Back From Colorado

I had a great time in Colorado. Initially I wasn't very excited to go. Between leaving my family for that long and dealing with my back problems, I didn't see much sense in going. Well, I'm glad I did.

I arrived in Gunnison on Saturday afternoon. I learned quickly that this was going to be a much smaller group of people than what I had experienced with other tours. This is only the 2nd annual Colorado Rocky Mountain Bike Tour so I wasn't really surprised at the small number of people but it was different. With other tours, you tend to try and arrive early so that you have a spot to put up your tent. Here I had the whole field to choose from. When I arrived, there were only about 7 tents put up so far.

Sunday morning started with a 78 mile ride to Hotchkiss CO. The first half of the ride was a small incline until we got to the big climb of the day. It went up quickly and kept going up. The road went along the beautiful North rim of the Black Canyon and up and over Hermits Summit. I babied my back and tried to take it easy but when climbing there's no way to leave your lower back out of the equation. I survived the 78 miles but my back was hurting. The afternoon was spent using the muscle stim and ice in hopes of making it through the next day.

Monday started off good (I thought). The route was to be from Hotchkiss, over McClure Pass and into Glenwood Springs. I was the first cyclist to leave camp and followed the arrows on the road. I remember the staff people saying that it would be uphill from the moment we left camp. Well it was. I started out easy to save my back for the steeper parts of the climb. At about 25 miles there was supposed to be the first rest stop. I was making good time and saw no rest stop. I thought they were running late so I went on and just stopped at a Safeway store to fill my waterbottles. I continued on following the arrows into Delta CO. At one intersection I lost the arrows. I didn't know where to go. I rode back to the last arrow I saw to make sure I didn't make a wrong turn and I seemed to be going in the right direction. I got back to the same intersection and lost the arrows again. I pulled out my map and really couldn't make sense of it. There was a small gas station nearby so I went in and asked the clerk for directions. I asked for directions over McClure Pass. Now at this point, I had yet to have another cyclist catch me. I was moving pretty good but not that good. The clerk very politely said, "Honey, you came the wrong direction, you need to go back to where you came from and head north".

At this point I'm pretty well screwed. I have no money and have no phone. By the time I ride back to Hotchkiss, I will have put in 53 miles. Everyone will have already left camp and likely will be over the top of McClure Pass. Nobody will have any idea I'm missing. I will have to ride back to the start and anticipate it being a very long day. So I headed back to Hotchkiss. I rode hard and of course it was into a head wind. By the time I got back to Hotchkiss (remember this is the original starting point) my legs were fried. I was tired. I stopped at a small gas station and asked if anyone could give me a ride to the base of McClure Pass. I figured if I could get that far, I would have a chance for at least the sag wagon to know where I am. Otherwise I'm going to be out there all day with no support for water and food. With no ride, I'm stuck riding about 135 miles to camp. I'm a little scared at this point. Nobody gave me a ride. All I could do was start pedaling. Of course this part of the ride was spent in some intense prayer. I was getting a little frustrated with God in that I really needed some help and I wasn't getting any. The next small town was called Paonia. There was a small convenience store there so I stopped to fill my bottle again and asked some drivers if they were heading up over the pass. Of course they weren't. Many of them had just come over the pass and mentioned seeing a bunch of cyclist about an hour ago. This meant that I was way behind.

Sitting aroung moaping about it wasn't going to get me any closer to Glenwood Springs. So I pedaled on. By this point I've hit already about 65 miles. I'm exhausted from the early morning part of the ride. There's just no way I'm going to make it 50 more miles. I hadn't really even started the steep part of the climb yet.

I approached a small mining community which was where the real climbing began. I had even thought of calling 911 just so people would know where I was. I saw a couple of big stock trailers full of horses pulled over just up around the corner. Just as I was pulling up to the first truck, the driver of the second truck had gotten out of his truck and was walking back to the truck I was pulling up to. Before I could say anything, the cowboy asked me, "you need a ride?"

I didn't need to be asked twice. He said, "just throw your bike in the back and get in the front seat." Now here is a cowboy offering some wierd guy in spandex a ride up a mountain. I threw my bike in the back, being careful not to be in the way of the fifth wheel hitch on the horse trailer.

Remember, earlier I said I was bit upset with God. Well, this was God at work. The cowboy said he was only going about 7 miles but would be happy to take me as far as he was going. I wasn't going to turn down a free 7 miles. Hopefully this would get up to at least some of the slower riders.

Having been a farrier for 12 years I had a great time talking with the cowboy. Oh ya, his name was Gary. He had a 140 head of Draft/Quarter horse mix he was taking up the mountain to spend the summer and fall on the mountain grass. He shared with me that it had been a rough couple of years in the horse business. $1500.00 horses were being sold for $200.00. They were having to take a loss at every sale they went to. He spoke a little about his family and how proud he was of his 5 kids. I don't think this guy had any idea the difference he was making in someone elses life. In the short few miles that we drove, we spoke about so much stuff. From politics, healthcare, horses, family, and life in general. I believe whole heartedly that God brings people in and out of your life and this was truly one of those times. When we arrived to the point Gary was going, he made me take a Gatorade from the truck and wished me well. We had passed two riders on the way up the mountain so I knew I was safe. I still had 6 miles to climb to the summit but without Gary I never would have made it with enough water. For as long as I live, I will never ever forget this man. He so unselfishly helped someone he didn't even know. Thanks Gary!!!!

After finally making it to the top of the climb I rode the descent down for about 18 miles. I ended the day with about 107 miles. Almost 30 miles more then was originally planned. The next day was expected to be brutal.

After a long evening of ice and muscle stim I awoke early on Tuesday morning with a long day expected. The days route took us up from Glenwood Springs to Aspen. From Aspen we headed up over Independence pass and ended in Leadville Colorado.

Total mileage for the day was 100 miles with 60 miles of climbing. The uphill to Aspen wasn't too bad. From Aspen though the road go steep quickly. Independence Pass is truly amazing. It peaks at 12,095 feet and is the second highest pass in Colorado. It was brutal. I never could have imagined a road could be so long and so uphill. After every curve, it just kept going up and up. My back was on fire. The pain was killing me. Nearing the top of the pass, the muscles of my lower back were on the verge of spasms. I stood up and climbed the last 50 feet in hopes of saving my back from anymore pain. I was exhausted. From the top of the pass, we had a nice descent and then some small rollers into Leadville (10,000 feet).

Once at camp, I could tell my back musles were super tender. The massage therapist recommended a bunch of ice and about an hour of muscle stim. It seemed to work because the next morning wasn't too bad.

Thank God because we were to head up over 3 passes with the last one being Vail Pass at 10,500 feet. Vail Pass was a beautiful ride. Colorado had built a bike trail from Vail, over the top of Vail Pass and down into Copper Mountain. It was absolutely gorgeous. From Copper Mountain were able to stay on bike trail all the way down into Frisco.

We had a day off in Frisco in which I spent doing my laundry and shopping for some things for my wife and kids. Frisco is a very cool town. There are bikes and bike trails everywhere. In fact, throughout the Summit Valley, all the towns are connected by bike trails. You can travel from Frisco to Dalton, to Breckenridge and Copper Mountain all by bike. If your a cyclist, this is your country.

My body needed the day off because the next day we back up to Leadville. This time was up over Freemont Pass. From Leadville we finally headed down hill into Salida. It was an 88 mile day and we average 20mph for the full ride. This wasn't too smart on my part because pushing so hard the flats was killing my back. I should have been saving my energy for the last day over Monarch Pass.

I was excited for the last day. I just wanted to get up, get going, and get home and see my family. If I could get back early enough, I could make the 9 hour drive in one day. I left camp at about 6am and kept a pretty steady cadence for about the first 14 miles. It was uphill from the moment I left camp. I had done Monarch Pass in 2001 and it left me with my first experience with leg cramps. So me and this mountain had some bad feelings already. At mile 14 I was pretty tired. Our map showed the top of the pass was at about mile 28. At mile 16 nobody had caught me. I know it isn't a race but it's still fun to pretend. The top came sooner than expected at about mile 26. I was feeling pretty good.

All week we weren't allowed to wear our Ipods. We'll I had stuck mine in my pocket just in case. For some reason I can descend much better with music blasting in my ears. So, before I started the descent, I put the Ipod on and flew down the mountain. It was a blast. It wasn't my fastest descent but it was the closest I had been to 50 mph all week. At the bottom of the mountain it was downhill rollers all the way back into Gunnison. I made it back to camp ahead of the rest of the group. It was by far my funnest day.

It was a long hard week. My back took a lot of the fun out of it but I also learned alot. I have learned how important it is to have a strong core. Since returning, the doctor has ordered me off the bike for a couple of months. I'm to do a lot of stretching and a lot of ab work. I'm still going to ride a little with my sons but as far as training is concerned, I think I'm done for a while. I'll be anxious to see what I can do with two legs, as my left leg has been pretty much powerless since the whole back issue.

Anyway, that was my week in Colorado. I'm glad I went. I met some really neat people and I hope and plan on going back for the 3rd annual next year.

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