High Mountains

This weekend was a total blast. Amy & I joined our friends Mike & Kelly in a ride from Erie up to Ward. The climb to Ward is so pretty, and, is one of my favorites of all time. It averages between 4-8% the whole way up, has a nice shoulder, and, is only lightly travelled by cars (for the most part). It's about 13 or so miles total, from the bottom of Lefthand Canyon & Hwy 36 to the top, with lots of beautiful trees and rushing waters the whole way up. At the very top though, it kicks up to 11%, let's off to 9%, then kicks UP again to 13%! Definitely a hard pitch after about an hour or so of climbing. It's funny...when you're climbing 6%, and, it kicks up to 9 or 10, then back to 6, you think that 6 isn't as hard or steep as it was, but, at least it's not 9 or 10!

During this ride I tried a few new things. First off, and probably the most important, is that I climbed withOUT the SRM. (Note...I'm actually trying to sell it). It was the first time in about 4 or so years I voluntarily rode without a powermeter, and I gotta say, it was WEIRD! I wasn't used to not seeing that number fluctuating up and down all over the place for once, and, I was kinda able to concentrate on just spinning the pedals. It was actually really nice. I was sick for about a day or two before, and couldn't ride, so I had a bit more energy from resting which probably helped. Second, I tried some more of Hammer's products, mainly the Perpetuem formula. Wow. This stuff is amazing! I never once felt hungry, nor did I ever really need to eat anything. It was really trippy. I'm definitely gonna buy some. There are some specific instructions with this stuff believe it or not, and you HAVE To follow them! First off, the perpetuem should be sipped, alternated with water. I chugged it like it was a normal cyto-type drink. BIG MISTAKE!

Once we hit Ward, there's a small general store that sells quite possibly the world's greatest chocolate chip cookies in the world. They're $1.25 each, and worth every penny. We each got our own, and enjoyed them until it was time to descend. I didn't want to go down the hill, simply because it was so cool & comfy up at 9K feet. The scheduled hi temp was supposed to be close to 100, and it was maybe 74 up in Ward. As we descended, you could feel the pavement getting warmer, and, the sweat started to pour out. By the time we hit Niwot Road & 36, I had a belly like you couldn't believe from the gas bubbles. Now, whether or not it's related to the Perpetuem or not, I dunno, but, either way, we stopped for a quick pitsop and my stomach was back to normal (thankfully!). We rounded out the day with lunch & the stage 20 of the tour. That ride really kicked my butt!

Then, Sunday, my teammate Cameron & I hit the Deer Creek/North Turkey Creek Loop again. I was slow at first going up Deer Creek, but, again, without the SRM, felt like I was at least tempoing with ease. It was awesome. By the time we got home, it was about 98 degrees, and simply too hot to do anything. So I did just that!

Here are some pics