from the Midwest, but you'll need to acclimate to the altitude. You can get off the plane and start climbing, but if you do that, I would recommend going slowly, taking some Tylenol in advance and tons of water. Altitude sickness sucks. Its like a migraine and the flu. Maybe get some little CO2 canisters filled with O2.

-- Jay Beattie.