Oval Ride: Redemption

Finally! I had a good ride for today's Oval Ride throw down. This ride always pushes my limits....always. It very well might be one of the hardest things I do on a bike. One minute it is a civilized tempo. The next minutes everyone is sitting on the nose of their saddles wonder how much longer they can push hard on the pedals before the black out and roll off the road.


Today's group of crazies....waiting....watching....planning their attacks. I mention in the video that the fastest of the fast guys aren't even here today. Just goes to show the talent depth in this town.

Funniest thing for me today on the entire ride is I about got dropped out the back at about mile 15 of the 90 mile ride. The pace picked up and for some reason the legs didn't respond. I am thankful for the right hand turn to Severance that slowed the pack down a bit. After that, the legs were snappy and powerful for the remainder of the days effort.


After a quick hammer over the 'walls' near Windsor, we rolled South of Hwy 34 towards Berthoud.

When we turned west to head to Berthoud, that is when the pack pretty much separated into 2 larger groups. The straight and narrow roll into town had folks gritting their teeth....me included.


Rolling out of Berthoud left one last chance to sit up....get some food in the system....and prepare mentally for the kick in the nuts that riding over Carter Lake is.

Only about 1/2 the group decided to do the Carter Lake option. The pace was a hard tempo to the switchback...the all hell broke loose. Our group of like 12 riders was not little groups of 4's, 2's, and 1's. I found myself alone up the climb. I maintained a reasonable pace and was able to catch 2 other guys. The last guy I caught was wearing a Hot Tubes jersey....and we kind'a worked together to bridge back up to the leaders just before Eden Valley.

After Eden Valley, the group did their thing until the climb up to Horsetooth Mountain Park. Here is where I found myself alone....as did many other riders. It was this way all the way back into town. Not sure how many folks were in front of me at the end.....maybe 6 or so.

Today's fuel intake consisted of the following:
- Three 24oz bottles of Cytomax
- 1 Clif Bar
- Couple shots of Hammer Gel

Oh well, I can't complain one bit today. My legs felt good....and I used them to their fullest capacity....for January. One more tempo on tap for Sunday, then a few days of recovery before heading to SW Utah for 3 days of big mnt bike miles.