• Pushing to the Parks.

    Ride to RMNP
    Today was slow going. At least slower than previous times I have ridden up to Estes Park. Coach had me put down another 6 hour training block today. My plan was to get as far up into Rocky Mountain National Park as I could it that allowed time frame. I slept good last night after yesterdays 6 hour session in the dirt. I woke up at 7 AM and was on the bike by 8:30. I wanted to beat what traffic I could heading up Hwy 34. Geez, look at the crazy 3 day weekend traffic!


    Ride to RMNPMy timing was pretty good. Traffic was very low on the ride up. As for the pace....it was sloooooow going....or at least it felt slow. Legs only had one thing on their mind: low pressure on the pedals and high rpm. So, I found that sweet spot which the SRM showed to be about 200-220 watts and 90-110 rpm. This translated to about 15-20 mph up the road to Estes Park. When I got into Estes Park, I stopped took down 4 Endurolytes, and refilled bottles with a 50-50 mixture of water and Coke, and then proceeded further west towards the entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park.


    Ride to RMNP
    Right out of town, the road kicks up again. I looked at my total ride time to this point, and I was already sitting at 3 hours since I left the house in Fort Collins. Doh!


    Ride to RMNPAnother 15 minutes later, I reached the entrance to the RMNP. Looking at my ride time in relationship to the 20 miles and 4,000 ft of elevation yet to climb to my turn around point....I decided to turn around. This route with fresh legs would take close to 8 hours round trip. My legs were not fresh....you do the math.


    Ride to RMNP
    The ride down could have been better. It was a head wind the whole way back to the house. A total kick in the teeth after pushing up to the Parks. By the time I got back to the house...after a stop in Masonville to fill bottles....I accumulated just under 6 hours of pedaling time and about 100 miles. Damn, riding vertical totally kills the speed/distance relationship.

    Four days down. 16 hard hours of saddle time. One more 6 hour day to fulfill the training binge. Dirt...maybe mud...is on the menu again.