Saturday, my old buddy Jeremy was in town. It was great to see him. We used to ride together every weekend, and, I really miss him a ton. The possiblity of him moving back here to CO is very slim, but, at least we got to hang out w/ him and his family for a bit. We went for a gi-normous ride on Saturday up a route I'd been planning for a bit, but, had been waiting for the right group to do it with. The route takes you up HWY 74 up to Evergreen, up to Upper Bear Creek Drive, then, up Witter Gulch Road, which eventually pops you out onto Squaw Pass. I had no idea what to expect from the route except what I saw on Google Earth, so, for all I knew the dirt was unrideable. Luckily for me, Jeremy had done this ride a while back with someone else and said it's totally doable, which, was good! Everyone (Darren, Justin, Jamie, Jeremy, & Ron)was onboard for the route as we rolled out and the weather was cooperating pretty nicely. It was pretty hot at 8:30 already when we'd left so the mantra on the day was "hydrate or die". Literally! As we rolled up and over to Morrison, I felt ok...nothing spectacular. However, as we started to ascend Bear Creek Canyon (HWY 74), my downward spiral began. I'd been trying a new drink called "Enervitene" by Enervit that, in previous consupmtion during the week, was cooperating well with my belly. Every now and then I'd burp, but, it felt good. I'd usually been mixing in about 3 scoops or so with a normal sized water bottle, but, did a little bit of math (and read the can), and, decided to up the amount a little since it was going to be a long ride with very high temps. I must have put TOO much in though, cuz my stomach started to freak out pretty good. I had pretty bad cramps all along my rib cage and my abs/stomach got really tight and spasmy. Not good! I pushed through and eventually when we hit the gas station, I poured out one bottle of the Enervitene, and, opted to fill up with just straight up water and ice. I cut the other bottle with more water and tried to salvage whatever nutritional value I could from the drink as I'd dropped one of my power bars on the climb. This was issue #2...I hadn't really been eating too much either. Wierd thing is I wasn't hungry, nor have I had much of an appetite the past few weeks on the bike (couvade, perhaps?). No excuse! You must eat eat eat. Anyway, back to the ride.
So, we wound our way through Evergreen, and, hooked a left onto Upper Bear Creek Rd. We past Evergreen Lake, and, with the clear (and I mean CLEAR) blue skies and mountains reflecting off of the water, it really made for a majestic view. The road itself is not heavily travelled, and, is in very good condition. There used to be a Time Trial up here as part of the Rocky Mountain Omnium a few years back, and, it was a blast! I recall having some success in the TT. As we climbed, I started to remember the course with Jeremy, and we relived the old days. After missing the initial turn on Witter Gulch, we double backed and headed up...and I mean UP. The road immediately jumped up pretty good, and, wound its way up a few miles. The group pretty much rode away from me, and, I did the climb on my own. There were no cars, except for the one that passed me on the dirt (more on that later), and, it was SO peaceful and quiet. I started to get quite jealous of those folks that lived up there! Anyway, the road twisted an turned and just got plain old steep.Probably 8-10% for the first bit, then pitching up pretty steep on the dirt section. Yep...dirt! About half way up the 5.7 mile climb, the road turns to dirt. It's pretty much identical to the quality of road at the top of sunshine canyon. Some spots along the edges were a bit deep, but, they're pretty visible and easily avoided. As soon as I hit the dirt, the road pitched up a bit more, and, reminded me a lot of Grapevine's dirt sections, however, they paled in comparison for grade! Anyway, I was struggling big time at this point. I had ZERO power in my legs and I was starting to feel really dehydrated. I'd already polished off one 28 oz bottle in about 20 minutes, and, was forced to conserve what was left for the climb. I had no real idea how long it was going to be (maps can be off sometimes!), and, didn't want to get stuck out with nothing, especially on the descent where I could recover with food & drink. Each switchback got harder and harder, and, I could see my black gloves turning white from all of the salt/electrolytes I was losing. It was awful, but, I'd look around at my surroundings and would just smile. Colorado is indeed a magical place, and, no matter how much pain & suffering you will endure on a bike ride, the scenery is second to none! Upon summiting, the guys were waiting there and gave me some congratulatory high fives, and, we so psyched with the route. Basically, it spits you out a few miles from the summit of Squaw Pass. Great short cut/etc to avoid the road if you want. It is indeed a great ride, and, was reminiscient of our very own "Plan De Corones" stage from this year's Giro. Personally, I want a rematch with this climb and get up it! I know the perfect partner in crime to try it again with (Lookin' at you MP!), but, timing is everything with Biscuit entering the home stretch.
We descended to the gas station prior to getting on I-70 to bridge back up with Genesee, and filled up on water. I was pretty toasted and, in hindsight, probably encountered some form of mild heat exhaustion or something on the climb. My skin was red, dry, and, I wasn't sweating anymore. It was as if my body's A/C was broken. After rehydrating and stuffing a bunch of food in my face, we rolled down the frontage road to I-70, then, off onto HWY 40 down through Lakewood and home.
After showering off and drinking a great recovery beverage, Amy & I rolled out of town for the night and spent some time in Leadville. We'd had a midwife appointment on Thursday, and, she made the comment "This is the last few weeks of JUST the 2 of you...you should go out of town...since it might be a while until you are able to again." So, we took the advice, and, had a great time! The town is kinda kooky, but, we were able to get dinner, do a bit of shopping, and, hiked (albeit, short!) out towards Turquoise Lake. We had a great time, and, some darn good Mexican food while we were there. (Amy swears she had the "best Huevos ever" at The Grill.) The service was absolutely terrible, but, the food was pretty damn good!!
Yesterday I headed out for one more epic with Justin & another guy by the name of Brian (aka BW). We hit the Deer Creek & City View combo for a very tough 1-2 punch. I was feeling way better yesterday than I did on Sunday (was TOAST...still!). I opted to switch out my 52/36 combo for the 50/34 since I'd been struggling a bit on the steep stuff for a while. While I was able to get up the climbs a lot easier, I also spun my cranks what felt like 1000 times more. So, while my legs felt better..they were also a HECK of a lot more tired. I'm going to go back to the 52/36. I just can't ride a 50 in the front, and, the combo is such a wide gear ratio, that it's too good not to use. My limiter at this point is purely fitness, and, with an extended break coming up, I'll resume organized training sometime in the summer/fall.
Here are some pics from the Saturday ride. I have Deer Creek & City View pics, but, everyone has seen that ride at some point in their lives!
1 comment:
Collins' ass looks like a pussy ass.
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