Shut up Legs

Well, I finished the ride.  It was a brute and there were sections that just put me in the depths of pain and cold that I have not felt in some time.  The distance (120 miles), the altitude (11000+ feet of vertical) and the time from beginning to end (14hrs) are all personal records for me.  I have never done these sorts of numbers and I don't plan on doing them again!

So, how about some details.  I started at at 6:05 which was just 5 minutes later than I wanted.  I was fully outfitted with a camelback full of ice and water, a number of honey stinger strawberry waffles and two packages of Cliff Shot Blocks.  Honey stinger waffles are the best energy snack I have tasted and I recommend them to everyone.

The first climb was up Juniper pass and included a 1 mile detour because of road construction.  I slowly ground my way up the climb, envious of everyone with either compact or triple chainrings or riders with 32 tooth rear sprockets.  I was riding a standard 39 tooth small chainring and a 28 tooth rear sprocket and it made grinding along at 5mph quite rough.  I was wanting to push over all the riders flying past at twice my speed and carrying on conversations with their partners.  I finished the climb in 2:31 which is just one minute behind my planned schedule and had me feeling quite good.

The next section was the ride down to Idaho Springs (I may not climb well but I can really decend!) and then up into Georgetown.  This segment went quite well and I made it to the rest stop at 4:10 which was just 10 minutes behind schedule.  I ate some snacks, refilled water, and got back on the bike for the next climb after a 15 minute break.

The third section is a nasty climb up to the Loveland Basin ski resort.  This sits at 11000 feet, 5000 feet higher than the famed Mont Ventoux in the Tour de France that is being ridden today (7/14/13) and is widely seen as one of the most vicious climbs around.  This was my absolute worst segment.  I had a goal of riding this segment in 2 hours but came in at almost 3 hours.  I took a 30 minute break at Loveland, trying to convince myself to go on and getting encouragement from my support team of Stephanie and Forrest.

The forth section starts with 1000 feet of climbing over 4 miles to top out at just a shade under 12000 feet above sea level.  My lungs really felt this climb and I had a goal of stopping at most every half mile.  I made the first mile with this goal but, after that, my legs fell apart.  I often would get less than a tenth of a mile before having to stop and recover.  Whenever my heart rate would break into the low 160s, I would stop and wait for it to recover into the low 130s before going again.  I finally crested the summit and then took a moment to zip up my wind jacket and start the long descent into Keystone.

The descent was fun (Strava put me in the top 40% of all descenders on this section!), even though there was a headwind all the way down.  We then turn onto Swan Mountain Road which goes around the north side of Keystone and has a small climb over Swan Mountain.  Here I met the first of the monsoon weather.  Stephanie stopped and helped me put my Gortex pants on which do an awesome job of keeping me dry and I rode right into the rain over Swan Mountain.  The rain stopped by the time I hit the rest stop at Summit Highschool and I thought I was done with weather at this point.  I left Summit Highschool at 10 hours since I started which is about 2 hours behind my planned schedule.

The ride into Copper Mountain was actually quite nice and I had the first of a tailwind that would follow me all the way into Avon.  At Copper Mountain, Steph offered me my rainpants and I refused which was one of the worst mistakes I made on the ride.  Just as I left the resort, the rain started.  This was not a normal Colorado rain but an honest to goodness West Michigan downpour.  Visibility was often down to less than half a mile and the rain was COLD!  I took shelter in trees a few times during the hardest parts of the downpour and avoided the hail I saw on the trail but this made it brutal.  I finally made it to the summit of Vail Pass at 6pm, 12 hours into the ride and was relieved to see my support crew with the engine idling and the heater on full.

I spent a while in the car, trying to warm up and dry off some before doing the final descent.  I put on my rain pants, dropped my windjacket, soaked arm warmers, and wet jersey, putting on a dry jersey, a hoodie and a Columbia rain jacket with a rubberized interior.  This combination was sufficient to keep me warm on the final segment of 28 downhill miles.  I took my time on the descent since a quarter inch of water on the roads, slick new paint stripes, and narrow tires do not lead to decent traction.

Regardless, the combination of newfound warmth and a tailwind allowed me to race through Vail at 20+ miles per hour.  Finally, I saw the signs for Beaver Creek resort and knew that my goal was in sight.  I hit the final roundabout,. made a quick left and a right and saw the finish line.  What few fans were left were cheering but Stephanie and Forrest cheered the loudest.  I came across the finish line and got my first ever bling at a bike ride, a finisher medal for the Triple Bypass.

So, 14 hours after I started, 11 hours of moving time, 14 hours of total time, 119 miles, and 11,142 feet of vertical, I was done.  My shoulders ache, my legs and knees are sore and tired and my pinkies are still tingling from so long holding on to the handlebars.  I know people were coming in after me so I am not DFL (Strava has me 120th out of the 120 who logged their ride on Strava) and I know I finished.  I don't plan on EVER doing something of this category again.  I suffered.  I almost quit many times.  I could not have made it without my 'crew'.

13.5 months ago, I had 3 days of marathon surgery for 22hours.  7.5 months ago, several of the doctors wanted to just send me home to be handled by hospice until I died.  Fortunately, Dr. Boudreaux disagreed and spent 12 hours of surgery, getting me back to a state where I could recover and thrive.  I don't plan on doing a ride like this ever again.  I will do long rides, centuries an metric centuries.  I may even redo segments of this ride but I have no desire to ever do this brutal of a course again.