Wednesday, March 4 – Today campers took on the most EPIC bike day of the week…the assault of Mt Lemmon. This 30+ mile climb up Mt Lemmon features 8812 feet of vertical gain. The best part of this amazing day of climbing is the decent back down which features 30+ mph average the entire way with very little pedaling. The riders met at Safeway Supermarket which is next to McDonald’s which offers very nice pre-ride bathrooms. The scheduled start time was at 10:00am and the riders rolled out at 9:55am under beautiful sunshine and low 50’s temperatures. Temperatures at the 8000+ feet summit were a balmy 44 degrees.

Campers ready to take on the assault of Mt Lemmon

Coach Shannon explains the challenge of Mt Lemmon to Justin Sanker and Curt Haywood (who seems quite happy to hear of the difficulty that awaits them)

The view from about half way up Mt Lemmon

Another amazing view from Mt Lemmon taken by Nate Riggs

A photo capturing another person taking a photo from a frightening vantage point on Mt Lemmon

Dallas, TX native Catherine Paulson makes it to 7000 feet before heading back down

Nate Riggs stops to take a selfie just a couple miles into the climb…24 miles to go!

Justin Sanker enjoys a view from about a 1/3 of the way up on Mt Lemmon

Josh Wiseman’s bike at the snowline of Mt Lemmon (where are you Josh?)

Another bike selfie…this time it’s Nate Riggs bike near the summit

Kurt Molter and Klaus Grimm celebrate reaching the 8000′ mark of Mt Lemmon

Nate Riggs makes the summit at Ski Valley…8000+ feet of climbing in the books