Weekend Update - Thin Air

I took 5 days off the bike due to the road rash. It wasn't until Saturday that I felt the wounds were good enough to get out in the elements. I hooked up with Jonathan Davis and crashed at his place for the weekend of training. He lives west of Golden, CO at the lovely elevation of 9,200 ft. It was the perfect home base for 2 days of high altitude training.

Day 1 was focused on CTR training. I had the fully loaded CTR race bike out for the day. John and I basically rolled west of Peak-To-Peak Hwy in search of the highest terrain we could find. We got up to nearly 13,000 ft....but also had a lot of snow to deal with. Here are a few snap shots from the day.

Must get to the top of those mountains!

A good long push through the snow. Thank god is was firm and we were not sinking in up to our thighs.

Pushing along above 12,000 ft. Pretty much the 'says all' photo for CTR.



The details from the ride are posted here on STRAVA.

Sunday was more of the same. It was all about getting in BIG miles at BIG altitude. A group of us headed out from John's house planning on an out and back of Mt. Evans. On paper this would be a 100 mile day with over 10,000 of climbing. Lets just say this ride broke us. At some point during the day, each rider had their moment. The moment of suffering. For me, it was the long nearly 30 mile climb from 7,500 ft up to the Mt Evans summit at 14,200 ft. I had no gas. Pedal strokes were simply a motion....no power Eventually, I came back around. Last 2 hour of the 102 mile ride felt like hours 1 and 2 of the day. Strong and smooth.

Group rolls out at 7:30 AM

Starting the climb up from Idaho Springs.

Nearing treeline.

Still riding up. Most of us were riding solo on the climb. Different speeds and different leg freshness.

Road debris.

Less than 1 mile to summit.

The Mt. Evans summit photo.

The group heads down. Temps 7,000 ft lower were near 85F. Where this pic is taken is just shy of 14,000 ft and temps around 40F

Resupply in Idaho Springs. Still have 3 hours and about 3500 ft to climb to get home.


Power food!

The stats from the ride, just in case you like to try.

It was a big weekend.  Time to rest a bit....and then do it again next weekend.  Heading to Durango for an underground 100 miler on July 2. Then driving to Breckenridge to do the Firecracker 50 on July 4th.

Jeff Kerkove said at 9:24 AM :: ::

The healing process.

3 days after the crash, 3 days ago...


Today, 6 days after the crash....


Heal baby!

Jeff Kerkove said at 10:03 AM :: ::

Race Report: Bailey 100

The short of it.  Take a well planned taper and good legs...combine it with a strong start.  Then have it all come crashing to "Move to plan B" after only 4 of 100 miles of racing.



I was on the front of the lead group. We were rolling downhill a gravel road to the first section of single track. Speeds were around 35 mph. I was executing my race plan perfectly. The rider behind me came to the front and pulled in front of me quicker than either of us wanted to. His rear tire wiped out my front tire send me spinning across a 2 lane gravel road on my right side. All this happening while about 10 other riders are now making evac moves in all directions not to run me over.



I get up a bloody mess. I check the bike while, what seemed like ton of riders go riding by. Only thing that happened was the XX chain fell off, my right buckle was ripped off my shoe, and my shorts were shredded. I got back on the bike and now had to chase fueled by rage and adrenaline. I managed to get back up to 8th place after 70 miles of riding. The last 30 miles were too much. The pain in the leg and arm were a constant sting, like salt in a wound....made worse with harder pushing, water crossings, and washboard gravel roads. Slowing to a crawl, 10 riders would pass me on the dirt road climbs to the finish line.



I would finish 17th overall in the Pro/Open race.

Jeff Kerkove said at 5:25 PM :: ::

Colorado Trail Race training in full swing

Starting to gear up for the CTR.  The next 2 months are focused on nothing but prep for the CTR, which begins on Aug 1 at 6:30 AM.  Long rides with a lot of weight are the ticket.  Being the first weekend of CTR training, the rides were loaded, but short in duration: 3-4 hours.

Saturday, I met up with fellow Iowan and Ft Collins resident, Andrew Carney, for a 4 hour push west of town.  Lots of steep up and down and some good 30-40 minute hike-a-bike got the body back into the CTR mood.



Sunday was more of the same. This time Sonya and I went down to Bailey, CO to preview next weekend 100 mile race course for the Bailey Hundo, and pre-ride the opening sections of the Colorado Trail. This was also Sonya's first real loaded up CTR training ride. Needless to say, she learned a lot only being on the bike for 3 hours. One of those? The importance of good shoes. The other? Filtering water. Here are the pictures.

Jeff Kerkove said at 7:42 AM :: ::

High altitude training has begun!

It was a cold and snowy winter.  Snow pack is still 180% higher than it should be for June 1. Not until the last 2 weeks have a lot of the mountain passes been opened up, ie: plowed. Today, I got all of Trail Ridge Rd basically all to myself. A few tourists hiking and a few other cyclists, and that was it! The road is just about to open to vehicles for the season, but the Park Rangers are doing some final snow removal. So, I took advantage of temps in the 50Fs at the higher elevations and a mostly clear road to start the CTR altitude training. Here is the video from the ride today at 12,000 ft!



GPS and training data: http://app.strava.com/rides/674895

Jeff Kerkove said at 3:49 PM :: ::