My bike at Twin Lakes; Mount Elbert looms in the background.
We started out with clear and still blue skies, and we ended up with heavy, threatening overcast blown in by a 25 mph headwind. Ugh.
I did 81 miles. 19 short of goal, but still the most I�ve ever done in one day. I didn't bonk, and I wasn't last!!!
Technically, I did do a century� Just not a real-miles century. I hadn�t bothered to acknowledge the �M� in the BVMC, content to shoot for a Buena Vista Century. A metric century is 62 miles. Got it!
The Turquoise Lake Loop, which I had looked forward to with great anticipation, was closed due to up to six feet of snowpack in some areas. I guess they thought asking us to strap snowshoes or skis onto the back of our Camelbaks was a bit much. When I saw the alternate loop on the internet, a second loop of the Mineral Belt in Leadville, with instructions to watch signage carefully because it would cross Highway 24 several times with multiple stop signs, I decided to heck with that. I can do city streets and trails any day of the week. I want mountains.
I decided before I even arrived in Buena Vista that I would ride up Independence Pass as far as I could to make up the mileage I wouldn�t obtain on the Mineral Belt. Kinda funny: I initially wanted to do Ride the Rockies so I could ride Trail Ridge Road. I didn�t get drawn. Then I wanted to do Ride the Rockies so I could ride Independence Pass. I didn�t get drawn. With all my photo excursions up Mount Evans, I longed for a shot at that one, but it was never included on a Ride the Rockies tour.
Now I�ve done Mount Evans twice to train for Ride the Rockies, and I�ve done Independence Pass as far as I could to train for Ride the Rockies!
Trail Ridge Road, look out, here I come!!!
(Although not likely real soon; the Park Service reported 21-foot drifts last week. IF the road opens by Memorial Day, I�m not carrying snowshoes on my bike!)
Anyway, when I registered for the BVMC, the packet included a second extra-mileage option: Independence Pass. Lots of riders chose that alternative, so I was not alone.
Because I am rather slow, I was worried that I would be the �last train to Leadville.� I had visions of arriving there only to find the aid stations closed. Fortunately, a couple of riders passed me while I was making my way to Leadville, so I kept my fingers crossed that maybe there were more who just didn�t pass me.
The highway from Buena Vista to the Highway 82 junction is a lot of climbing and a couple of short descents. Independence Pass was lots of climbing and lots of descents, both ways. I had never noticed the dips in the grade each autumn as I drove it. Mount Evans was MUCH harder, much more intense on a bike. And much colder!
Twin Lakes still look rather dry, but the mountainous skyline made up for that with lots of snow that undoubtedly will make rafting a real blast this year. From Twin Lakes, I could see the South Elbert Trail I climbed two years ago. The trail was whiter than the rest of the mountain -- fresh snowshoe tracks?
Once again, hummingbirds were zooming all over the place, and one even zoomed into my Colorado jersey, I presume mistaking it for a flower. Do you know how much a golf ball-size bird in the chest hurts at 28 mph???
After a day of hiking on Mount Elbert, I would be within 15 minutes of food and real bathrooms in Leadville once I hit the 82/24 junction. On a bike, it sure takes a lot longer.
A good stretch of the road is level. I made very good time. I made the 17 miles, equivalent to a one-way daily work commute, in just under an hour, meaning I averaged 17 mph. The return trip was quite a different story. They sky slowly turned dark. The wind picked up. Then it picked up some more. Then it seemed to be slamming us riders!
Climbing the final hill before the 82/24 junction, I saw a sign proclaiming half a mile to the rest stop. I planned to swallow a couple of aspirin there to combat the stress the wind was putting on my knees. As I began the downhill cruise, never reaching higher than 9 mph because the wind was hitting me so hard, I saw an empty pullout on the west side of the road, where I thought the rest stop had been. My heart sunk immediately. I was tired, I wanted a break, I wanted oranges and bananas, and I wanted a place to sit for a few minutes after fishing my pain relievers out of my pack. I could have cried.
Around the next bend, there was the rest station, same place it had been on the first leg of the trip. The lines were not as long this time around, and they were all out of bananas, but they were there! I hadn�t missed the boat!
My first visit at that rest stop featured a line for the two portable restrooms more than 30 riders deep. I knew there was a nicer restroom near Twin Lakes, so I told some girls who were heading up Independence Pass same time as me that I was riding up the pass so I didn�t have to stand in line for the restroom. And I didn�t have to! They liked my idea so much, they followed suit.
The second visit to that rest stop, there were empty lawn chairs, there was no line for water (so I swallowed my pills tout suite), and there was room in the bike racks for my bike. I parked it and took a seat on a lawn chair. About three minutes later, the chair next to me blew over. Then the one on the other side of me blew over. Then my bike blew out of the rack! Other riders were shocked. Everyone was muttering, �Oh, man, headwind.�
The final 18 miles seemed to take way too long, but my knees weren�t bothering me too much. A couple of times I was able to take advantage of steep downhills, but most of the time, I was fighting the wind.
Throughout the day, as people passed me, they would comment on my mountain bike. (Typical roadies think I'm nuts for taking a mountain bike on a highway.) I counted six other mountain bikes, but none with knobby tires like mine. After today�s ride, I have a very good argument for switching out my tires for smooth tread, if not all out buying a road bike.
The funniest thing all day was hearing a stereo blasting behind me as I was slowly climbing a hill about midway between Buena Vista and the junction. I kept wondering how someone had successfully strapped their boom box to their bike, and how they could be gaining on me while carrying that kind of weight.
As the guy finally passed, everyone around me began to laugh. This guy had rigged a Bose stereo system onto a trailer and was hauling it behind his bike. You gotta love music to do something that extreme! At the time, I slowed down so the Bose on Wheels could get out of earshot because I�m not a big country fan.
The next time he passed me, though, Fleetwood Mac had me singing along, and then pedaling to keep up with him after he passed because I wanted to hear the end of the song. Have you ever danced on a bike?
Good thing he wasn�t playing Queen. I�d have been headbanging for sure!
�Who are you? Who? Who?� was blaring the third time Moving Melodies passed me, and for a brief instant, I was glad the wind was carrying the soundwaves away from me. I slowed down again and let him get far enough ahead that I could hear only the wind.
As I pulled into the campground where I�d left my car, I checked my mileage, planning to ride up Cottonwood Pass as far as I needed to in order to hit 100 if I was over 85 miles. The odometer read 80.8. So I spun around the gravel lot until I broke even. Or odd. Call it what you will. I put away my bike, and then chatted with a few other riders about Moab, 14ers, ACLs, physical therapy and hot topic Aron Ralston until someone noticed I had grease on my arm.
I told them my knees got tired, so I had to push my pedals with my elbows.
You knew I thrive on elbow grease, but you never realized how seriously I take it, did you? :)
