First off, I have put up a bunch of photos on picasaweb.google.com/epicmultisport. It has some photos from last week in Boulder, this week's ride to Boulder and some fun photos I found.
So, let's get right to it. Normally Saturday is my big ride day. That was put off until Sunday due to my having to work at Bicycle Village on Saturday. We had an awesome Tri Expo featuring Joanna Zeiger and Michellie Jones both talking about racing and training. Michellie was there all day and lead an easy morning run. She's cool and VERY fast. So my Saturday was more laid back than normal, but I did get in 3:15 on the bike before heading to work. I thought it would on the CT since it would be chilly at 7 AM, but it was pretty warm so I went outside. Boy was I glad I did. I rode into Castle Rock. There is a small cafe there, the B&B cafe that I love. It's an old restaurant that has been family owned for something like 70 years. The inside is cool and has a great nostalgic feel. The place was packed with the Saturday breakfast crowd. The best part is that every time I have stopped there for coffee, it's always on the house! Back on the bike I really had a great rhythm, the weather was great and I felt super strong. I kept it under control though, the big stuff was for Sunday. After work I got in an easy 1500 yds. working on my form and just moving through the water efficiently.
Sunday morning came and I was excited. I was going to do a route that I had wanted to do all last year. Plus, it would take me up Golden Gate Canyon, a climb I hadn't done in years. The plan was for me to leave around 8 and meet Courtney and Amy, a good friend of ours who was in town, in Boulder so I could change and do a short brick run. I figured the ride would be about 6 1/2 hours total putting me in Boulder at 3 PM. I left on time with my pockets stuffed with food. I was tired of bars and gels, so I had some organic toaster pastries, Fig Newmans (thanks Paul!), a PB&J and some cookies plus 4 gels and 2 whole grain bars. I was wearing my D3 kit, which is all red, white and blue. I call it my Captn. America kit. Getting to Golden Gate Canyon was pretty straight forward and boring. I had to ride on the C470 trail for about an hour total. I hate riding on paved bike trails, it just bores me. After 2 hours I was finally at the climb. I settled into a rhythm and knew I was in for a long slog up. While I hadn't ridden the climb, I had driven it on my way to Eldora Ski Mountain for some XC skiing, so I was familiar with it. It climbs steadily, but there are 2 steep descents that you then climb back up the feet you lost. The end is deceptive and goes on much longer than you think it will. Mentally I was prepped and the legs were great. I put my Power Tap on AVE Watts to keep it steady. The computer was reading 238 and not moving much, which meant I was keeping the watts even and not spiking and slipping, just what I wanted. I lost a few watts on the descents, but after 1:30 and just over 4000 ft of vertical gain later I popped out on the Peak to Peak Highway. This highway rolls East/West at 7500-9000 ft. in altitude. It's great for getting that aerobic engine built up. After putting my cap, gloves and vest back on I headed North for Rollinsville, Nederland and Ward. It started to snow a bit, not bad, just the occasional flake here and there. It made the ride more interesting to think that here I was in April, riding my bike and getting snowed on. The legs were still feeling great and I was motoring on. I kept my RPM's high and tried to keep the momentum going over the rollers and hills. I made it to Nederland and stopped to eat my PB&J and some cookies. It was 4 hours into the ride, the legs were good, my mind was on straight so I was ready for more. After some quick calculations I knew I was right on schedule. I tried to call Court to let her know all was well, but I had no signal. I pressed on to Ward knowing that once I hit Ward it was all downhill to Boulder. I decided to push this section as it would be my last chance to really do so, and I only had about 10 miles to go. I could see my AVE Watts coming up slowly which kept me motivated. The last time I had been on these roads I suffered like a dog and now here I was killing it. Coming into Ward I stopped quickly to put on vest and gloves again and made the 17 mile descent to Boulder. When I hit the bottom I finally had a signal and called Court. She was going to meet me at Dakota Ridge. She was shocked that I was right on time, normally she has to wait 20 minutes to 2 hours for me (sorry!). From the bottom of LHC to Dakota Ridge it's a series of rollers and I tried my best to keep the watts at 225 and up. I accomplished that and finished the ride at 6 hours total, 102 miles, 9200 ft of climbing and 195 AVE Watts. Not bad. Quickly I threw on my running gear and headed out to Wonderland Lake for a few loops. My legs were great and I was able to settle into a sub 7 pace with ease. After 30 minutes and 4.3 miles later I was done.
Court, Amy and I headed to Pearl St. met up with Amy's friend Rick and had dinner at the Gondolier. I had the seafood lasagna which was excellent. Amy drove us back home where I proceeded to eat a bowl of cereal then go upstairs and pass out.
Monday morning came quick as my alarm went of at 4 40. Downstairs for a small breakfast, coffee and off to swimming. Monday is a distance day so I was ready. My body felt good, no aches at all. The water was the perfect temperature as well. I banged out 5250 yds. feeling strong. My swim has really come along since I moved up to the faster lane.
I drove home, said goodbye to Amy and made 5 waffles w/ jelly, honey and brown rice syrup plus some bananas, blueberries and strawberries on top, YUM.
After some emailing I headed up to Rampart Range Road. It's where I climbed up the other day on my bike. The road is the main way to get to all the motorcycles trails, but due to all the snow, the road is closed to vehicles for fear of too much erosion. However, it is solid enough for mtn. bikes and runners. At 8000 ft altitude in Pike National Forest and no one else around it seemed like the perfect place for a 20 miler. I decided to do 2 out and back loops so I could refuel at my car. I had run up there once before and remembered it was a fair bit of climbing for many miles, then all back downhill. My memory was correct, the first 5 miles out had 1165 ft of climbing alone. Then it was rolling down hill back to the car, but still with 600 ft of climbing as well! In 20 miles I climbed 3525 ft! My ave. HR was 120 and my pace was 7:42. Overall it was a great run that challenged me physically and mentally. After getting home and getting some food in me, I did 20 minutes of core work, took a hot shower and headed to my 90 minute massage. My therapist, Merlin, is great and I feel fine now.
Tomorrow is light, then it's back at it on Wednesday. Wildflower is coming up and I am going to be ready for all those hills!
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