Sun, Snow, and Wind...Just Another Colorado Day

After putting in a pretty big week already, today was suppose to be an endurance ride day of 4 hrs. My plan was to do the GS Boulder group ride that leaves out of Niwot Cycles. After thoroughly doping myself with Allegro coffee at Eye Opener, I walked out only to find a few riders, and no GS riders. I chatted for a bit, and we finally rolled out. I stayed on the front b/c I wanted max workout and I prefer leading than following with riders I don't know too well. We did the Fruit Loops route out to Lyons. Its basically an hour out. At that point they decided to rest and were going to return. I was craving more. So I did want anyone one craving some good saddle time would do, i started climbing to Estes Park. I took the Hwy 36 route. There was considerable traffic and very little shoulder. Next time, i would take Hwy 7 which is a little more protected and rolls through the canyon. As I went higher the long sleeve jersey got unzipped and the gloves came off. I was settling into a good climbing rhythm with pretty good power. The wind finally showed its face and up'd the ante on the entire climb. Bascially, I rode as hard as I could and did my best to hug the inside hoping for some relief. Wasn't much. Climbing with headwinds is pretty damn hard. Riding with any headwind is damn hard for that matter. Just look at those pros at the Tour of California. I think Thursday's stage will probably go down as one of the hardest days on the bike for any of those riders. Brutal headwinds and rain for 135mi. But I digress....

So I'm pushing hard on the climb and making pretty solid time. I really had no idea what to expect which is pretty much what I experience on ever ride now. So much exploration. I soon begin to feel a little colder. When you are climbing you tend to stay warm b/c there is not much airflow and you are burning lots of kcals. Then I saw this little white flake hit me. Sure enough it was snowing. I had visions of the 1986? Giro d'Italia when Andy Hampston killed up a huge climb in blizzard/whiteout conditions. Now it wasn't that bad but it definitely peaked my interest to keep going higher and see how much snow I could face. Up ahead i could see it was coming down pretty good. So I made the "smart" decision to turn around just have mile marker 4 which is also the top of the climb before descending into Estes Park. I also decided it was probably a good idea to zip up and put the gloves on. When I turned around, I was gifted with a nice descent, tailwind and snow. I thought I was pretty cool as I was rolling down at 68-72km/h with snow covering my jersey and just churning the pedals with sweet rhythm. As I got lower, the temps climbed and I got the most enjoyable thing of making some fast turns with gnarly side gusts. You can see the trees and shrubbery up ahead being toyed with by the wind so you can kind of expect a little something. But, I must say its pretty stressful descending with winds that want to throw your bike from under you. You just have have to manhandle the bars and continue to pedal which keeps the bike balanced.

When i got back to Lyons, i rolled out towards Carter Lake. Its a rolling route but today I had 30-40mph side and headwinds. I can't imagine running a deep dish set out here. My ksyrium elites felt like they were going to be blown away. On the way back, I was feeling jumpy and just threw it in the 53 and started hammering. Surprisingly, it worked really well in the sidewinds. I got tucked into super aero mode and just churned the pedals. I think I probably surprised a lot of people but riding tempo with heavy sidewinds was the go-to play for today. Finally, I made it back to Niwot Rd and took a left to ride the tailwind 1.5k back home. It was a solid 4.5hours. Not so much an endurance ride, but it was a solid day in the saddle.

Tomorrow is a no-saddle day. I think it will probably be my first day off the bike in 3 weeks. This week was good training. Rest and recovery are also part of a good training week so I must adhere =)

Now hopefully I can fall asleep soon. I got a good deal on Raisin Bran yesterday and its wrecking the GI =) As I learned in economics, "There is no such thing as a free lunch."

Chow,
Matthew