Monumentally Afflicted

Got out with Nordby and Keller for some incredible new trail riding. Woohoo! Nice to see the continual development of opportunities in the area. My technical skills are feeling really good right now. Feeling a bit like the good old days, when I could roll through just about anything. I'm hoping that with some tapering, my endurance will feel the same way in about 13 days. Had some stomach issues on today's ride, which doesn't bode well for fueling at Vapor Trail. Not sure what is up. I switched to Perpetuem from Sustained Energy a couple weeks ago. Not sure if that is the issue, but my stomach was feeling pretty sour by the end of yesterday's ride. I may have to switch back to Sustained Energy if I can't get it figured out. I know my stomach is fine on that for 18 Hours. I do find Perpetuem easier to drink, though...

Well, my original plan to race at 24 Hours of Colorado Springs is looking unlikely (surgery in the family requiring travel). So, I got looking around for other ways to put my training to good use. One week earlier than 24 Hours of Colorado Springs is a race that I've always wanted to to, but haven't managed to plan for or train enough to consider, the Vapor Trail 125 !!! So, I pinged Absolute Bikes and they actually had a couple spots still open and I'm in! I'm pretty psyched to have the opportunity to participate in the race, especially since I feel fairly well prepared. The VT125 is known as one of the hardest endurance races in the US. 125 miles, most of it at high altitude, with 20,000 feet of climbing. Whoa! Looking at the course description and elevation profile is a bit scary. Tpak did this race the initial year and says it is awesome. Much better than going around in circles for 24 hours. :-) The race starts and 10pm. I'll ride through the night a...

Got out for some flat out climbing up Rampart Range Rd today. Did over 3200 feet of climbing 1 hour and 30 minutes! For the first 5.5 miles of the climb, I tried to keep my heart rate in the 150's. For the next 4.5 miles, I turned up the effort but tried to keep it below 170. Then, for the last 1.5 or so miles, I just went flat out. I miscalculated a bit and thought I was doing 11.00 miles. Turned out to be really 11.30, so the last 0.30 miles was some pretty serious suffering, mentally and physically. I feel pretty lucky to have an 11 mile dirt road climb near work and a 10 mile dirt road climb near my house. Leaves little opportunity for excuse making when it comes to climbing ability. I took a look at my ride data from the past month, and I've done over 42,000 feet of climbing. Wow, I don't think I've ever hit that much in a month before. Hopefully, all that climbing will make the Falcon Trail climbs feel surmountable in the 24th hour of racing!

For a while now, I've been mapping out a dirt route between my house in Monument and my cabin in Park County (near Trout Creek Pass). Today, I decided to do an out-and-back of the first section of that route. Up Mt Herman Road, north on Rampart Range, then west over to Highway 67. On the map, it looks like 309F is a logical choice. However, the Pikes Peak Atlas shows the road as being gated... Well, upon descending 700 or so vertical feet, I verified that it was indeed blocked off and signed ("guard dogs") even. Took a look at the map and realized I could bushwack about 1 mile to the north and hit Hotel Gulch Rd, which would then take me west to Hwy 67. Worked out fine. Easy bushwack and passed some nice cabins along the way to Manitou Park, which is really nice. Old CCC buildings which now appear to house weather and forestry research crews. Oh yeah, passed a flaming and unattended campfire just above the upper entrance to Limbaugh. Nothing like open flames on a ...

Decided to do the early morning Monster Commute again. Got out the door just before sunrise and headed through the Preserve up to Mt Herman Road. Stopped for a quick stretch and found a funny little sign that says "NEED RIDE UP THE MOUNTAIN" on one side and "NEED RIDE DOWN THE MOUNTAIN" on the other side. Cruised up Mt Herman Rd in the cool morning air. Way up high on a slight downhill, I heard some crashing through the woods. Looked over and saw 2 elk flying through the trees! I have never seen elk on Mt Herman Rd, so I was not sure I had really seen elk. About a half a mile later, what crosses the road directly in front of me? Another elk! Wow, very cool. Hit Rampart Range Rd and headed south towards Woodland Park. I almost took the wrong turn again, descending to Woodland Park, but realized my mistake and headed the correct way. Cruised past Rampart Reservoir, enjoying the magnificent views of Pikes Peak and then descended all the way to Garden of the Go...

After a bit of a break last week due to work related travel, I'm starting to get some decent mileage and time on the bike. Did 53 miles yesterday, mostly commuting , with some Falcon Trail added into the mix. Had to bunny hop a snake on Sante Fe Trail. That freaked me out a bit. Probably shows in my heart rate graph. I rode Flow/DLS on Monday. That trail is really starting to grow over with all the recent rain. Super technical riding, though. Rode a pretty quick loop through Limbaugh on Sunday evening. Felt really good on that ride. And, on Saturday, I did a screwball ride through Spruce Meadow. Forgot my bike lock key, had to return home to get it, then drove back to the parking lot. Then, I used Spot to find my dad/Lianne, met up part way through the ride, then proceeded to have cleat issues, and finally, Lianne got a flat. Jeez! Today is a commute to work day, plus a trip back and forth to the chiropractor. I should get in some decent mileage, but it needs to be c...