Ride Day

My riding partner and I decided it would be better to ride separately. He makes stops work for him. I make relentless progress work for me. It's an organized ride, so there's no issue of not finding help if you need it. Volunteer course marshalls were posted at the turns so you knew where they were and the local police were at the larger intersections directing traffic. The State Patrol patrolled the route. They were pretty friendly, throwing a thumbs up as a question and flashing a
slight grin in response to a thumbs-up reply.

Mandy and I woke up at 4:45 in hopes of being out before 6:00, possibly 5:30. I had set up coffee and showered the night before, so started eating breakfast. Mandy beat me to the coffee machine switch. Getting dressed was easy as I had laid-out my clothes, equipment and various salves: Butt'r, sun lotion and lip protection. I put a few things away and Mandy drove me down to the starting area. Other riders rode that mile, but it was cool to have a ride. As I started off,
Mandy headed back to the room for a few more winks (?) and to pick up and check out.

The ride out of Avon was wet,cool, and humid. I managed to keep a very low pace, saving my energy. I caught a picture of the steamy ride:




I rode on stopping every hour or more often to get some liquids and GU chews down. I didn't want to dehydrate and I wanted to try and maintain glucose and glycogen. I started out wearing a long-sleeve althletic undershirt and just cycling shorts. After an hour, I pulled on some leg covers as I expected some cold on Vail Pass. The leg covers are great. They are easy to get on and quite warm. I stopped at a high spot on the way up;



The trail goes from the North side of I-70 to the south side here. When you come out from under I-70 and look East, you see a very steep hill. After wondering about the "really steep spot on the way out of Vail" that I'd heard about, I knew where it was. As with other sections on this ride, there was too much going on and no place to stop for a photo.

Near the top of the pass was a view that came with a stopping point. I think this is Black Ponds.




The ride down vail pass into Summit County was absolutely fantastic. Partly because the pain of climbing was over, partly because of the small rush of having conquered the first pass, but mostly because it's just pretty. I wish I had a helmet cam. Of course, this was another section where there was no place to stop safely and take pictures. The trail is narrow and the riders moving quickly.

I had texted Mandy at the top and she replied that she was waiting near the dam road in Dillon. I followed the trail, bypassing the stop at the top of Vail Pass, to the stop at the marina in Frisco. I called Mandy and she clarified her location. I grabbed half a bagel. Having drunk 2 bottles at this point, I filled one with Gatorade.

The ride through Summit county is pleasant, though not as nice as the ride in from the top of Vail pass. It does, however, offer spots to stop and take pictures:




We crossed the flat part of the County and started up to Keystone, Arapahoe Basin, and finally Loveland Pass. I stopped on the way up a few times to peal my undershirt, my long fingered-gloves as well as my leg covers. I chugged water each time and ate GU chews at least once. It's a long climb. As I had climbed 2700 feet followed by 2200 feet or more ( see the post on climbing Ward and Super Jamestown) in one day, I expected to do well on this climb as the two pair compare well, and we were very strong after the Ward-Super Jamestown climb. It must have been the elevation and thin air. Loveland Pass is nearly 12000 feet, Vail Pass is 10,600. Ward and Super Jamestown climb to only 9000 feet or so. It could also have been the increased crank length on a bike I've only been riding for three weeks. In any case. the higher I climbed, the slower I got, the more painful my legs became. I eventually stopped short of the A-Basin Ski area, but within view of the Palavacini run.



I really wanted to summit Loveland Pass. After a rest, I got on the bike and tried again. The pain in my legs included my hip flexors and hip joints. Like a NASCAR racer with an engine problem that can't be fixed, I knew the race was over. I called Many for SAG at mile marker 221.




She was waiting for me at the Loveland Ski Area, on the far side of the pass. She had to hike back to the car and come over the pass. She found me easily and we headed on down into Summit County and took I-70 through the tunnel and headed for home. On the way, we saw that the rest of the ride wouldn't have been all that nice anyway: