Notes for Next Time

Train Harder
Anyone who makes it will say it was not that bad. They've put the trauma out of their minds. The ones who don't make it will say it was really hard. Either is worthless advice. Find out in detail how much they were riding. Especially avoid advice on later climbs based on a single-day, single-pass ride. They get harder as the day wears on. Knowing that you can do a hard pass or two is not enough. You need to know that you can do many hard passes at altitude: Loveland pass tops at 12,000 feet.

Schedule
- start at 5:30
- crest Vail Pass at 8:30, 3 hours slightly slow (2.5 at 40min/1000 feet) 25 miles climbing 3500 feet
- make the Nordic Center in Frisco by 9:30, stop and eat, 15 miles down and flat
- crest Loveland pass by 12:30: 18 miles, 2.5 hours (2 hours at 40min/1000 feet) climbing 3000 feet
- Loveland aid station by 1:00, eat
- Idaho Springs by 2:30 (23 miles)
- crest Juniper Pass by 5:30 (3500 feet, 45min/1000 feet is 2:38 or 5:08)
- done at 6:30, in 13 hours.


It's not just being able to climb at 40min/1000feet, it's being able to do it for the third time in one day with another 40 miles mixed in, at altitude.