Done it. 3 times. Took 2 tries before I could complete all 151 miles and 15,000 feet of climbing. Fastest I ever went on a bicycle: 58 mph descending Monitor Pass. Epic ride no matter how you slice it.
Was also originally known as the Markleeville Death Ride. For some reason, insurors didn’t like the title, hence the change to the Tour of the California Alps.
There was a bar in town that had hundreds of brassiers hanging from the ceiling.
Did Durango to Silverton once, ~70 miles, 7000’, about half of “Markleeville”.
Darned near kilt me.
But then, I had 300 miles already on me in the previous few days.