To give a sense of the ride "up" to Maroon Bells, I attached my camera to the back of my bike, and switched on the video mode for the descent. While you cannot get a sense of how steep the ride is, you will get a sense of my increasing speed as people going up the mountain--mostly at a snail's pace--rather quickly fade behind me. You will also see how the view of the mountains moves in and out of the frames, depending upon the curve and trees.

The video is 4 minutes long. At 1 minute 45 seconds, the view opens up so that you see quite a bit of the mountain range. At 2 min 27 seconds, you will see a fellow turn around and head down, not having made it to the top. There are quite of few such people.

DownhillMaroonBells