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Sunday, 28 June 2009

  • Rist Canyon Clockwise

    I wake in the A.M and I am not sure what I want to ride.  I am thinking MTB, but there were some mechanical issues that I didn't feel like dealing with, so I opted to join Gale's Crew for  Rist.  Now Gale was out of town so I think Ron and Ed were hosting this one on here behalf.

    I arrive at JJ's and folks begin to roll in.   Ed, Peter, Diana, Dean, Rick, Kate, Kevin, JZ, Bruce, Sledge, Dustin and Ron were among those who showed up.   The early pace was pretty civil with folks regrouping at many points!   At Horsetooth park, folks got their last water stop and then we were off an running.    We were mixed in with the MS-150 crowd as we shared part of the route with them.

    After Masonville we were out of the crowds.  The pace was extremely gentle and the group was just chatting etc.  Dustin decided to see what he could do and went off the front.   After a bit  I decided to give chases, shortly followed by Ron, Peter and Kevin.    We brought him back but he Dustin went again.    Out of nowhere Chris comes blowing by and I think was able to catch Dustin.   Peter was a bit back of the leaders followed by Ron and myself further back.

    OK,  I have had enough fun for the day so I wait up for some others.     Ed and Rick come by and I join them.   Bruce come by too, but I don't want to go that hard.

    Everyone pretty much waited at Stove Prairie to regroup.  Diana and Dean were a bit back to do some physical stuff.  JZ and and I went back for her.  She said not to wait up so after escorting her back to Stove prairie we just kept going up Rist while she waited up for Dean.

    Another regrouping at the  summit of Rist and then a rocket ride down.  I was a bit back chasing  but it was fun.   I stopped on the way down to see if this woman needed some help since she was shouldering her bike.   Bent hanger, trashed derailleur and there was nothing I could do, but she has a ride coming.  Turns out that I had met her a few years ago at Tennessee Pass on a ride Dave Newman organized to do the Copper Triangle.   I didn't recognize her but she recognized me... funny how that seems to be the case a lot...

    We regrouped again in Bellevue at this little firehouse or something where we got more water.   We then took  the hard way back up Centennial all the way to Harmony and JJ's.

    A good time was had by all.  I didn't take any pictures, sorry.

Sunday, 14 June 2009

  • Mt Evans or Bust

    It's Sunday, the 14th, and we had scheduled the Mt. Evans ride for a while now.   It's rare for us to do such and  there were a bunch of folks initially interested.    As the day grew closers only a few  brave souls committed.   There were some concerns about the weather which is what scared off most folks.   The  Brave few that did show up were,  Dave M,  Chris J, and Ron.

     Ron drove us down there and  I was pretty sure it would be "game on" for this one.  Chris stated that he was going for a PR and  Dave had a new bike,  Scot CR1 all tricked out! and well, Ron is Ron .... 

    We get down to Idaho Springs, park and there are quite a few  riders heading up the road.    We make ready and off we go!   Chris checks out immediately and  Ron and Dave hang back for a mile or 2 until they are warmed up.  I don't even entertain the though of going with them as my legs are OK, but not good enough to  be  hammering for  3 hours!

    Before long I can't see  Chris, Ron or Dave.    Ron and Dave were together and were evenly matched.    I settle into a rhythm and am enjoying the scenery and solitude.  It's nice not to be chasing.   Mile after mile pass and I see a few riders coming down.   I didn't see any until I got to Echo Lake where,  Ron, Dave and Chris were waiting.

    We pay the $3 fee and off we go.  Chris checks out again and I try and stay with Dave and Ron for a bit.  I fumble to get some gels and  get dropped.   I am able to claw my way back for a bit, but  I can't recover from that effort so I just settle in again.

    The weather was great at the bottom  but looking up it's getting worse.   I am sure I will summit before anything hits.  Those switch backs are mentally draining, and as I look up I realize  the summit is always further than I thought.  I am about 8 minutes away or so, when I see Chris, Ron, Dave coming down.  Chris was getting too cold to wait for me any longer...

    At last I am at the top and time to get some more rabbit food and prepare for the descent.  Some folks ask me to take their pics and I chat with some others whom are very impressed that someone would ride there bike up there.    Time's a wasting and I need to get down.

    I head down and  the wind chill is fierce.  It's about 41 degrees, but it feels colder when moving.   I would have enjoyed the early  switchbacks but the frost heave has made the descent really quite unpleasant.   Hmmm,  I might want to do this on a FS MTB next time and see if that's any better.... like how could it not be...

    I stop a few times on the way down to get some pics.  I can see the weather moving in!.  I get caught in a tiny bit of hail which turns to rain as I get closer to Echo Lake.  The roads are quite wet and I and  concerned about any road oil!    I stop to put on the rain pants which really helped.  When I reach Echo Lake,  Ron, Dave and Chris are waiting.

    We take off and it' raining.    I an starting to get chilled a bit since I haven't really pedaled hard in a while.  With the high speeds and slick roads I am concerned about my steering inputs as I am shivering every so often.   Nothing worse than destabilizing the bike at 30+ mph while in a high speed turn.   Ron and Dave, check out as  Chris and I were a bit more cautious.  A few miles into this the roads dry up and  it's only the gusty winds that are of a concern.

    Finally we make it to the car.   A good time was had by all.   I think Chris did set a PR. 



Sunday, 07 June 2009

  • Elephant Rock 2009

    Well, I have signed up to do the E-Rock century again.   I did this one 2 years ago and I really didn't have that great of a time.  On these tours I prefer to just enjoy my fitness and talk to folks and enjoy the ride.  2 years ago, it just seemed  like the crew I went with was all about going fast.   For me, if I really want to go fast with folks I do one of the local hammer fest rides, or enter a race.... but I digress.

    We met at 4:30 A.M for the ride down there, and most of us didn't get a ton of sleep before hand. Ouch!

    This year the pace was a bit more mellow to start with, but our group of 4,  Ron, Dave, Ilka and myself broke up on the 1st climb.   Sure I could have gone with them, but I have played that game before and lost big time later in the ride.   Dave and I took it more/less easy on the 1st climb...  Eventually we would regroup with Ron and Ilka a bit later.

    We did have some good group efforts going but for one reason or another,   we would get split up again.  I was OK with all that, cause those were the expectations that I went there with.   I was good to just chill and chat with folks instead of chasing ghosts all of the time.   As luck would have it  I got a chance to meet and ride with Nelson Vails for a bit, after my posse was going faster than I wanted to....

    We also met a woman  Leila(sp?) who rode with us from the  1/2 way point to the end.  She was really nice, and it turned out she had gotten separated from her crew too.    We did run into some others that we knew,  Janet from Evergreen club, and Steve  and his crew from the 450 Club.

    I was able to hold my own more or less but I was no match for  Ron,  Super Dave, and Ilka all of whom probably have more than double the miles I have put in so far.      There were some bright spots where we worked well together and it reminded me of the old dayz...

    Of note,  Jim one of Steve's boyz got hit by a car when we lost control in some sand while trying  to catch up!  He was OK, but his bike was toast!   Also,  Ilka had a minor crash when she collided with another rider.   Minor damage to both bikes, but they were ridable, and everyone was OK!

    The end of the ride was different than last year and it added a couple of miles.   Dave was doing the Lions share of the work on the way back.  Ron had "checked out"  on the last climb, not to be seen again until the finish.

    After the provided meal we got a chance to wander the fair grounds and was able to chat with Dave Weins who was manning the Ergon both.   Doesn't get any better than that!

    A good time was had by all.  ~ 100 miles, with a moving avg at 18.3! which was the slowest in the group.

    Photo's courtesy of Dave Newman.

Friday, 29 May 2009

  • Lyons ... Estes


    Another long ride ride planned and I am really not up for riding too hard.  I decide to drive down to Gales instead of riding cause I wasn't sure the legs would be good for the extra miles.

    There is a good turn out today with, Ron, Ilka, Gale, Scott, Bill, Ed. Martin and Chris etc.   I could see that many of the folks weren't carrying too much but with rain as a possibility, better a bit slower, than sorry.

    The pace on the way down was brisk, but  the "Big Men & Women" were more than happy to do all of the work.  I didn't see the front of the pace line at all on the way to Lyons.    Bill and Chris took some crazy long pulls which lasted for over 10 miles I am sure.   Chris was feigning that we would be weak considering his 100 miler the day before with  6000+ feet of  vertical, but I couldn't tell by the way he was riding.   I am wondering if Bill and Chris were doing the macho thing up front to see who would crack 1st?..

    So we make it to Lyons and get some food at the local store.  At this point I am really glad that I didn't ride over to Gales.  The legs were OK, but the were complaining when they shouldn't have been. 

    It's Go time and everyone is ready for the ascent.   The pace is brisk and life is good for the 1st mile or so and then it's time for the GC contenders to come to the front.  Now I am really suffering as Bill, Chris, Ron, Ed, Scott begin to work at the front.   My HR was pretty high, but not crazy, but I my legs were not fresh enough to hold the effort and I had to drop off the pace.    I  thought about trying to hold Gale's wheel but I would fry myself so I had to settle into a reasonable pace.   Ed was on the opposite end of the spectrum, and put the hurt on everyone!

    Miles passed and to my surprise a bunch of the folks had stopped to regroup.  This was a chance to get in some food.   Before long it's more of the same.   All was OK until it started to rain and rain hard.   I put on the rain gear and I was OK.  Ilka and Martin turned back at this point.   I was really really warm o on the way down  to Estes.  Even the descent was OK,  but I am sure others weren't as comfy.

    I meet the crew in Estes at the Notchtop Cafe.   I went to Micky D's cause I earned myself those fries. .

    The ride down the canyon was unusually not very fast.  Ron took some monster pulls, but one man can only do so much.  Ron got a flat on the way down, and then it was my turn.   Good thing I was with  Gale and Scott cause I realized that I left my pump at home!!

    Glad to be done.  About 90 miles total.   A good time was had by most.  Hopefully next weekend I'll be taking it easy on the MTB.    Just need to clean the road bike now.  Sorry no pics, but I am sure my camera is glad I left it in the car...

Monday, 18 May 2009

  • Old Flowers

    Yeah, we ended up doing Old Flowers anyway.   Ron,  Bill, Todd, Scott and Gale were in attendance.  
    We were not sure what the conditions were going to be like, but it was good that it was supposed to be a warm day.     I had brought  leg, warmers and all that stuff, but it would turn out that we didn't need any of it. 

    The pace began really pretty easy as it turns out that Gale, Bill, Todd and Scott had done a monster 7+ hour MTB ride the day before, which included the Towers road.   After hear that,  I was pretty sure that I wouldn't be the "Whipping boy" today.           Bill had brought his spankin new  Carbon Black Yeti ASR, so I expected him to be fast and I was not disappointed..  I was riding my newly Acquired CrossMax XT wheels, and what a difference.  They aren't too much lighter, but he bearings are so much smoother.  Those along with some new rotors kept the disc brakes from dragging....

    Pretty mellow Pace on the way out with Ron,  Bill and Scot out front at times keeping some good tempo.   Since the road wasn't open to  cars the terrain wasn't as loose as in the past, and everyone was able to clean all of the grades with any issues.  Well, there was this issue with Scott following Ron and needing to take a "do over" ...

    Half way up we ran into  Sean's ( from the Cycologist ) crew.  We chatted with them for a bit and got mixed with them for a while.  These guys had skills.   Nice jumps with some stylish cross-ups,  nose wheelies etc.   I almost lost it cause I was too busy watching them!  Those guys were pretty strong too, and with my group in it's present condition we weren't in any shape to try and hang with them.   Bill did a nice job though,  and was kind enough to wail for us.
     
    Bill and I had a nice  fun descent, heading into Pingry Park Road.  We were chatting about Skateboarding etc. while catching some air when we got a chance.

    We  did regroup at Pingry and it was ttime to head back.   Gale got a bit of a head start on us, and Bill was set on hunting her down.   Ron, myself and Scott caught up too and then I figured it was going to be game on, but the pace wasn't crazy an no one attacked.  

    The rest of the way back was big fun.   I was riding with Bill and Scott for part of it and  I had to work to keep up.   Was chasing Ghosts as Bill who was up front pulled off and Ron didn't see him  off to the side.  In hind site Bill figured he should have called out....

    Finally back at the cars and a good time was had by all.   There were some skateboarders in  full leathers doing speed runs down the back side of Rist.   They were hitting 70+ mph,  taking videos and stills.  We chatted with them for a bit and I got to ride one of their boards!    These were some of the guys that did Lookout Mountain, just a few days earlier.  Wish  I was young enough to still skate!