Ride the Rockies - Before the Ride

Ride the Rockies - Before the Ride The 2013 Ride the Rockies tour is a 545 mile trek through 7 cities in Colorado; Telluride, Cortez, Durango, Pagosa Springs, Alamosa, Salida, Canon City and Colorado Springs.  All of these towns (except Canon City) are beautiful and worth checking out the real estate to re-locate.  My riding buddy Michael Witt sent me an e-mail saying he was going to sign up for the lottery to enter.  I thought, sure, I'll enter the lottery with not a lot of thought if we got picked. Then we got picked and the heart started racing.  Michelle was all for it and said "Go, have a great time."  It's...

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Ride the Rockies - Day 4 to Alamosa

Day 4 - Pagosa Springs to Alamosa Back to Day 3 - Pagosa Springs I didn't want to get out of bed.  I was cold, stiff and 5am isn't in my genes.  So I slept until 5:45am.  Then I was just cold and stiff.  What laid ahead for the day was the most difficult climb all week.  To the top of Wolf Ridge which is an 8 mile ascent up 4000'. The first 10 miles were brutal for me.  Not the rolling hills, but the cold, my knee, my other knee, my butt and my spirit.  It was a difficult 10 miles.  I kept pedaling the ascent to the first aid station where I was craving the flapjack breakfast.  After that station...

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Ride the Rockies - Day 5 to Salida

Back to Day 4 - Alamosa The ride to Salida was pretty easy.  The first 60 miles had about 400' of climbing, then a 1,000' foot climb up to Poncha Pass before a long descent.  Some people may think the Ride the Rockies event is difficult, but I'm putting my vote towards to Salida Run. Flat, flat and more flat. The Salida run is a sprint from the town up a ~1,200 foot hill and then back down again.  The local town participates with at least one Ride the Rockies runner.  Let's just say he didn't finish anywhere near the winner. The race goes from the starting line up to that small building way up there and then back down....

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Ride the Rockies - Day 6 to Canon City

Back to Day 5 - Salida OK folks, the jury's in ... Canon City is a dump.  It's penitentiary town where every dollar comes from the 13 prisons in the county.  I stopped a guy on the street to ask him a question and he gave us the full story.  He came here after 15 years in Florida. Been here 2 years and he's still wondering why. Riding the through the canyon. I wanted to camp along this river. 95 miles through some of the most beautiful scenery all week.  Starting with the ride through the canyon, then along the mountain ranges, up and over Backscrabble Pass, through hell and then on to Canon City.   Fremont...

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Ride the Rockies - Day 7 to Colorado Springs

Back to Day 6 - Canon City What can I say about the final 47 miles of the trip.  Well, for one it was blazing fast.  I felt really strong on this ride and didn't leave any energy in reserves.  Plain and simple just tore through the course and the 2,000' of climbing. A rare downhill on the final day. Bittersweet at the end.  I didn't want it to end, but I was happy to start towards home. 545 miles after the start. So what are my final thoughts on crossing the finish line?  For one, I was looking forward to getting back home and seeing the family.  But I was also excited to be bringing the real estate magazines...

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Ride the Rockies - Day 1 to Cortez

Ride the Rockies - Day 1 to Cortez Back to Pre-Ride Just a little climb to start, then a looooong downhill. Getting out of bed today was bone chilling cold.  Apparently the basin traps all the cold air and it stays that way until the sunshine comes.  Around 6am this morning I saw the sun hitting the tops of the peaks and could only hope it would creep down the mountain faster.  It really was a bit cold and lots of people were shivering.   Once we got on the road it was about 2 miles before the big hill.  It wasn't long after that when I could feel my fingers again.  I was wearing shorts and my rain coat...

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Ride the Rockies - Day 3 to Pagosa Springs

Ride the Rockies - Day 3 to Pagosa Springs Day 2 - Back to Durango I really have no explanation for how good I feel after today's ride.  Yesterday's ride made me feel really bad, tired, sore and generally overwhelmed.  In hindsight, it was an extremely hard ride with all that climbing.  I was stressing big time last night in the tent about this long ride (86 miles) today and I was stressing even more this morning on the early climbs. Out of the gate was a long 14 mile climb that wasn't all that taxing.  I was taking it pretty slow because I didn't want my knee to blow up and then hail the SAG wagon.  Getting to the...

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Ride the Rockies - Day 2 to Durango

Day 2 - Ride the Rockies (Durango) Day 1 - Back to Cortez I've been having a debate with Michael about whether Colorado is considered the "Southwest".  I think yes, he says no.  Either way what we both agree on is that it's hot.  93 today, 95 yesterday, scorching.  This ride is every bit about managing one's capabilities beyond just the riding.  Like today, the ride was 5 hours with the last 2 or 3 in that heat.  Now it's a game of managing oneself to avoid heat exhaustion.  I'm hanging out in the school charging my devices, writing this blog, and mainly just keeping from the heat. The secret to an easy...

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Gunnison Trail Video's

This hike is crazy steep.  Here's the collection of videos. ...

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2013 Civil War Century

The Civil War Century is a must ride just because of its name.  I rode last year but this year was easier, perhaps I trained a little?  It starts out in Thurmont VA and rolls up, down and all-around through Maryland and into Pennsylvania.  It is kinda cool to ride through Antietam National Park and the Gettysburg battlefields.  Although by the time I got to Gettysburg I wasn't so interested in sight-seeing. A 5:00am wake-up alarm got me moving and 30 minutes later I was in the car and heading north.  Surprising how many people are on the beltway at 5:30am on a Saturday?  Where are they all going?  It...

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