Tuesday...4 days to go

So I have to start with talking about the weather out here.  Talk about extreme's!  We have had low 40's, low 80's, intense thunder storms, and relaxing upper 60's!  All in just two days so far!  Just crazy!

So the thunder storms rolled in late yesterday and the rain continued through the night, leaving everything rather wet when we woke up this morning...and the excitement starts here.  My plan was to get 60-70 miles in today at a easy to medium pace (if there is such a thing when nothing is flat).  Leaving our condo, at just shy of 2 miles I hit the long 3.4 mile climb (about 8,700 feet up to about 10,000) before getting a little relief and then continuing on over the Vail Pass and onward to Copper Mountain and further down to Officer's Gulch.  Now back to the excitement...just after the hard climb, I hit the bike path and wind around some downhill (the relief part of the ride) and as I am in a corner, I see the wood-bridge and all I can think is "Oh Crud"!  Yup, remember my comment about all the rain and the "wet"..."wet" on a wood bridge translates to "slimy slippery"!  It happened so quick, I was picking myself up and checking my bike within a few seconds.  Bike checked out fine, slight rash on the lower-left leg, and my elbow and shoulder were telling me "ouch" but that went away within a few minutes.  So, I hop back on the bike and am still planning for 60-70 miles.  Then I couldn't figure out what was going on with my right foot which seemed to be sliding in and out of my shoe...ha, snapped the buckle right off my shoe.  So, I rode into Copper Mountain and stopped a few times to ask folks if they had any tape...JEEPERS, why don't more people carry duct tape with them?  Ha-Ha! I did finally get some relief as one of the local tour company guides I asked was able to produce some sort of tape...it worked! 

Back to the ride...so I decide to head back to Vail...umm, that is a climb back up through Vail Pass, with taped up shoe!  Make things even more fun, I linked up with a group of roadies and well, if you know me by now, I can not resist keeping pace and once it was set, it seemed like the theme was "push until the mountain bike guy blows up".  Surprise!  I stayed with them all the way to Vail.  We even hit 47+ mph on the curving downhill!  Wow, what a rush!  The reward?  Well, I only ended up with 43 miles but man, it was a good hurt.

So, after some shopping that ended in Avon, CO, I am now sporting a new pair of cycling shoes.  Now some serious riding over the next couple days to get used to them and make sure the cleats are properly adjusted!  They won't look much like a new pair of shoes after this Saturday! 

I'm checking out for the night.  Check back with me tomorrow for another post.  Plan for Wednesday is 30-40 miles followed by some fun downhill riding on the Vail ski slopes!  Maybe someone will capture some pictures to post tomorrow!  Until then...

Saddle Up, Dig Deep, and Ride Hard!

TNT OUT-