indieVelo's Three Peaks course is a 33.7km (20.94 mi.) route with 1,400m (4,593 ft) to "Conquer all three of indieVelo’s main climbs."
Route Description
The Three Peaks route is 33.7 km (20.94 miles) with 1,400 m (4,593 feet) of elevation and begins with a counterclockwise spin around two-thirds of South Lake before you depart the lake at 1.6 km (1.0 mile), abruptly heading inland toward Switchback Hill for your first ascent of three.
One hundred meters (328 feet) down the road, you encounter a 12% pitch, which is the steepest bit of this climb. A brief false flat section offers a bit of relief before you resume your climb. At 3.3 km (2.05 miles), a short flat section has a slightly declining slope. Riders anticipating this section with good legs and better gearing selection abilities can use it as a point of attack. You crest the summit of Switchback Hill at 4.0 km (2.49 miles).
Pushing hard over the top can speed your descent, where supertucking for aerodynamic efficiency (by freewheeling once your speed is ~53 kph+ (~32.9 mph)) will earn you more recovery time ahead of the climb to come. At 5.2 km (3.23 miles), your rapid descent is interrupted by a small hill climb.
At 6.0 km (3.73 miles), the right turn begins your second climb: to the top of the Dome in a 360-degree spiral up the slope. Unlike the other two climbs, this one has long, steady grades between 4% and 8%, with much of it fast enough to offer drafting if riders are nearby. At 8.2 km (5.10 miles), a steep ramp up to the flat top summit touches 17% briefly.
After reaching the summit, you follow the ring road around the Dome before plunging back down the way you came up. This descent starts at 9.7 km (6.03 miles) and is fast. Your descent is mostly undisturbed until 13.0 km (8.08 miles), when you are auto-braked for two right turns, bringing you to South Lake again, then on to the Coastal Loop Road. You are heading to Ice Mountain.
The Coastal Loop Road is very flat and uneventful until you turn right at 16.4 km (10.19 miles) onto the causeway that takes you across to Ice Mountain. You pass over a small hill, then at 18.4 km (11.4 miles), you turn left and away from the Ice Mountain coast.
Your third and final climb has begun up the switchbacks to Ice Mountain peak. You will want to have paced yourself on the first two climbs because this one is the longest, steepest, and most challenging of the three. The grade is variable, but you will spend most of your time at 10%+.
At 21.5 km (13.36 miles), the profile of the climb changes with punchy riders in favor over pure climbers. Treat the rest as a set of rollers to the finish with two significant descending sections. That said, the final 1.3 km (0.75 miles) includes two 10% pitches and will remind you that this is an alpine climb.
Thank you, Beta-tester Rob Miller!
Route Profile
For more indieVelo coure recons check out the indieVelo-Route Descriptions page!
Semi-retired after more than 20 years as the owner and director of a private Orthopedic Physical Therapy practice, Chris now enjoys the freedom to dedicate himself to his passions—virtual cycling and writing.
Driven to give back to the sport that has enriched his life with countless experiences and relationships, he founded a non-profit organization, TheDIRTDadFund. In the summer of 2022, he rode 3,900 miles from San Francisco to his “Gain Cave” on Long Island, New York, raising support for his charity.
His passion for cycling shines through in his writing, which has been featured in prominent publications like Cycling Weekly, Cycling News, road.cc, Zwift Insider, Endurance.biz, and Bicycling. In 2024, he was on-site in Abu Dhabi, covering the first live, in-person UCI Cycling Esports World Championship.
His contributions to cycling esports have not gone unnoticed, with his work cited in multiple research papers exploring this evolving discipline. He sits alongside esteemed esports scientists as a member of the Virtual Sports Research Network and contributes to groundbreaking research exploring the new frontier of virtual physical sport. Chris co-hosts The Virtual Velo Podcast, too.
