Adventures in Endurance: An Almost Overnighter 16 Aug 2020

Thursday, August 27, 2020

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!