March 9, 2004

• All, here os a special Sunday March 7th ediition by Dave!  He has
  taken up the  invitation I made a few weeks ago to contribute such
  things.  He wrote this before reading mine (Cool Idea) We'll see
  how they compare. 
  Thanks  Dave!

  I was anxious to ride since I've been out sick a while. I rode over to
  FCHS and promptly found a water bottle lying in the parking lot. I was
  contemplating whether it was worth saving when Steve showed up. Glenn
  and Kent showed up shortly thereafter, and after a conversation that
  was enjoyable but more extended than I thought was called for, we hit
  the road. I paused to hide the water bottle in a shrub, thinking I
  would come back for it at the end of the ride. In so doing, I found a
  cell phone lying on the ground. I left it in an obvious place near the
  entrance to the parking lot in the hopes that an honest person would
  find it and somehow return it to the owner. I didn't want to tote it
  around all day, and I thought that if it was still there when I
  returned for the water bottle, I would reconsider.

  We headed out at a moderate pace with the plan being to do Kent's
  Centennial Loop with a small modification I proposed to avoid route 14.
  Steve and I were at the front as we headed west. I thought to myself:
  I'm just coming back from being sick, what am I doing at the front? But
  then I told myself: shut up and ride! Steve took the front going up the
  first hill, and while the speed didn't go up, the level of effort did.
  I was in second wheel, and I tried to hold Steve's wheel as long as I
  could. Shortly before we hit the hairpin turn, I heard Kent tell Glen
  that he was going to let Steve and I go. I held Steve's wheel to about
  halfway from the hairpin to the top, when I decided to let him go to
  conserve some energy for later. I got to the turn at the top about 100
  meters behind Steve, and Kent and Glen were perhaps another 100 meters
  back.

  Steve paused atop the dam, as I did, and once we were together again,
  we headed across the dam toward the crazy-steep part of Centennial
  Drive. Steve took the front again; Kent, Glen and I were the three
  amigos toiling in his wake. After the road had leveled out a little,
  Kent asked me if Steve had looked back recently. I said I didn't think
  so, and Kent got all energetic and took off after Steve. He caught
  Steve's wheel, but Steve didn't let him by, so Steve took the second
  hill too. Once I caught up to Kent, he said something like "I'll pay
  for that later." All I could manage in reply was to croak "yep." Kent
  began his descent, and Glen slowed for a clothing change; Steve
  indicated I should go ahead to tell Kent what was up. I did it without
  thinking, but in retrospect, I didn't have a snowball's chance in hell
  of catching Kent on the descent.

  Steve and Glenn caught me at the bottom of the next climb, after we had
  crossed the second dam. Kent was a little ways ahead, and Steve powered
  off to catch and pass Kent. Glenn and I climbed together at a more
  moderate pace. I put in some efforts to see if I could gain any ground
  on Steve and Kent, but it wasn't happening. We had some fun in the
  rolling part between the top of that hill and the third dam, and then
  climbed to the top of the final descent. Kent did his usual imitation
  of a meteor falling from the sky, and the rest of us tried to keep up.
  I regretted not having zipped up my windvest before the descent, both
  due to the temperature and due to the wind resistance it made.

  We turned and went up Bingham Hill, and Steve again took the front,
  going for all the KOM glory he could get. I was following him, and
  behind me Kent somehow prodded Glenn into a hard effort. Glenn went by
  me like I was standing still. He caught Steve, but Steve heard him
  coming and didn't let him by. Kent passed me on the descent, so I was
  tail-end Charlie as we approached Overland Trail. The three ahead of me
  didn't stop at the corner; feeling nervous about trying to catch on, I
  broke the law and didn't stop at the stop sign either. We went north to
  the intersection with route 14, where I took the lead to ensure that we
  followed the alternate route I had promised. Rather than using route
  14, I planned to continue north across 287, then to the east on a
  quieter road, and then south to Douglas rather than North. I think it
  worked out well, and it seemed like a nicer route than the one using
  CO14.

  Once we were out of the hills I felt a bit better. I think losing some
  weight is in order. After being sick, I seem to have gained a few
  pounds, and as Steve suggested, that may explain my feeling that I
  don't have enough power on the hills. With only one bit of uncertainty
  on my part, we found Douglas Road and headed East into a slight
  headwind that I hadn't noticed until then. We rolled along well, taking
  good pulls and spreading the work out nicely. Kent had been sick too,
  and I think he was starting to feel the effects of his hard effort on
  the first hill, but other than that everyone was riding well. We
  stopped for a food break before turning South, and commented on the
  "Tri-Geek" who passed us while we were eating.

  While headed south near the Budweiser plant, I noticed a rider ahead of
  us while following Steve's wheel. Steve pulled off giving me the front
  when we were about a third of a mile behind the rider. He looked a bit
  wobbly, so I debated whether it was worth the sport of chasing him, but
  since we were within a mile of the corner where we would turn east, I
  decided it was worthy sport to see if I could catch him before he hit
  the corner. I cranked up the speed as best I could and came close to
  catching him before the corner, but missed by perhaps 100 yards. As it
  turned out, he turned east too, so I stayed on the front to make the
  pass before yielding the front to Kent.

  The day was beautiful and the sky was really blue. The mountains were
  gorgeous. It was a welcome contrast to the day we rode the same route
  and were enveloped by that nasty fog bank. The ride east and south was
  uneventful, and we made good speed. We slowed for a bit of
  soft-pedaling going west through Windsor, and then the pace picked up
  again just before "the Wall." Steve went first, with Kent on his wheel.
  Kent dropped off, and I made an effort to try to catch Steve after
  giving him far too much of a head-start. Kent gave me welcome
  encouragement as I passed. I did most of the climb standing, which
  isn't my normal habit. If the climb had been longer, standing would not
  have been an option, but as it was, I was able to climb almost the
  whole way standing. Unfortunately, it was another case of "close only
  counts in Hand Grenades and Horseshoes," as Steve topped the hill first
  once again, securing undisputed KOM honors for the day.

  From there, Kent continued east on the most direct route home, and the
  rest of us turned north. Steve announced a plan for an extended
  cool-down and dropped off the pace after we crossed I-25. I think Glen
  joined him. I continued on at a slightly higher pace, thinking I needed
  to recover 'my' water bottle from the FCHS parking lot. But as the turn
  for home approached, I started to have second thoughts. Soon the lure
  of the couch consumed me. I wanted the additional miles, but my will
  was weak, and I ended up heading home without going to recover the
  water bottle or to see what happened to the cell phone.

  That night, I went to see the new movie "Hidalgo." It's not about
  bicycling, but it is about character, self-knowledge, and suffering. I
  recommend it highly. It's a fine movie, clearly superior to most
  everything else in the theater this week, and a definite candidate for
  my favorite film of the year. Frank Hopkins, the protagonist of the
  film, demonstrates some of the same character that great cyclists show
  by suffering gracefully in the service of a great goal. In another era
  or another country, he might have been a great cyclist rather than a
  great horseback rider.

  >>Dave
  

  • 11:03 am
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