Ring the Peak Bike

There is a trail system (although not totally complete) that rings Pikes Peak. The official route, which include roads is approximately 75 miles. Other routes that include existing trails through private property covers about 62 miles give or take. This weekend a group of hearty mountain bikers namely my good friend Kevin Cahn, Paul DeWitt of Ultra running fame and no relation to me, Carol Gerber – ultra runner and ultra-biker, Steve Bremner the mountain man of mountain men, and myself set out to “ring the peak” on mountain bikes. We took the official route.  Although all of us were at pretty much the same fitness level, there was a pretty big span in skill level, however, we still had a great ride and experience. Where sections were too technical there were alternate routes that the less skilled riders could ride. I highly recommend the ride to anyone who wants a great challenge and stunning scenery. The trails range from dirt roads, to fast smooth single track, technical descents, and hike a bike climbs. A bit of everything a trail can throw at you. When all was said and done we finished in approximately 10 hours, 75 miles and thousands of feet of climbing. My Garmin battery died after 7.5 hours which was at > 10,200 feet of climbing. It was definitely an epic ride, one which I don’t think any of us will soon forget.

Carol on Sweet Single Track!

Passng by Catamount Reservoir

Steve in the Meadow

Paul & Carol lovin it!

So on Sunday the day after Ring the Peak I started on a run with Max to complete my weekend “Leadman Sandwich”. I thought it was going to be a short run but I felt so good that I didn’t finish until a little over 20 miles later! I even added an extra hill up Flying W at the end. After all one of the keys to Leadman training is to get the back to back long ride & run sandwiched between two rest days. These kind of weekends are very good for confidence building which is a big part of completing something like Leadman.

	Training Log 21 - 27 May 2012	Bike	Bike	Run	Run
		HRS	Miles	HRS	Miles
Monday
Tuesday	Run with Max in Ute Park. Took it easy, legs feeling pretty tired from last weeks Gentlemens Ride.  10:35 pace, 1,212 ft of climbing. 10:35 pace			1.3	7.5
	ProCycling shop ride. Felt surprisingly good this evening. Went with second group and was between 3rd and 5th on each climb. Gold Camp, Cheyenne Canyon, and Orion. HR 124/162, 4,068 ft climbing.	2.3	28
Wednesday	Easy run with Max, Hank's Loop. 9:55 pace.			0.5	3.2
Thursday	Easy run with Max and Primus to Ice Lake Parking lot and back. Had to make a lot of stops with Primus peeing and pooping ans sniffing along the way. Felt really good. Best I've felt on a run since back from the bike trip.			1.4	8
	Ride home from work. Now have Garmin on Autostop so only ride time is measure. Avg speed 11 MPH HR 96/132. Started to do tempo ride on Santa Fe Trail but legs were trashed, so just did easy recovery ride back home. Need to save it for Sat.	1	11.4
Friday	Easy ride to work on Road Bike. Went up new section of bike path instead of CostCo. Felt good.	0.6	8
Saturday	Ring the Peak Ride. Great Ride, but a lot of waiting. Felt good pretty much the whole ride, but was ready to be done. Ride was with Steve Bremner, Paul DeWitt, Kevin Cahn, and Carol Gerber. Great group to ride with. Took Gold Camp back as it was not a good idea for Carol to ride Frosty's/Jones/Bear Creek trails since here technical skills were questionable. Still a great ride and great workout.	10.5	75
Sunday	Easy run that turned out to be longer than planned because I felt good and I know I have to do these LeadMan sandwiches to get effective training in. Ran with Max to Ice Lake and back then dropped him off since it was hot, then ran in Ute Park for a couple of hours. Added the Flying W hill for an extra climb.			3.6	20.5
		14.4	122.4	6.8	39.2
				21.2	161.6

Four Days of Bliss

I’ve been very lax on my blog over the last few months so I got a lot of catching up to do. Many times I’ve thought about giving it up (the blog) all together, but every now and then someone will ask me about it. So in an effort to document my Leadman training for 2012 and hopefully help someone else if they ever have aspirations to take on such a task, I’ve decided to keep it going. I have to go back a few weeks to a four day road ride with a bunch of old and now new friends called the Gentlemen’s ride. It’s a ride that  been going on for years and consists of good hard rides through Colorado  and New Mexico. Way fun and a great bunch of guys. And don’t let the “Gentlemen’s” part fool you. There  are some fast guys in this grop.  We divided up into different groups based on speed then left each day at staggered times with the intent of finishing fairly close to the same time. The route and scenery were beautiful along with perfect weather. This was a perfect four days for getting some good hard miles in the legs and turning things around training wise. I went with the intent of running in the afternoons after the rides but only managed to do it once and that was a pretty miserable run.

Day 1: San Luis, CO (the oldest town in CO) to Chama, NM            89 miles                4000 Ft climbing

Day 2: Chama, NM to Taos, NM                                                           92 miles                4500 Ft climbing
Day 3: Enchanted Loop (Awesome ride and scenery)                      86 miles                7696 Ft climbing
Day4: Taos, NM to  San Luis, CO                                                          63 miles                1700 Ft climbing

Heading up the first climb of 4 days all together

Rio Grande Gorge

Three REALLY fast old guys!

Chad & Norm Climbing on Enchanted Loop

Awesome Scenery, Awesome Low Traffic Roads!

	Training Log May 14 - 20, 2012	Bike	Bike	Run	Run
		HRS	Miles	HRS	Miles
Monday	Core Strength Training.
Tuesday	Lunch time Tempo ride on Santa Fe Traill with Steve. From Ice Lake parking lot. Kept HR in the 140 range and felt pretty good. Went To Baptist Rd. HR120/151	1.6	22
Wednesday	Easy run with Max Hanks Open Space loop. Very easy felt good. 9:50 pace,			0.7	4
Thursday	Gentlemen's ride - San Luis, CO to Chama, NM. Took some warming up and was not as strong as I would have liked on the climbs. Great ride though. HR 129/162, 4605 ft of climbing	5.4	88
	Slow run after ride. Very slow and took a while to warm up, but never felt like actually running. Ran through neighborhoods in  Chama. 8:55 pace			0.9	6
Friday	Great ride from Chama to Taos New Mexico. Climbed well and had an incredble ride into Taos with a great tail wind. Had a cross wind for about 10 miles were we took 1 mile pulls and got through it great. Cover 92 miles in about 5 hours of actual ride time. Avg over 20 mph for ride. Max speed 53 miles.HR 125/157, 6000 ft of climbing.	5.4	92.5
Saturday	Enchanted Loop New Mexico. Incredible ride. Started climb with Dan and the fast group, but got dropped on the climbs. Spent a lot of the time to Red River riding alone between the 1st group and the 2nd group. At Red River decided to ride with the B group. Great climb over Bobcat pass to Eagles Nest. 11 miles of brutal cross & head winds between Eagles Nest and Angel Fire. 2 mile climb out of Angel Fire then 17 mile awesome descent. Max Speed 59 mph, HR 118/152, 7696 ft of climbing	6.2	86
Sunday	Taos, NM - San Luis, CO. Started the first 20+ miles on tough rollers then pacelined the whole way back to San Luis. I took some monster pulls of 4 miles. The  pace was fast and sometimes had me thinking of dropping off, but hung the whole way and had an incredible ride. HR 131/159, 3,230  ft climbing	3.3	62.3
		21.9	350.8	1.6	10
				23.5	360.8

Three Months to the Big Show

A couple weeks ago I was riding home from a long day on the mountain bike. Started out with one group until they went home, rode alone for a while then joined another group until they were ready to quit. As I was heading home a strong head wind picked up and it started to rain pretty hard. It was windy, cold, wet, with two big hills to climb before I got home, and with 6+ hours in the saddle, I was tired. It was then I realized I had a big grin from ear to ear and was thinking how much I love this stuff. I hadn’t been in this special place for a while and it was good to be back!  Don’t ask me to explain it because I can’t.

Nothing beats riding in Colorado!

The last couple weeks have been incredible. Great runs in the mountains with the mountain man of mountain men, Steve Bremner, incredible mountain bike rides with Kevin Cahn, and Tuesday night hammer fests with ProCyling. Everything is coming together.  I’ve spent the last year building a base and getting back to the point that I love long hard rides and runs again. With less than 90 days until the big show its time to get into the meat and potatoes of Leadman training. (Make that beans and potatoes since I’m a vegetarian).

Steve Bremner - Mountain Man

Running one of my favorite trails (photo by Steve Bremner)

So the plan now is to limit the super long stuff to the weekends with what I’m gonna call the LeadMan Sandwich. Friday and Monday are rest days and Saturday and Sunday consist of back to back hard days. A long hard hilly bike ride on Sat and a long hard hilly run on Sun.  I guess you could say that Friday and Monday are the bread and Saturday and Sunday are the the tomatoes, pickles, Guacamole, and a bean or vegie burger.  

Tuesday and Thursdays are shorter runs and rides but more intense, with Wed a semi rest day. This is the general plan over the next two months with the intensity picking up in the final month before the big show.

My Trusty Steed takes a break

Leadville’s gonna a be a party!

Collegiate Peaks 50 Mile Run

Sometimes things just don’t turn out the way you plan. My plan this week was to simulate the last week of LeadMan by racing a hard, long mountain bike race on Saturday, get a good tempo run on Sunday, then run the Collegiate  Peaks 50 miler on Saturday. I deviated from that plan a bit by continuing to train hard during the week, knowing that I would be tired on Saturday.
So on Friday, I started getting a sore throat at work that progressively got worse.  Saturday morning had worsened and spread to my chest. I was also congested and feeling a bit achy. If I had any sense I would have decided not to try and run 50 miles under these conditions. But sometimes I don’t have any sense.

And We're Off

At about three miles I knew that this was not going to be a good day and started debating with myself to quit. I don’t know why I didn't quit, ego, stupidity, the need to never quit? Probably a mix of all three, and I kept going. I run and ride because I love it. I was not feeling the love today, and continuing completely defeated the purpose of  why I run. I couldn’t come up with a single positive thought and began wondering why I run in the first place. I remember thinking I hate running and am so sick of suffering, why do I keep pushing, but I did.

Lots of Climbing

Pausing at an Aid Station for a Picture

The course is two 25 mile loops. Once you finish the first loop, you turn around and run the same loop in reverse. At the end of the first 25 mile loop you have the option of quitting and then scored in the 25 mile race instead. At about 17 miles I decided I would drop at 25. The last 7 miles was downhill and I was walking parts of it coughing up flem etc. At 25 I dropped. I’m trying to think of a race that I ever quit before and am coming up short.  So naturally I was disappointed, but I am more disappointed with myself for not having the sense to realize I shouldn’t have been running in the first place.  My reward for being so stubborn has been two days in bed with a fever, achy joints, very scratchy throat and chest, chills, coughing and a day of missed work.  You'd think after all these years and at my age I’d know better.

Finally the Finish Line

On the ligher side, my original intention was to drive out to Buena Vista, find a place in the  woods, camp, run the race, and come home. Roswitha decided she wanted to come but didn't want  to camp since it  was supposed to get down in the 20s.  So I compromised and rented a “rustic” cabin outside of town.

The cabin was a little "too" Rustic for Roswitha's taste

But it had a great view!

Voodoo Fire Race Report

Voodoo Fire: My first mountain bike race since 2010. I’ve been racing so long that I rarely get nervous before a race, but I was certainly nervous for this one.  Would I be able to keep up? Would I get dropped right off the bat? How are my technical skills? Will I be able to ride at high intensity for 5+ hours? The only way I would know is to go out there and do it, so that’s what I did.

Voodoo Fire was held in Pueblo, CO with approximately 600 racers. The start was like a typical mountain bike race –  in waves, starting with the Pros then 2 minute intervals between age groups/categories. When they called us old guys (50+) to the line, the race announcer made a comment about us taking a nap during the race. Ouch!

With the intention of separating the field before the single track, the start begins with slightly uphill road for about a mile before turning onto  the actual race course that was easily 95% + single track. I was feeling absolutely great and so happy to be there. I hovered near the front never more than one or two bikes back. We were already catching back of the pack racers from younger age groups before we hit the single track. I was able to make the top 5 of our group when we hit the single track, feeling good and relaxed, which was pleasently surprising. The Single track turned into a very long train for at least half of the first lap. We were caught up behind the slower riders of the younger categories and in many places it was either very hard to pass or just not possible. It seemed there were some people getting stressed out about it and some using an incredible amount of effort just to move up one or two riders in the train. Even in areas where passing was possible the ground was soft and it took a big effort. I decided to relax enjoy the fact that I could save my energy for later in the race when things get ugly. When ever we hit a double track section we would pass as many people as possible then settle back into the train on the next section of single track.

After an hour or so things started thinning out as we weeded our way through the slower riders and I was going back and forth between third and fourth place. I believe I finished the first lap (22 miles) in 4^th. At this point it was hard to tell because we lost ourselves in the crowd of all the other age group riders. Going into the second lap I came upon my good friend Kelly McGrew and passed him in a climbing section. He said he wasn’t having a very good day and as I passed him I believe I moved into third. The second lap was much more open and we could actually open it up. I noticed my bike wasn’t handling well and thought I had a flat back tire. Stopped, checked it, tire was fine. Continued, but as time went on the handling was getting worse. I felt like I was pulling a trailer going around turns. Maybe my wheel was on weird? Stopped took off my wheel and reseated it. During this time I lost a couple places but I don’t know how many. Continued on, caught and passed at least one old guy, but things were getting worse.  There was definitely something wrong with the bike! Stopped again, thought the wheel was loose. Shook it back and forth and my whole rear triangle shook with it. I could move it left and right like a door! The bottom bolt holding the rear triangle to the front had come almost all the way out! Five minutes later it would have been gone. It took a while to get it back together, as it was tough lining up the holes with the pressure of the rear suspension. In the mean time racers continued to pass by.

Once fixed, I jumped on my bike and started riding hard. I wasn’t stressed though. Again, I was just happy to be there. Finished the second lap, grabbed a new camelback, food and was off.  It wasn’t long before I came up on a guy in my age group. After I passed him and he realized we were in the same category (Our ages and category are written in magic marker on our calves) he decided to make a race of it. So we spent the next hour or so hammering each other. I was pushing hard trying to lose him and at the same time wondering if I was going to destroy myself instead. It was getting very hot and he just stuck to my wheel. Finally, I put in a huge effort to pass two racers and he didn’t go. There was a section of three switchbacks and I looked back and saw I had about 100 yards on the two guys I passed and he was still behind them. He looked shot. So I kept the pressure on and rode strong for the rest of the lap. Toward the end I was on the verge of cramping, but I just focused on pedaling strong but relaxed, especially up the steep climbs in the last three miles.

In the end I ended up 5^th in the old guy category in 5 hours 44 min. My questions were answered and I am especially pleased that I had such a strong last lap. I have to say it feels so good racing mountain bikes again! It’s been a long slow journey over the last year but I think I’m back. Now we’ll see how the running side of things are going when I do the CollegiatePeaks 50 Mile run next week!

Check out this trailer to what looks to be a great documentary! - 1Hundred