The ride was not very long, just under 30 miles. But it had a full 4660 feet of climbing! The Gibraltar climb from Mountain Road to La Cumbre Peak (elevation 3840 ft) is 8.9 miles long and averages 6.7%. Luckily there are a couple of places where it evens out. Most of the climbing averaged 7.3% and peaked at about 11%. The road conditions were marginal on Gibraltar and worse on Painted Cave and Old San Marcos Pass Roads. The descent down Painted Cave hit 21% on the switchbacks. Even the sight of the switchbacks scares the tar out of you!
