Sunday, 8:05am
52 miles
To my surprise, I woke up feeling rested and excited to ride. According to the course map today should be a relatively flat ride from Copper Mountain back to my car in Leadville. Feeling confident from yesterday's ride, I decided to add an extra ten miles and start from our rental in Frisco.
At 8:00 am the sun was shining through a brilliant blue Colorado sky. I would be riding solo the first ten miles hopefully catching Craig and Sarah. There is a very good possibility I will not catch them and have to ride alone. My ipod shuffle blared out an awesome guitar solo from Pearl Jam's first album. Due to safety concerns I rode the first two days without music but decided to treat myself on the last day.
Riding through Frisco, I searched for signs of the bike path to Copper Mountain but it was nowhere to be found. Already 8:20 and I was still in Frisco. "This is not good", I thought. In desperation I flagged down an elderly couple taking their morning walk. The old man told me to follow him to his condo building where there is a path to the bike trail.
Set between two buildings was a single track dirt path through a small grass field that seemingly intersected the paved trail to Copper. Clad head to tail in spandex, I cautiously pedaled the bike down the rocky trail more suited to a mountain bike then a performance road bike. The old man's dubious path paid off as I reached the pavement in less then a half mile with my tires fully inflated. The next ten miles were a joy. Riding in crisp morning air was a nice change from the usual dry baking sun of a Denver summer. The occasional walker or biker would pass by but for the most part I rode completely alone. The path followed a creek and while shear rock walls surrounded me on both sides.
The last day on the bike was similar to the first two. Agonizing climbs followed by dizzying dissents that propelled me to a high speed of 45 mph. Somehow my legs found a way to turn over the pedals. It was almost as of they were detached from my body and just instinctively making the bike move forward. At the first rest stop, I caught up with Craig and Sarah. We yo-yo'd back and forth regrouping at each rest stop.
In hindsight, the elevation map was correct, our interpretation of it was not. Certainly the second hardest day in the saddle but the sweetest because there was the final finish line at the end.
Three days, 162 miles, and buckets of sweat. It is too early to comment to Courage Classic 2009. For now I am excited that I got into awesome shape this summer and we raised almost $500 for Children's Hospital! For those who donated, thank you. For those who didn't, donations are open until the end of August.
