Less Than Two Weeks

 Winding down to the last weeks and I have put in some great training rides. On Wednesday, Aug 19, I took a day off of work, drove 2 ½ hours to Leadville and met my friend Abe Valdez and rode most of the Leadville Trail 100 MTB course (91 miles) then drove 2 ½ hours back home. It was a truly awesome day. The weather was perfect, and we had an amazingly fun, hard ride. On the way home, blasted a playlist of sing along type songs (mostly Beatles) and pretty much sang at the top of my lungs all the way home. It was an awesome day.

Abe Heading up Sugar Loaf before Power line Descent

Abe - Almost to the top of Columbine

Top of Columbine

Columbine Mine

 

For the weekend with less than two weeks until Utah Mixed Epic, I worked on getting everything dialed in; What to take, what not to take, and how to pack. Set up so I can carry up to 8 liters of water when needed. This will come in handy on the long stretches of desert with no water availability.  It was another great training weekend with a 100+ mile ride Saturday and 100+ KM ride Sunday to get things dialed in. Just a couple more minor adjustments and should be set!

Gettin er Dialed-in!

Hope I'm Ready

One of the things I thought about on these rides is how lucky I am to be able to experience these adventures. One of the things I loved about coaching the Cheyenne Mountain High School Team was seeing the joy those kids experienced riding their bikes out on the trails. There are many kids who may never get to discover that joy and that is what Kids on Bikes is all about. By helping a kid experience the joy and freedom of riding a bike, who knows where that might take him/her. And I did say “helping” not giving. These kids have to earn their bikes and you can learn all about the program at the Kids on Bikes website. If you feel this worth a few dollars, and every dollar helps, then please see my donation page at Larry Bikepacks Utah. Thanks for your support!

 

-larry

An Almost Overnighter 16 Aug 2020

High Drive, Gold Camp, Phantom Canyon, Shelf, Cripple Creek, Victor, Gold Camp: 165 miles, 13,000 ft of climbing, 16 hrs of actual pedal time, total time 18+ Hours. Great Training ride for Utah Mixed Epic. This ride proved the Leadville saying "You can do more than you think you can" to be absolutely true. It was a great ride that threw a little bit of everything at me including a naked guy in the middle of the night. Big long climbs, awesome descents and scenery, extreme heat in Canon City, rain & hail going up Shelf Road through Red Canyon, huge temp drop in Cripple Creek, night riding down Gold Camp. Around 10 PM I was beginning to feel I was hitting my limit. Getting lightheaded, having a hard time concentrating on the trail in the dark. So, I got off the bike and started hunting around for a good place to make camp, when my headlight came upon a guy completely naked hiding behind a tree. He wasn’t more than 6 feet away! Completely naked! He didn't even have shoes on! Last thing on the planet I expected! I actually screamed when my headlight came upon him. Almost dropped my bike! He stepped from behind the tree. I yelled at him "What the F**K". He just said "it's all good man, I'm just hiking". Scared the bejeevies out of me. "You can do more than you think you can". Suddenly I was wide awake and full of energy. 2 1/2 hours later, about 12:30 am I was home. Just shows you, that you may think you're tired and at your limit and in reality, you're not even close. But really, that was just weird!

Aside from that little adventure, I feel 100% recovered from my fractured vertebrae. I am SO grateful it wasn't worse, and that I recovered so quickly and fully. I am getting super excited about the Utah adventure just a few more weeks away. And again, as I've said in every post, I want to raise awareness and support for Kids on Bikes. Like everything else COVID19 has negatively affected their ability to fund their programs. And with the extra precautions they need to take due to the virus, operation costs can only go up. You can support their cause through this adventure by going to Larry Bike Packs through Utah. Every little bit helps. Thanks!

Looking over Cheyenne Canyon from High Drive

Some of the awesome scenery on Gold Camp

One of Several Tunnels Along the way

The end of Gold Camp - Signs shot to pieces

Love these Rides

A long climb (20+ miles?) Up Shelf Rd

Pictures do Shelf Road no Justice

Top of Shelf Rd just before Gold Camp

Colorado Springs from Gold Camp

Utah Mixed Epic Dress Rehearsal

This weekend I was joined by Todd Murray to ride our first Dress Rehearsal in preparation for UME. Todd, is a Colorado Springs Police Detective, and one of the toughest, but nicest guys I know. He is one of two people to finish every Leadville 100 MTB Trail Race since its inception; something like 26 years straight. Additionally, he is a former Leadman champion and course record holder,. Add a handful of Ironman Triathlons, 24 hour races, and well, you get the picture. Todd is the real deal. Todd Is also signed up for UME.

Todd Murray Taking in the View

We had an incredible ride with fully loaded bikes, looking for big climbs at high altitudes. This ride had several purposes; Test our equipment, test our gearing with the additional weight on steep long climbs, figure out what and how to pack, and get a typical UME day in the saddle.

Initial Test Set-up

We chose to ride up through Cheyenne Canyon and tackle one of the steepest and longest climbs on the “Ring the Peak” route. This climb is approximately 3 miles long, an average grade of 8%, with pitches much steeper, and topped out at over 10,400 ft. This was after four hours of mostly climbing just to get to the base. We were able to climb it, but if someone magically gave me an extra gear at the time, I would have whole heartedly accepted.

Todd Toping out at 10,400+ Feet After a long hard climb

Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich Break

After the climb we continued to Victor then descended Phantom Canyon. Phantom Canyon is such an amazing place. The scenery just blows me away every time I ride it. Descending from 10,200 feet to about 5,400 felt like going into an oven, hitting the bottom of the canyon at about 94 degrees. So another benefit of this ride, was getting a small taste of the extreme heat we are going to face in Utah. We returned to Colorado Springs via Hwy 115, a rolling grind that seemed to go forever. In the end we covered 135 miles and over 10,000 feet of climbing.

Getting Over Victor Pass

We learned a lot on the ride. Both of us came away, knowing we need to re-think how and what to pack. Our total time was 13 hours with 11:30 of actual ride time. A good indication of what a typical day at UME will be like. My goal is to ride approximately 15 hours a day. We also got a small taste of what the heat will be like. Very intimidating. That is one of my biggest fears about this adventure. Most of my riding is early morning before work when it is still cool. My next challenge is to get acclimated to the heat.

For Someone that doesn't eat a lot of salt, my jersey was caked

That was exactly what I set out to do the next day, on Sunday. After a family hike, got a later than usual start for what I intended to be a short recovery ride, but in the heat. Surprisingly, I felt pretty good and just kept riding. I left with only two bottles of water, as I was not expecting to go long. 52 miles and 3,000 feet of climbing later, I was feeling the effects of the 90+ degrees and lack of fluid. This strengthens my resolve to acclimate and brings to reality that UME will be anything but a picnic.

My back felt fine. Other than being a little rough getting on and off the bike, it felt strong. I even felt better on Sunday. I have no explanation other than I've been doing core strength work for years and my almost 25+ years vegan diet. Its only been 3 1/2 weeks since I fractured it. 

Finally, we can’t forget Kids on Bikes. I am taking on this race/adventure as a fundraiser for KoB. In these crazy times with COVID19, KoB’s biggest fundraiser, the 24 Hour Indoor Challenge is in Jeopardy. I believe  COVID19 is affecting all of us in more ways than we know. For kids of lower means, probably more so. Wouldn’t it be great in these times, to help these kids experience the freedom and joy of riding a bike. Every little bit helps. If you find it in your heart you can donate at my donation page. Thanks for reading and thanks for all that have donated. 

Almost Full Throttle

Good Morning Colorado Springs

So far my healing and recovery has been nothing short of amazing. In the emergency room, the doctor said 4 - 6 weeks, and based on my age, probably closer to 6 weeks. This morning, exactly 3 weeks from the crash, I did a 4 hour ride with over 5,000 feet of climbing. I did this on the bike I will be riding the Utah Epic with partial packs to add weight while climbing. My back felt relatively good, with some muscle or tendon pain when I stood to pedal. Over the last week, I’ve been picking up the intensity and distance, and feel like I am well on the way to getting my fitness back. If things keep going as they are, I should be fit and ready on race day. One of my biggest concerns was not coming through for Kids on Bikes. I feel really strongly about KoB and what they do for kids. Of course there will be more challenges along the way, the race itself for example, but at least this is one challenge that is almost behind me.

These last few days have been incredibly positive. Saturday, I participated in a Zwift virtual 100 mile ride called the The BMTR Fundo (A). My training log notes from that ride: “Flat, fast, and hard! A total sweat fest. I think I flooded my basement! It seems my back is well on its way to healing. Didn't seem to be an issue today. 29th out of 400+, although not all 400 went the whole 100 miles. Bonked with about 18 miles to go and got dropped by the group I was with. Started cramping and feeling nauseous, which has never happened on an indoor ride. The next group was 20 min behind, so was able to hold them off despite really struggling to get to the finish.” Needless to say, I was super happy with that ride.

Early On - Big Group - About Mid Pack 

My Avatar Long Hair and an S-Works

Last Climb and less than 2 miles to the finish

One Tired Puppy 

Since my back didn't bother me Saturday on an intense indoor ride, thought I’d try outdoors on Sunday. Rode up Rampart, a dirt and rough in places road, but once it started getting rough, I could feel it. Turned around and came down really slow through the rough sections. I'm definitely not ready for that. So hit Santa Fe Trail to Palmer Lake, and aside from being wiped out from Saturday's ride, it went pretty well. 5.5 hours, 65 miles on mostly dirt. I'm super excited that I am recovering faster than expected. 

Rampart with Pikes Peak in the Distance

Quick Pit Stop at Ice Lake

Took Monday off and on Tuesday rode 1.5 hours on the indoor trainer at endurance pace. Felt really good, still a little rough getting on and off the bike, and I even contemplated riding my bike to work. However, in the end decided not to, I’m pretty sure my back is not ready to carry a heavy backpack.

This morning was incredible. As I mentioned at the beginning, rode for 4 hours. It was mostly dirt with a lot of climbing and I felt strong. I returned to the seen of the crime and saw no deer. I have to admit, I was very apprehensive about crashing during this ride. Even a small crash would be extremely painful. I contemplated riding on the trainer vs outdoors, but decided to chance it and glad I did. It was so nice to be back out on such a gorgeous morning.

Halfway up High Drive

Red Rocks Open Space

I’m super excited to be back on track and partnering with Kids on Bikes. I know with COVID19 there is a lot of uncertainty right now, and I’m betting that the families and kids that KoB serves are even more affected by the impact. I and everyone involved appreciates all and any contributions big or small. Thanks for everything.