Lead Mine Pass

Lead Mine Pass cycling climb profile

Lead Mine Pass is short on distance and brutal on demand. At 2.8 km, it is not a long climb in the usual endurance sense, but the average gradient of 17.33% changes the entire equation. This is an HC-rated ascent because the effort density is extreme: the climb gains 488 m from a start elevation of 38 m to a summit elevation of 526 m, with the profile data also listing 436 m of total ascent.

That combination tells you the important riding truth before any tactical detail: this is not a climb to settle into lazily and repair later. The gradient is already hard enough on average that any section below that average would have to be balanced by something worse, and the maximum gradient of 28.14% confirms that the steepest moments are not just uncomfortable, they are potentially ride-breaking.

How the gradient shapes the ride

On a climb this short and this steep, the main limiter is not just aerobic capacity. It is torque, traction, cadence control, and the ability to keep producing power when the bike speed drops. A 17.33% average over 2.8 km means there is very little free speed. Momentum fades quickly, and every hesitation costs more than it would on a steadier alpine-style gradient.

The 28.14% maximum is the key tactical feature. Even without a detailed sector-by-sector gradient map, the pacing implication is clear: ride the early part under control enough to have a gear, cadence, and upper-body stability available when the road kicks hardest. If you go into the steepest ramps already over threshold, the climb becomes a series of forced accelerations at low cadence, which is exactly where muscular fatigue compounds fastest.

Pacing and gearing notes

Treat Lead Mine Pass as a maximal climbing effort with a long anaerobic tail, not as a conventional tempo climb. The best execution is likely a restrained start, a controlled middle, and then accepting the cost of the final hard ramps once the summit is close enough to commit.

Practical setup matters here:

• Use the easiest gearing available. A wide-range climbing setup is not optional if cadence preservation matters.
• Stay seated where traction allows. Standing can help over the steepest pitches, but it also raises torque spikes and can break rhythm.
• Keep the upper body quiet. On gradients this severe, wasted movement shows up immediately as speed loss.
• Pace from feel and sustainable torque, not just speed. Road speed will be low, and chasing it can push you above a sustainable effort too early.

For riders using /glossary/ftp to anchor pacing, the mistake is treating the 2.8 km length as permission to start too hard. The gradient makes the effort more stochastic than the distance suggests. The winning approach is controlled aggression: arrive at the steepest sections with just enough reserve to keep turning the pedals, because once cadence collapses on a 28.14% ramp, recovery is difficult before the summit.