Today was a killer day. I got an early start again - mostly because my legs were fried and I am a slow climber. By slow, I mean 4 to 5 miles an hour on climbs over mountain passes.
A bunch of people passed me on the climb today, and there were times when I wanted to stop. But that means starting up again which is never easy.
Climbs are mentally the toughest part of the ride for me. Not only do I have to not worry about ll the people passing me (which is startling if they don't announce themselves), but it's also the fact that there's not much I can do to make myself more comfortable on the climb.
On other parts of the ride, I can sit up straight, go into the drops, stand up out of the saddle and bounce on the pedals for a while. With climbing, there's really nothing that makes the climb more comfortable - especially when you're working your way up 8 miles of 6% - 7% grade.
Here's a photo of me at the first rest stop - 16 miles into the ride (a steady climb of 2% - 3% grade) and before tackling the 8 steepest miles to the summit - that's why I'm still smiling.
To get through tough climbs, I usually get a song in my head that matches my cadence and just grind through it.
There was a guy from Switzerland - Fred - who had an uncanny knack for catching me near the top of a climb and chatting with me over the last 1/2 mile or so. His encouragement and enthusiasm gave me extra energy to get to the summit. Cheers Fred!!!
The ride down the other side of Wolf Creek Pass was a fast one. I hit a new record for my fastest speed descending - 55.2 MPH.
The last 45 miles of the day were flat straight roads leading to Alamosa. Those of us who left early in the day were stuck with a wicked headwind (gusts up to 35 mph) that turned into a wicked crosswind as we approached Alamosa. The final 2 miles, we turned directly into the wind and I could only manage 11 MPH on the flat road into camp.
The first thing I did when I arrived at the camp site was to book a one-hour massage to get the kinks out of my back, neck, shoulders and legs.
Here are my stats for the day:
Total pedal time: 6 hours 15 minutes
Total elapsed time: 7 hours 15 minutes
Total Distance: 93 miles
Average Speed: 14.8 mph
Max speed: 55.2 mph
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The wind... ugh. Double ugh! But you managed an incredible average speed.
ReplyDeleteHey Snowcatcher - I actually heard that by the time other riders came through that same area (about 2-3 hours later) the headwind had changed to a tailwind - timing is everything.
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