I hoped onto I 70 West towards Edwards, Co. This was where I would be staying for a few days until we headed into Leadville on Thursday afternoon. Coming from weeks of brutally high temperatures, the weather was the first thing I noticed. I typically hate those people who take a picture of their interior car thermometers, (Yeah, I get it....It's hot. Do you think your car is the only one?) but I couldn't resist. I mainly wanted to do it because I'm an ass and I wanted my friends back home to see what I was enjoying.
The drive from Denver to Edwards was a beautiful one. It was really nice to look at mountains and streams rather than overgrown and weeded medians and neon green T-Dot trucks placing orange tow stickers on broken down or abandoned vehicles. One a side note, have you ever seen anyone trying to remove those orange tow stickers?? What a pain in the ass, I would probably just go get a new window. Sorry, back to the story. I arrived at the house in Edwards, my two house mates and fellow racers, we'll just call them B&M were not there. They had left me a message that they were going to be at the Ritz Carlton in Beaver Creek for the afternoon. No better way to prepare for a race than getting a facial and pedicure. Sorry guys, but you should have known I would mention it...
I carried my bags in the house and found my room. The house was fantastic. I settled on the room with the king sized bunk beds and began to unpack. I laid out all my race clothes and the other 30lbs of nutriton and bike accessories I have brought along. Once my OCD was visually pleased with the layout of the items I went on the porch to relax. Not a bad view...
B & M returned just a little while later. After five minutes or so of cracking jokes about their spa afternoon we made plans for dinner. We made plans to head back into Vail Village. The Vail Village was fantastic and our meal was really good. I knew I had a training ride the next day so I only had one beer, well.... Okay I had two tequila shots later that night. After dinner, we ended up at this Mexican restaurant in the village. One of the people in our party asked the bartender what the ski was doing hanging above the bar, he responded by telling us it was a "ski shot". He pulled the ski down and lined up five shot glasses into little rubber holders on the ski. The goal of this ingenious contraption is to get five friends and to lift the ski up and take the shot without spilling. I gave in to peer pressure and lined up at the bar. We successfully knocked out the "ski shot". There is video somewhere of the event, I will have to find it. We stayed an hour or so and then decided to head home, but it wasn't as easy at it should have been....
You ever see that Seinfeld episode where they loose the car in the parking garage? Yeah.....we did that. We spent 20 minutes walking around this parking garage, going from level to level with no success. It became comical, I'm sure the tequila shots made it funnier than it actually was. It's pretty hard to loose a Suburban with a four bike rack on the back. After making loop after loop we finally found it. We jumped back onto I 70 and headed home. I got into bed and told myself, "big day tomorrow". I was asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.
I woke the next morning and began to prepare for my big Columbine Mountain training ride. First thing on the list....remove the top from the jeep. With the top removed, I loaded my bike and headed to Leadville, Co. The drive was breathtaking.
I arrived into Leadville around 11:30 and the temperature was 68 degrees. The elevation in Leadville is over 10,000' I don't mean this as a knock, but there isn't much going on in this old mining town. There is a main street about 200 yards long and that's it. In case you don't know where you are, which I considered could be possible due to the lack of oxygen to the brain, they have this great concrete structure...
I stopped into the local bike shop and got directions to Columbine Mtn. Twenty-five minutes later, there she was staring down at me with all her glory. I unpacked the bike, geared up and took off. I rode the trail towards the mountain for about 3o minutes, it was awesome, but there was one problem....I wasn't getting any closer to the mountain, I was actually getting farther away. A short time later I came across something I recognized.....my rental car. I had just spent an hour riding a complete circle back to the car. Great start. I immediately called "Douche" for help, he told me he would send me a map, who am I, Lewis & Clark and spouted back. It was at this exact moment I had my first bike celebrity citing....Rebecca Rusch or for those who know her, The Queen of Pain. She has been the ladies winner of the Leadville 100 for the past two years. She blew by me like she had an engine on her bike. A few minutes later a few riders came by and I got directions towards Columbine. I was on my way.
The climb up Columbine starts on a great fire road. The grade isn't really steep......it's just relentless. The roads wind and switchback through the trees for 6 or so miles and then you get above tree line. It is at this point of the climb where reality kicks you with a steel toed boat. The road switches to a rocky trail no wider than a cart path. There were sections so steep I had to get off and push, lots of sections... At this point in the climb, you are at 12,000'. My breathing never seemed impaired by the elevation, only by the beauty of the view. After numerous sessions of short riding, then walking, I made the left turn on the trail that takes you to the 50 mile turn around point of the race. This is a really cool section, it's about 300-400 yards long and you can ride it all. It's as if your riding a levee on top of the world. I pulled down to the turnaround and dismounted.
At this point, you are sitting at 12,570'. I stayed on top for 20-30 minutes taking pictures. I think the coolest part was that somehow I had a full phone signal. So I had to make a few phone calls.
The ride back down is very sketchy at the beginning. The grade is so steep and some of the sections are nothing but loose rocks. I didn't want to end my race before it started, so I really took my time. It was still so thrilling. I don't think I have ever ridden that long downhill. I made it back to the car and headed home. It was a great day, one I will never forget.
The next day and a half were pretty relaxed. We chilled around the house and went back into Vail for meals. On Thursday afternoon, we packed up and headed to the house in Leadville, our home for the next two days. It was slightly different than the house in Edwards.
Tune in tomorrow for a report on the final days of preparation in Leadville. Oh......The Douche arrives, so you know there will be a story or six....
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