Thinking about mountain passes

On Wednesday, I did 52k to the south and east of the Springs. There are a couple of reasons I ride that route frequently. First, it is into the prevailing south wind to start. Secondly, there is a place where I can do a 3 mile stretch that is mostly uphill. Good training for the ride.

Near the top of the climb, I took this picture:

This is one reason why I love to live in Colorado. This is a fairly typical view. I started to think about having to ride above tree line on RtR and how high that really is compared to where I was at the time. Red Mountain Pass is 11,018 feet and Wolf Creek Pass is 10,863 feet. My training has mostly been at about 7,000 feet. Now I do have a big advantage over Luke who is training at essentially sea level, but 4,000 feet is still a big difference. I need to get out and do some longer climbs at higher altitude.