[Mile 10, 6:04am] During the first 15 miles, which were actually flat, all of us 200 cyclists rode in packs, enjoying a nice sunrise.

[Mile 20.5, 6:40am] The start of the serious climbing finally begins! Here’s the turnoff to Wildcat Grade.

[Wildcat Grade, Mile 24, 7:02am] Climbing Wildcat Grade. This photo was taken just 2 minutes after the road was a whopping 16% grade briefly!

[Burrough Grade, Mile 30, 7:31am] Burrough Grade was pretty moderate… its worst 1/2-mile grade was just 7%.

[Mile 33, 7:44am] At the first rest stop I met John (in yellow) from the SF Tri Club, who knows my friend Lisa Z! We rode together for much of the Burrough and Tollhouse climbs.

[Tollhouse Grade, Mile 41, 8:47am] The Tollhouse Grade was the longest continuous climb of the day, shooting up 2700′ in 8 miles. Still feeling good….

[Pine Ridge Grade, Mile 45, 9:26am] There was no reprieve after Tollhouse, as climbing continued up CA-168… but the Pine Ridge Grade felt like cake compared to Tollhouse…

[Mile 61.5, 11:01am] Let the Mother of All Climbs begin! The Big Creek General Store demarked the beginning of the most significant climb of the day, the Big Creek Grade.

[Big Creek Grade, Mile 63, 11:17am] Does this look steep to you? Big Creek Rd. had sustained sections of 15%, and a steepest grade of 20%! Here’s a fellow cyclist digging deep.

[Big Creek Grade, Mile 64, 11:33am] Around the 20% steepness area, cyclists started pushing their bikes. I remained seated, but can’t say I was going much more than 1.5-2 mph faster than the walkers…

[Mile 66, 12:01am] Finally, a little bit of a reprieve: passing by picturesque Huntington Lake, which is where the lunch stop was at.

[Kaiser Pass, Mile 73, 12:37pm] “Welcome to God’s Country” proclaimed this sign. Well we were quite high above the earth; amazing to think that we were a whopping 9000′ higher than just 5 hours ago!

[Kaiser Pass, Mile 78.5, 1:50p] Another cyclist digging deep… the last couple of miles up Kaiser Pass got up to 18% grade.

[Top of Kaiser, Mile 79.5, 2:03pm] “There is a top?…” Yes! Finally made it to the top of Kaiser Pass, the namesake of this ride.

[Mile 79.5, 2:07pm] The expressions say it all. Here’s Felix (left) with two other cyclists, replenishing and relieved after making it to the Top of Kaiser checkpoint.

[Tamarack Pass, Mile 88, 2:29pm] But wait, one more pass to go! Fortunately, Tamarack Pass seemed mild, with lots of brief downhill sections.

[Mile 99, 3:40pm] Passing by Shaver Lake again, a popular site for fisherman and motorboat people.

[Mile 153, 6:44pm] Getting closer to Clovis, it was extremely hot (105 degrees), windy, dry, and ugly. Even though it was mostly all downhill at this point, it was not easy!

[Mile 156, 6:54pm] The finish!!! You can see my total time here (13 hrs, 24 min). The last 30-40 miles were quite unpleasant considering the weather, scenery, and traffic, but overall, a good ride!