Official Website of Jeff Kerkove: Accumulating more red blood cells

The day after Marathon Nationals, LW Coaching had me out training for my 'big' race for the year. It was a 10 hour session on the fully loaded Colorado Trail Race bike. When I say fully loaded I am talking about a roughly 31 lb bike and about 16 lbs on my back. The route for the day had it all: sections of the CO Trail, steep and rocky jeep roads, smooth/fast singletrack, sketchy descents, and riding at 12,000 ft.

The Colorado Trail at 8 AM.

Ernesto joined me for 4 of the 10 hours today.

The sweet singletrack did come to an end for a few hours as we reached/crawled/scrambled for the treeline.

Steep and loose....'nuff said. Dismount is imminent.

The steeds.

Climbing. Still.

Rocky mountain goats giving us the stare down as we enter their world at 12,050 ft. There were 5 total when we crested the to the summit of Wise Mountain.

Ernesto and I descended back down the jeep road we climbed up to get to the point of the cabin and goats in the previous photo. Once down, we split ways as Ernesto headed back to Breckenridge to enjoy his vacation with his wife. As for me? I rode up to Kenosha Pass.....dodging stuck jeeps in the process.

After Kenosha Pass was some above-treeline-surfing making my way north and east towards the Montezuma area.

The road in the above photo eventually dropped back into the trees....and became a rocky hell! None of those rocks are stuck in the ground and move due to jeep traffic....and me walking.