Carter Lake Ride...Ohh the sketchiness

Plan for today was to do the Carter Lake ride. This is a popular Sat group ride which rolls out at 10am and from Boulder to Carter Lake. Just about 105km. Shawn got me all the logistics for the ride so I rolled out and when i saw the group approaching I was blown away. There had to have been close to 100 riders rolling down Hwy36. I jumped in. Lots of pros and amateurs. Ivan Stevic was rollin' in his UCI B Rainbow kit which is pretty cool. This guy is always killing it in the races. Several other Jelly Belly, Toyota-United, BMC, Successful living guys.

As for the ride, it pretty much sucked. It was up/down for the first 45min. Then they group made a huge swing across the road in front of traffic and then it opened up. Now, I am all for cycling and cycling on the roads. But based upon past experiences, I know that cyclists never win. The pace picked up and instead of keeping it all together, the group was taking up the entire right lane and others were rolling up the left side. Completely sketchy. Now if there was a rolling enclosure that might be different but even then s*** can still hit the fan. After being a little sketched out, all the sudden everything went crazy. A car comes rolling up on the left going pretty fast and then all I hear are horns and brakes screeching. Nearly a head on collision between this car and truck with some 60riders right next to it. At that point, I dropped back. Its not worth it. I ended up hooking up with 5 other riders and we rode in a proper 2x2 formation. None of this whole lane bs. When the climb came, I started off a little easy just to see the others, then I opened it up. Felt good to open up and beat those altitude guys to the top. Altitude is still keeping my hr up but every day is getting better. I presume I will be solid in another 2-3weeks. When I was in Phoenix last weekend, it was amazing b/c I could actually breath. So I am pretty excited about seeing the gains I will make when I finally get acclimated, continue to train hard, and then head to lower levels. Should be good.

Now, a little more updating. I've been training like a mad man. Next month, i start my part-time gig. I'm getting a Charles in Charge gig for all you 80s tv fans. Yep, I'm going to be a nanny for an 11.5yr old boy. I'm really looking forward to it. It should be a fun gig, allow me to train a lot, and it will be cool to hang out with the kid going mtn biking, cooking, homework, etc. I am also going to be starting my new coaching job. I will let you all know the complete details in the coming weeks. It should be good.

If you are interested in coming to Colorado to ride, Shawn and I are working on putting together a Colorado climbing/training camp. She ran one last year in Sept and it was a great success. I will post the information in the coming weeks as Shawn and I hash it out.

Tomorrow I'm doing a endurance ride with some local club. I'll probably tack on a few extra hours. Hoping to get 5-6 in the saddle tomorrow. Weather is suppose to be phenomenal, upper 50s and sunny. Perhaps a big vertical day =)

Chow,
Matthew