Enjoyed riding in the "Death Ride"

Curious about this ride, and because my husband attempted the 5 passes (he accomplished 4 and was unable to make the Time Cutoff for the 5th due to a flat tire)in the California Alps, I decided at the last minute to use our friend's registered spot. He could not ride due to healing his hurt arm. I had not ridden my bike much because I broke my toe. (Really stupid injury; banging it against a futon frame....)
I decided to attempt the first pass (Monitor Pass: 8,314 feet). We drove the pass the day before to check it out and it seemed insurmountable without much agony and time. It turns out it was not as bad as imagined; perhaps due to the early morning chill. I started at 5:30am and got to the top at 8am. The scenery was just beautiful: snow capped mountain tops, blue sky. The rest stop at the top was a welcome sight and the boy scout volunteers took very good care of us. The ride down was just superb: the roads were perfectly paved and the road was closed to cars. Then I rode past a gorgeous river to the lunch stop amid the trees. It was great fun to watch the other riders come and go with their colorful jerseys. And to know I did not have to do the four other passes was extra joyful. Although I did have a thought or two about what it would be like to ride another pass. I suppose it was fleeting, because all I did then, was to ride back to the start....