Pass 2 and 3

Well, it's a wrap. Completed the Copper Triangle Classic! Climbed 2 new passes and 1 pass from a different direction. Pass 2 was Tennessee.




It was an enjoyable climb with much of it at a consistent grade. It is also of the 10th Mtn Division which played a historic role in WWII.




Pass 3, Vail Pass was a butt kicker. One of the toughest that I've done. On par with Grand Mesa. It was 3000 feet over 8 miles. And it came between miles 65 and 73 of the ride. 7.1% average grade for those without calculators and topped out at 10,662 feet.




Great day in the mountains. Total tally was 78.89 miles, 5,981 feet climbed, 5,994 calories burned.

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Pass 1 - Fremont Pass

Breakfast seems like a great idea when you're ready to start a long ride. Unfortunately, you begin to regret it when your first order of business is a climb! Keep swallowing to not vurp! 6.3 miles in the first hour. Very steep.








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Location:Leadville

Ready for the Triangle!

Rolled in after some great pizza @ Fatty's in Breckenridge, CO! Copper Triangle Classic starts tomorrow @ 545a. 78 miles and +5600 feet of climbing including Fremont Pass, Tennessee Pass and Vail Pass. Here's Copper Mtn @ sunset.




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Good night, Durango

Sunset and moon shortly setting from Durango, CO! Good night.


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Day 4 - Rest Day?

It wasn't scheduled as one, but I woke up with a twinge of a prior cycling injury - groin strain. I felt it tweek a little on Grand Mesa and a little bit yesterday. This morning - it was sore before the ride. Didn't want to jeopardize the rest of the riding season with the old ego driving me to 70+ miles and 7000 ft. of climbing.

Decided to take a free trip to Durango with the Sherpaville crew. Got here early enough to get a 30 minute massage from Carl. Much better now.

I apologize for no post yesterday...connectivity problems in Ouray?! As for today, it's a beautiful day in the Rockies...78 degrees, breezy and no humidity!





From yesterday - the view out of #60 Sherpaville at sunset!





Sunrise in Ouray!

Plan is to stay on the ibuprofen diet, see how I feel and tackle 80 miles from Durango to Pagosa Springs. Will send more pics later. Thanks for following!

Chuck/Coach

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Day 3 - Pass the Butter & Jam...

....I'm toast! Another 67 miles in the book. They're no nice or easy way of saying....my butt hurts! Specifically, my sit bones. I'm on the 4 hour ibuprofen interval.

Special thanks to Uncle Doug, Pretty Boy and Johnny Utah of Team Flying High for keeping me motivated to the finish. Sagging looked like a decent option @ 54 miles! Today's stats were 67 miles; 3141 feet elevation gained; 4394 calories burned; ride time of 5:33.

Here's a recap on today's pics:




Start of ride - you can see the mountains!





Sneffells Range of the San Juan Mtns. I love this area of CO.





Only 10 more miles to go....





Tent city in Ouray, accomodations for 2500!

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Location:Ouray, CO

Day 2 - What a Difference

60+ degrees cooler makes! Last time I did this ride; it was 102 degrees and took over 9 hours to finish. Today's ride was around 6:45 for 88 of the 94 miles. More on that in a second.

The ride start with sprinkles of rain. Imagine that. The first 30 miles were relatively flat with the menacing presence of the Giant of Western CO on the horizon.




This area of CO is referred to as fruit and wine country. Plenty of vineyards, orchard and farm houses replete with lovely gardens.








The ride is a brutally difficult. The climb is over 6000 feet in elevation from Grand Junction with 4500 from Mesa with a virtually sustained grade of 8%. To get a sense of that, imagine for every 12 feet you move forward the road rises 1 foot. This is looking down fr Powderhorn Resort back to the base.




Right after this photo, above rest stop 4, it started snowing. We made it to 5, and got shuttled (code word: SAG'd) to rest stop 6 at the top. It shaved 6 miles and about 1,000 feet off the total, but given the lack of winter riding gear on our person, it wasn't risking hypothermia. Here's a shot at the top.




I rode down and it started raining. I was shaking so hard that the front wheel was wobbling. Not a good thing. Final stats - 88.2 miles, 5176 feet elevation climbed; 5,214 calories burned. Tomorrow is 67 miles from Delta to Ouray with another 3000 plus feet in climbing! Time for sleep!

Coach

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Location:Grand Mesa and Delta, CO

Day 1 - Rain, rain...

Go away, try and get me another day! A close call, but avoided a super, soaker by about 15 minutes. Day 1 started partly cloudy skies and slightly cool. All forms of bike knerds assembled for the opening ceremony and national anthem. There was no flag flying so they called a guy with an American Flag Jersey out of the crowd as a stand-in. Americans.....masters of improvisation.



This was a great way to start the steep climb up to Colorado National Monument. Here's looking up from the base of the climb:



From the top, looking back down:




The CO National Monument National Park is full of magnificent vistas and scenery, Chimney Rock:




Here's some of the local fauna, a flowering yucca, for our resident horticulturist!




Back to our headline, story... Rain. Check out the Chimney Rock pic. Notice the clouds building? Yeah, so did I. There was one more piece of climbing. As I was coming up on the rest stop, a clap of thunder sounded so loud that it almost knocked about a hundred of us off our bikes! Talk about puckered up?! I almost pinched my saddle off at the seatpost with my bottom! It was time to shift into overdrive. I had plenty of water and chose to take it back to #60 Sherpaville double-time.

For the most part, I avoided the rain. Got a little damp from the edge of a shower on the way down, but managed to avoid a soaking. Stats for the day:

45 miles; 2,486 feet of elevation climbed; 2,990 calories burned; 3:05 ride time.

Tomorrow's ride is a monster, 94 miles and 6,000 feet of climbing! Time to get some food and rest! Talk to you tomorrow after the beating. Thanks for reading,

Chuck "Coach" Taylor

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Location:Grand Juction, CO

Day 0 - Rainy & Cool

After a pleasant dinner with my Logistics Manager, Bill Savage, I had a restful sleep interrupted only by the alarm clock ringing at 530a! Stopped @ the local Starbucks for caffiene and nourishment. Drove to South Fork, CO (about 3 hours) and left the FJ. Bill followed me there and we loaded up the Cervelo. Lots of off and on rain all along the way.

Arrived in grand Junction @ 245p. Temps for most of the day ranged in the 40s and low 50s. Dodged raindrops while registering for the ride. Headed over to Sherpaville where I was assigned my lodgings for the next week.




The Cervelo didn't take the ride too well, so it was time for a bath and some lube. Btw - Cervelo is not a woman, lest any inappropriate rumours get started. Here's Cervelo all squeaky clean in front of #60 Sherpaville.




Went and had dinner @ the Mesa State College mess hall. No culinary awards won there! Walked back to #60 and sat down to have a cup of a 2007 Coppola Cabernet. Not too bad.




Tomorrow starts the business at hand - the Colorado National Monument ride! Talk to you tomorrow. The Coach.

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Location:Grand Junction, CO

Go for Launch

The final preparations for the Ride are being completed. Last training ride was hill climbing around White Rock Lake this morning. Couple of errands to do at lunch! Off to Colorado Springs @ 550p.

Just in case you're wondering what is so cool about CO, from my last training camp....





Its beauty never fails to disappoint! Will be meeting up with Mr. William D. Savage who will be assisting with trip logistics. More on that later....

"Coach"

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Ride The Rockies - Just Around the Corner

Final preparations are underway for Ride the Rockies 2010, which starts next Sunday, June 13, 2010 in Grand Junction, Colorado. If you're interested the link is:

Ride the Rockies

Check it out! More to come later this week and during the ride.

Chuck