Here are a few highlights of the last couple months...
Comfortably Numb in Whistler:
I skipped the bike park and opted instead for the famous, infamous, and notorious Comfortably Numb Trail that snakes through the valley from north of Whistler and back into the Village. I rented a decent XC/Trail hybrid kinda bike and took off up the Sea to Sky Highway to find the trailhead and a loop back to my hotel.
Comfortably Numb was a technical MMA-like fight on the bike. I enjoy technical riding so I'm not complaining, but I had to be cautious and walk some of the more extreme sections. I loved the rocky, rooty, XC sections... there is nothing flowy or fast on that entire trail, but its fun if you like to try and limit your dabs.
I think it is supposed to be about fourteen miles from trailhead to trailhead, after an 8-mile highway ride to get there. I was getting my ass kicked, but perversely enjoining it all the way through my lunch spot on a knoll overlooking Whistler Village. Seriously, I was sitting on a rock looking down towards the Village and my hotel.
Alright, lunch down, about 3 miles to get out so I was feeling completely worked but happy. But the trail kept going.... and going.... until finally I wound up back at the Al Grey Memorial Bridge just a few miles from where I started that morning! Somehow I became completely turned around and didn't even notice I was riding back on the same trail I had come in from. I was out of water and totally bummed for screwing up the track, but thank goodness I could take Young Lust trail out to the highway rather than beating myself up on the first miles of Numb again.
That was my only planned ride day, but my wife could sense my angst at dinner over screwing it up.... she said... you should rent another bike tomorrow morning.... isn't there a way to finish that thing off???
Well, in fact there was... a climb from Whistler Village called Yummy Numby that would link right back in to near the spot I had gotten lost.
So the next morning I did. And I walked a ton of that hellacious final descent. But I did see the whole trail and it was amazing. Finished up with several miles on the beautiful Lost Lake trails before cruising back to the hotel a happy man.
Comfortably Numb / Young Lust
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/517837965
Yummy Numby / Comfortably Numb / Lost Lake:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/517837997
Bikepacking - Colorado Trail - Waterton Canyon to Kenosha Pass:
For my CTR prep, I've been very curious about how I can ride this first section, so I decided to break it off on a 2-day bikepack trip starting at 6am, just like the CTR.
I had two fellow travelers along but we made a pact that we were independent and responsible for ourselves, so while we started out riding together for a couple hours, we soon split off to enjoy our own pace and plan.
I intentionally took it very easy at the start. If I have some setback during the CTR, I don't want to be comparing myself to some all-out preride from months back. I discovered a broken spoke merely 5 miles into the singletrack and I started to panic for a second since I didn't have a spare. I considered riding back out and finding a shop, yada yada... until I remembered a wonderful thing about bikepacking.... I had plenty of food and full camping gear and a blank slate on my schedule for that weekend.... so if the bike broke then it broke and I would deal with that if I had too. Turns out the wheel held up and I soon forgot all about it.
Completed section 1 to the South Platte in 2hr30min.... railed that descent on my Yeti SB66c (not my CTR bike this year though) and was feeling good.
Section 2 to Buffalo Creek was nice. I was getting in my groove and reached the start of section 3 @ 5 hours even.
I think I was picking up the intensity through section 3 because I really wanted to know when I could reach the Stagestop Saloon to see if a hot meal and any kind of decent resupply was available. I hit Wellington Lake at about 7 hours, ate a big meal and continued on....
Reached the pavement at Tarryall Road at 11hr45min.... filtered water and pushed on....
And then finally, just a little more than 2 hours later I reached the Stagestop Saloon and ate a fat cheeseburger and wings. So that was a little before 8pm.... good news for sure. I left there about 8:45 with intentions of riding to Kenosha Pass, but a flat tire soon convinced me to make camp and chill. I'd learned what I wanted so no big deal... I figured I'd practice getting up before dawn and continue on.
Set the alarm for 3:45 am.... didn't get up until 4:40 and was riding at 5:00.
Riding time from Stagestop to Kenosha was 3 hours so I'm hoping I can duplicate that at least during the race to reach Kenosha by midnight on Day 1.
This ride was mid-June and the snowpack still had Georgia Pass on lockdown, so I took highway 285 west to Boreas Pass and used that to get home in Silverthorne about noon the next day. Total about 160ish miles (gps died) in about 30 total hours so I was very happy.
Waterton Canyon to Stagestop Saloon
Firecracker 50
I don't race a whole lot, but almost every year I suit up for the Firecracker 50-miler on the 4th of July in Breckenridge. My first year living in Colorado, this race took me way over 6 hours to finish. Then 3 years ago, after adapting to these mountains and training harder, I managed a 5hr09min which got me 9th place in 40 year old Sport Class. Then came last year and my horrific going-blind experience and another 6+ hour finish.
So I wasn't sure what to expect for this year. I knew I'd been training hard, but at age 42+ I'm not getting any younger for sure.
Yet I somehow managed a 4hr48min and 3rd place (Sport Class) podium finish. Its been a while since I got to stand up there!
Very happy! Its nice to know I'm getting faster with age. Just hope to keep the improvement going.
Bikepacking - Colorado Trail - Tenmile Range to Marshall Pass
Mid-July I did a 3-day bikepacking trip on the Colorado Trail. I had a company golf tournament in the morning so I couldn't start until 5pm on Friday with the intention of reaching Marshall Pass in the early afternoon on Sunday.
This was the July 12 full moon weekend and the key for reaching these goals was an all-night sleepless push on Friday night.
This trip started right off with the Tenmile Range. The weather had been pounding rain all day, but as I started my climb from Frisco (using the Peaks trail to access the CT) the skied let up and continued to be non-threatening the whole way to the top of the pass.... until I got a look over the other side!
Huge sheets of windy rain and sleet raking the mountain. I threw on my rain clothes, losing my sunglasses in the process, and made a mad dash down to Copper. I was freezing cold so I skipped the annoying golf course traverse and rode straight to Endos Restaurant in the Village. Still, I had budgeted 5 hours for the Tenmile crossing and I completed it in 3hr15min so I was happy. I know I will be slower in the CTR so hopefully 5 hours is realistic after all.
I spent about an hour and a half at Endos eating about 2000 calories and drying my gloves in the bathroom. Finally about 9:45pm I started my climb to Searle Pass.
As I mentioned, I skipped a mile or two from highway 191 to the Copper summer road, but I got to Searle about midnight under a spectacular full moon. I was feeling great; not tired at all so I continued on over to Elk Ridge and Kokomo Pass. As I made the alpine crossing I noticed the clouds closing back in and the rain soon began to fall. I was mentally bummed to miss out on a full-moon ride, but what can you do other than put on the rain gear and keep going.
It was dark, late, and details are hazy, but I think I reached Tennessee Pass at about 4:30am.... ate a bit, regouped, and arrived in Leadville at 6am for a breakfast burrito at the bakery there. Drank coffee and kept it moving...
I love the singletrack near Twin Lakes... I got a second wind and busted that out pretty quickly.... rolled in to Buena Vista about 1pm. Huge Chocolate shake, giant cheeseburger and corndog and it was finally time for a little sleep. I took a 2hr nap in the park and woke up rejuvenated and feeling great.
It was 4:45pm Saturday when I left Buena Vista with very obscure goals about how far I would get before camp. I could not remember much about the two sections between Buena Vista and Highway 50. I would soon learn that the first was relatively easy, but the second from Mt. Princeton Hot Springs to Highway 50 is an ass-kicking, rocky technical hike-a-bike for the most part.
Looking at my map... I planned to camp at Mt. Shavano Trailhead, but upon reaching there, all ground was saturated and wet. I couldn't find anything resembling a campsite. After consulting my databook and fighting back tears, I knew I had to continue on to Angel of Shavano Trailhead for a good nights sleep. Thank goodness it was almost completely downhill. I finally crawled in to my bivy at 1am Sunday morning. Blessed Sleep!
Dawn came quick and I had food and water chores to do so I wasn't riding again until 7:15am.
Still, I was highly motivated to finish. My wife was going to meet me at Marshall Pass and I didn't want her waiting on me.
Hit Highway 50 just after 8am and began my final huge climb up the Fooses Creek Trail. It was surprisingly rideable for several miles and then so steep that I doubt any human can ride it except perhaps Jefe. Last part was brutal for sure, but I got there by 11:00am..... skies getting scary so after a quick bite I beat it down to Marshall Pass and got there at 11:45 am.
Overall, pretty happy with that. My kinda arbitrary splits had me getting there about 2pm, so I guess I was early???
I suppose we will find out soon during the real deal, the 2014 Colorado Trail Race!
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