Once more into the mountains, dear lungs!I suppose it's fitting that now that the first of the leaves are turning yellow and Fall is clearly underway, I should write about summer cycling. I seem to be terrible about being timely on here. Alas, here goes:
My road bike and I have become quite accustomed to each other by now. I consider it a good friend :) I've ridden over 1,000 miles on this, my first road bike, and don't anticipate slowing down any time soon. My first ride of 2011 was actually in January, and I've ridden every month this year except May, which I attribute to planning for or being in Peru for half of. Anyways, after my return from Peru, Trey suggested we ride the Copper Triangle after discussing the ride a bit with Darren. I thought about it for a while and decided in late June to give it a shot with 6 weeks to prepare. I knew I wouldn't be setting any speed records during the ride but wanted to prove to myself that I could finish an 80 mile right with 3 mountain passes and 6,000' of vertical climbing thrown in for good measure. In 2010, the hardest ride I did was 60-ish miles and about 3000 vertical, so the Triangle would be pushing beyond that by a considerable margin.
I started training in earnest by linking some familiar rides to make a large one; from home over Old Stage then on to Ward, then up to Jamestown, and finally over the north side of Old Stage en route home. Without realizing it at the time, that ride came to over 50 miles and 5,500' of climbing. Since the 6000' of climbing was my primary concern in the Triangle, I felt like I would be able to finish that ride as long as the elevation didn't have too much of an effect on me. With that in mind, I spent the next couple Saturdays on climbs steeper than what I would find on the Triangle; Flagstaff to the dirt. Loyal readers, Flagstaff to the top is no joke. That road pushed me to my limit the first time I did it, just like NCAR had the previous summer(, which feels like such a long time ago now...). It felt so difficult the first time I did it that I had to return the next Saturday to redeem myself. Noticing similar foot numbness/pain as the previous weekend, as well as a handful of other longer rides, I decided to switch to road pedals/shoes and get a bike fitting. Eureka! That was 2 hours extremely well spent, and would recommend a fitting to anybody. With several micro-adjustments, new pedals, new shoes, and a new stem, I took my new setup to Cottonwood Pass to test out my lungs. Cottonwood was about 90 minutes of climbing, and went approximately 1000' higher than the highest point on the Triangle. After the previous few weekends of steep ascent, Cottonwood felt easy, with little to no altitude suffering. I was honestly fairly shocked at the lack of altitude problem, but had a blast and was confident going into the Triangle.
And so, the following Saturday, I went for a little bike ride for the 5th weekend in a row. This was my first ride of the Copper Triangle but hopefully will not be the last. We passed through the starting banner at Copper at 6:40 to a slowly rising sun, and headed up Fremont Pass at a good pace. It was chilly, so I wanted to get to a quick start and warm up without over-pacing myself. Trey and I rode together and apparently made good time on the first climb, since we seemed to pass nearly everyone who started within 20 minutes of us. We topped out the climb above 3,000' and decided to skip the first aid station after such a short time on the bike. I think we both felt really good and wanted to push on with the sun now above the mountainous horizon. 30 seconds after starting our descent to Leadville, however, Trey got a flat tire. Just as we both realized how much time the handheld pump was going to take a motorcycle stopped to help us, and we were back on the bikes. I felt great on the little climb back into Leadville and was ready to take on Tennessee Pass before stopping. As we turned from Leadville I knew that the next hour or two would be fairly easy going but Vail Pass still loomed in the distance. I had not been eating or drinking very well on my previous longer rides, so I focused on fixing that during the Triangle. I think that paid off, because as I left our first aid stop at Ski Cooper (not Copper...) I was not fatigued in any way with half the distance done... feeling as if we had just started. The ride from Cooper to Minturn was extremely enjoyable with some very fast downhill and excellent scenery. Battle Mountain gave me a bit of a challenge, and I became a bit concerned at the top about how Vail Pass would compare in the heat of the day as I waited for Trey. When the two of us started again, I noticed it approached 90 degrees when entering Minturn. After a short ride into West Vail from Minturn, we decided to skip the third aid station as well and push on to Vail Pass. The ride through Vail made me remember why I loved that town so much despite it's cheesy touristy atmosphere in most parts. [That whole Eagle river/county is such a beautiful area and really deserves more of my attention next summer.] It also gives just enough of a climb that I realized I was working pretty hard in the heat of the day just to cross town. I knew I had a monster of a climb waiting for me on the edge of town, but felt like I had more than enough left in my legs to make a good showing on the climb and point it back to Copper from the top. If nothing else, the temperature would drop as I climbed. Despite that, I had to stop for a restroom and hydration break at the 4th aid station (East Vail). [Note to self; there are two difficult pushes on that climb, and one of them is right away at the East Vail aid station after you pass under I-70 to begin the climb from town.] Having re-grouped with Trey, we both began our assault on the famous Vail Pass climb. I remember passing lots of people and feeling really strong in the beginning of the climb. I knew steeper sections were coming, but I felt good so I pushed at a pretty good pace knowing I only had about 7 miles of climbing left. After about 3 miles, we took a sharp right turn under I-70, then a very sharp left to what most people would consider The Wall of the climb. I had heard of this wall and knew if I could last another few miles I would be sitting pretty on the summit. Honestly, the toughest part for me was managing the passing of other riders who had either decided to get off their bikes and walk or were going as slow as the walkers. Without falling over or un-clipping, I made it through the traffic jam that The Wall created, and pushed on to the top. With about 2 miles to go in the climb, I ran out of water and food at the same time. I didn't realize I was eating and drinking fairly regularly throughout Vail Pass, and my body was very unhappy about running dry. The last mile or two were grueling, and only then did I realize how tired I was. I pulled over to the 5th and final aid station on the summit of Vail Pass and rested my legs while waiting for Trey. I had a few minutes to rest before he arrived and we hit up the food/beverages. Although we weren't technically done, I knew my legs had completed the task, and I was extremely proud of the accomplishment. It felt like a notable achievement, one to remember years down the road, and I was really happy that I had made it through. After a picture or two and a fun cruise back to Copper with gravity doing most of the work, we had a pasta meal and hit the road to Boulder.
Completing the Triangle feels like the next logical step in a series of physical accomplishments since moving here; my first 14er, my first 10k run, running above treeline on 14ers, hiking/skiing Silverton for two exhausting days, riding 60 miles, climbing 5000' on a bike... and now the Triangle. I can only hope the list continues and I am fortunate enough to remain in good shape and to be able to continue to push myself beyond the beyond. The long story short is that Boulder just might be one of the best towns on Earth to be a person who enjoys climbing, whether on belay or on two wheels. Colorado is certainly one of the best states for both.
