Climbing Thompson's Pass 4800 Feet

On Friday we not only biked 69 miles total but in the middle of that but we climbed the 4,800 foot hill to Thompson's Pass before dropping 2,800 feet over 11 miles to Thompson Falls, Montana where we stayeds for the evening in the Thompson Falls High School yard.
Here are Sandy and me with a view of 700 feet below us where the road we just climbed for 3 miles makes a 90 degree turn to finish the almost one mile climb in altitude. Our speed going up ranged from 3 to 7 miles per hour. Our speeds down the other side from 25 to 45 miles per hour!

Our friend from Louisiana, Mike (right) points to the road below, that he just climbed to a height of almost one mile! He is smiling now because the climb is over. Riders climbed for 1 to 2 hours but took only minutes to drop 2,800 feet on the other side! Air temps were in the 60's so most people put on jackets before the fast descent!