New Hoops

I have been dreaming about this setup since I got my sled. These babies are fast, light and strong. Hopefully they will help me rock the PBville trails. A few closeups to generate some envy.




Oh the Ravens.


The sweet rims...

A nice shot of the rear hub that Duff bought with Matt's old cassette.

The new front hoop looking sharp. I can't wait to hit the Tranquility group ride tomorrow night.

videos

I know I couldn't possibly have anything else to say after the last post.

I found these three videos--thought they might be nice for those who want to see what Leadville is all about--www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnqyHPZXws4 St kevins

www.youtube.com/watch?v=nO0O4hJzndo&feature=related Powerline bottom

www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6YCN3r-tmY&feature=related Powerline upper

Matty 2 Times 2 Times

As I said in the last post, today's mission was to climb Columbine two times.  This is one of the rides I've been thinking about in the back of my head ever since I saw it on my training sheet 3 or 4 weeks ago.  Much like the back-to-back six hours, I think climbing Columbine twice is a huge mental hurdle.  As this is an absolutely wicked climb, possibly the toughest that I've ever done, success will surely generate a lot of confidence.  

I got up at 5:15 and anybody that knows me and my peculiarities will not be surprised that I didn't start riding until 7:50.  The weather was absolutely perfect--cool, crisp and clear.  My first trip up, I felt absolutely amazing.  I won't say that the climb felt effortless, but I feel like I was cruising along pretty well.  I made it to the top in an hour and 28 minutes--pretty uneventful.  I did walk about 100 yards of the really rocky part at the top.  I stopped for about 2 minutes at the top, took some pictures and headed down.  If I haven't mentioned it earlier, I basically have no rear brake and the only way I could get them to work is to overuse them to heat the oil up so it would expand and become functional--that did not take long.  The top 2 1/2 miles is a pretty sketchy descent, so I took it pretty easy, not wanting to end my race before it starts.   I started feeling a little fatigued at the bottom from getting knocked around so much.  I spent about 5-10 minutes at the bottom, grabbed 2 fresh bottles of Infinit and headed back up.

I made it about 2 1/2 miles when I heard people talking quite energetically.  I turned around and saw no one.  I kept riding and hearing the talking.  I looked over my shoulder again and Lance Armstrong was about 25 yards behind me with one of his buddies--talk about cool.  As he rode by, he was close enough that I could have put my arm around him.  He asked how I was doing-I tried to pretend that I was completely conversational as well and managed to reply, "Fine.  How are you guys doing? "  I didn't feel comfortable sticking a camera in his face, so I waited until he passed by to take a picture.  After all, I figured that was the most realistic shot, as he rode by me like I was standing still.  Shortly after Lance passed, a white pick-up truck with Chris Carmichael training stickers all over it came by and a very nice young man asked me if I was okay, how I was doing, and if I needed anything.  I was stunned for a number of reasons:  first, it dawned on me that Lance had his support car following him up Columbine; 2) the driver's friendliness--he genuinely sounded worried about me; and 3) it dawned on me that I must have looked like shit compared to Lance and that's why the guy was concerned--funny, considering I felt pretty good.  Oh no, had I not fooled Lance that I was a contender, a force to be reckoned with?  Yeah, I know, I'm delusional, but it makes the time pass.

My thoughts turned to how and where I would diplomatically get a picture of Lance coming down the hill, knowing I would need a good shot to satisfy Cora and the kids, who were extremely disappointed that they had chosen to stay in bed rather than support me today.  It was about this time that Lance's support guy passed me again, again asking how I was doing, if I needed anything and told me that I was doing a great job.  It occurred to me that maybe I should take a picture of myself to either prove or refute this guy's opinion of my condition.  As I got to the technical section at the top that I had walked on my first trip up, I noticed the pick-up backing up, parking to wait for Lance.  I knew that there was no way that I was going to walk that section with that guy watching me and with the possibility of Lance seeing me walking.  I took a quick glance at my HR monitor--how empty was the tank?  I never got an answer because it was so covered with sweat.  I managed a smile to the nice gentleman and I'm proud to say that I cleaned the whole section.  The only downer was that Lance came ripping down one of the steeper sections around a corner, literally almost hitting me, and I had no chance for a photo.  I'll be forthright and admit that at that point, I looked like total ass.    Ego is a wonderful thing.  All kidding aside, I was pretty psyched that I managed to ride all of Columbine on my second trip up.  I can now officially say that I've ridden every inch of this course.  Whether I can say this on race day is another story.  Either way, I feel like all my training is coming together.  Can't wait for the 15th!

As I promised, the Judy Jetson profile.

Click on it--yes, you've seen it before.

Click on it.  This does a little more justice to Columbine's heinous nature.

This is the best I could do--Cora was quite critical and compared it to her photography--ouch!

There goes Lance's guy, or should I say my guy?  Again, all kidding aside, I much appreciated his encouraging words.  Little does he know how much amusement he has provided my wife.

Coming off the road on the first technical section.  

The steep rocky section that I couldn't walk because of that white truck (and my pride).

Flat part coming across the top of Columbine, just before the turn-around.

The summit.  Not a bad place to work.  Sigh.  

Rest Day

Today was a much needed rest day-the first in a week.  Let me just say that it was very well received.  I spent the day with the family.  Okay, so I lied--I went for about a half an hour ride with Cora, yes, Cora, and the kids.  The kids rode one mile uphill towards Vail Pass--it was so cool.  A dozen people must have said how impressed they were with their riding--I am so proud.  The Baby Don gets the award for best sport as he cranked away, churning out the watts on his little 12-inch wheels--that couldn't have been easy.  What's more, he's only been off the training wheels for a day!  He was so cute zig-zagging back and forth--his lane, their lane, off the path--actually it was cute until he almost took out some hammerhead on a $12,000 Cervelo going 30 mph downhill.  The kids and I turned around after a mile and Cora headed out for a short solo ride.  

The girls leading the ride, heading out on the trail--I swear Max told me not to worry because they would blow up soon.

Bella kept flicking the elbow--nobody would come to the front, so she stopped and offered some stern words to her domestiques--she set a blistering pace.

At this point, Max was still convinced that the girls were going to blow up.  

I wish I could have turned over 100 rpm when I was 3 years old--I was so impressed--I can't even say.  He worked so hard.

A well-deserved "gumby," i.e., a Shot Blok.

He was mad that "I" forgot his thirsty-bag, so my water bottle had to do.

What a difference the bigger wheels make--the kid was flying!  He told me "Daddy, if you ride a pink bike, you have to be fast to back it up!"  And yes, Max, we'll get you a bigger bike soon.  (Maybe after my Cervelo...)

After the ride, we loaded the car and headed off to Glenwood Springs to take the waters.  Again, the kids impressed us with how far they've come.  Bella perfected the "canyonball" and practiced swimming without water wings or  a life jacket.  Max was a total trip--he literally just floated off without a care in the world and talked to anyone who came within speaking distance. Phoebe worked on alternating between wearing her life jacket without water wings and wearing her water wings without her life jacket--baby steps.

"Canyonball!!!"

I was trying to soak in the therapy pool--it's supposed to be about recovery right?  Well, Boo Miles had other plans for me.

Colorado has more specialized plates than any other state I've seen.  I saw this one and it reminded me of my dad.  This plate may be enough to get him to move here, as nobody loves the hounds more than the big Brahma--love you, Buddy.

Off to bed, as tomorrow is an early start--the plan is two trips up Columbine--that profile should be beyond Judy Jetson busty!

Jackrabbit Graffiti!

taper day 1

I went out for about an hour and a half--nice and easy. I rode the flatish section of the course between the first aid station and the end of the new single track. The day was pretty uneventful--I felt a bit better than I expected which was nice. I did gather a little data--The outbound single track took 6 mins and inbound took 10:20. I still think this will make the overall times a bit slower--3-5 mins. I also walked the "mini-wall" which took 1:20--not a significant loss vs. riding. The gain obviously is that by walking you avoid the red-line.

A little rigid single speed for the day--the ride is a little sketchy without front suspension and with the higher tire pressure of the tubed tires--seemed to jump around laterally quit a bit--The wash board of the single track was pretty brutal.  All in all the SS keeps me in check--you can't over due it as you just spin out on the flats if you go to hard. More importantly it's fun to ride and mentally refreshing--just what I needed today.

Looking down the first little rise.

Flat and smooth--makes a nice rest before climbing Columbine and power line.

The climbing in the middle was all the single track which is very manageable in the middle ring.

Todays route.

I got this from Lance's Twitter site--Sweet ride--what no Stan's?

The man gets his own custom head tube artwork--that's when you know you are a real bad dude.

Weinzy is going to have his hands full!

Today and then--The taper

Today was the last day of "work". The order of the day was 5 ish "easy" hours with 20-30 mins. of Z4 intensity thrown in. After 7.5 hours yesterday, I was pretty much cooked today. I managed to get 5 hours in, but the last 2 were painful--tired, sore and unfocused. The intensity was short-lived, lasting a total of about 5 mins--the legs just would not churn out the watts--my HR would not come up--not sure if this is due to fatigue, altitude or both. I feel pretty good about the last 2 days, other than not getting the intensity done. I'm looking forward to the taper and spending time with moose and possums.

Not knowing the area well has made it tough to find the right routes. I looked on  http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/network/digest/view.mb and found this ride around Lake Dillon. Technology is crazy--I downloaded the gpx file and loaded into the Garmin--away I went.

Play by play detail down to 50 ft--yes, yes I still made several wrong turns.

That's me- the little black triangle over the route in red.

To add to the misery, the wind was howling by the time I turned up hill and was heading home.

All paved and I think 3500 ft of climbing over 66.5 miles is tame by Colorado standards--sure did not feel that way. Tomorrow is an easy 90 mins in Z1 followed by a trip to Glenwood Springs to take the waters.

A beautiful day....

Today was supposed to be a 120 mile ride, but after some reassessment we whittled it down to something in the 7-8 hour range. I had wanted to do the Copper Triangle ride which would have been perfect but it sold out--3500 riders. I even tried going over this morning at 6 AM to see if I could "talk" my way in--the answer was AH-No! 

So plan B was to go over to Leadville and ride the first 2 climbs and then all the "flat" sections--that's basically from the Powerline to Twin Lakes and back. By the time I finished with a little extra road riding to get back to the car and refuel, I put in 5 hours. I had not ridden the part from Powerline  to Twin Lakes  yet so it was good to see the trail again--I had forgotten the vast majority of it--it's pretty mellow which is nice as it serves as a "rest" prior to the big climbs. I also rode the new single track which was put in to bypass the "Wall," which was a ridiculously dangerous decent outbound and a heinous death march inbound. The new single track is bumpy like a washboard but all rideable--about 5 mins outbound and 10 mins inbound--I'm going to guess that all told, it will add about a mile to the course and maybe 5 mins as the outbound is longer. The time inbound is a wash--now 10 mins of middle ring riding vs. 10 mins of hike a bike last year.

The drive over to Leadville took almost an hour as the road was littered with the 3500 riders who were smart enough to sign up for the Copper Triangle early.  It made me more bummed that I missed out--80 miles on the road with others would have been much easier than Leadville solo--oh well.

The weather was absolutely perfect when I started--high 40's and not a cloud in the sky. I'm starting to think the first climb up St.Kevin's is one of the worst--it's not long but the steep pitch hits hard without any real warm up. I think it's totally different during the race when it's wall-to-wall people.

The dirt road up to Hagerman's Pass which leads to the Sugarloaf climb.  What a difference a day makes--this is where the hail hit yesterday.

The road up Sugarloaf--"Powerline" outbound. The climb is very managable--the trick for me will be not to over do it here as I did last year.

Over the top of Sugarloaf.

One of the tamer parts of the Powerline descent.

The paved road out to the first aid station at the 27 mile mark. Last year this had a couple of miles of dirt--most of that has been paved now which I think makes it a bit quicker and certainally easier on the taint.

The road from the Powerline aid station to the Twin Lakes aid station--on race day, this should take about 55 mins with the new single track.

The section just as you drop over the steep little hill which I call the "mini-wall." This is the one I stupidly drove the car over the day before--what was I thinking?

The "mini-wall" from the other side--now the only potential hike-a-bike section is inbound between Twin Lakes and Powerline. I did manage to ride it today but I was red lined--not sure how smart that would be on race day with 65 miles in the legs and the Powerline climb approaching at the 80 mile mark.

I felt pretty good by the time I finished. I still needed 2-3 more hours, so I went back to Copper Mountain and rode over to Vail which was a handful--outbound, it's all downhill from Vail Pass with maybe a quarter mile of flat. The return was basically an hour long climb which probably averaged 5% grade--after 6 hrs in the saddle, I was really dreading starting back up and over. The climb was tough, but I got into a rhythm and actually enjoyed it quite a bit, I felt like I went over the top pretty strong--easy in that the only thing left was a 30 minute descent to home.

The bike path down into Vail shares I-70--a little sketchy

I saw this graffiti painted on the road climbing out of Vail.

I got home--walked into this--man, that hit the spot--my wife rocks.

As I forgot the Garmin at home, I missed getting any details on the first 5 hours. This is the "busty" looking profile over to Vail and back.