This past week has been AMAZING!  For me it was the big kick off for super long bike training for Ironman Louisville.  Friday we took off from snowy, cold, wet Denver and headed to snowy, wet, cold Buena Vista for the Buena Vista Bike Fest Century ride.   From Buena Vista Steve and I were headed to Ouray to sit in the hot springs, get another hundred miler in on the bikes, sit in the hot springs, get a good trail run in, sit in the hot springs, get a little recovery swim in, and sit in the hot springs.  Did I mention the hot springs?  Cuz they are INCREDIBLE!!  Lots of bike riding planned and some good training for Louisville….but would the weather spoil our plans?  Not when you are living The Sweet Life!

Saturday morning was the century ride; the snowy ride into BV left us a little worried it wasn’t going to happen.  However, with Bethie along for the ride and determined not to let the weather win and steal a hundred mile bike ride from her,  the plan was to get up and at least start the ride no matter the weather and see what it got us.  We woke up to about 2 inches of snow and a fog covered valley.  The event director cancelled the event for the first time in 12 years.  After much deliberation amongst ourselves as to whether we should just go for it and get some mileage in or go to breakfast and get a good run it, we decided it probably wasn’t safe to be out there on our bikes.  The pass was closed up to Leadville so we wouldn’t have been able to go to the pretty part of the ride.  Breakfast followed by a 2 hour run prevailed.  Buena Vista is a cute little town with some great local offerings.  We ate at the Rooster’s Crow and headed back to our host’s home where we could run up the road and hit the Colorado Trail.

The run was hilarious.  We never did find the Colorado Trail, instead we blazed our own trail up the snow covered mountain.

It was actually a pretty brutal start heading up a mountain at 9000 feet of elevation!  My little heart was a poundin’!!  It ended up being a great climb up to a vista where we followed some animal tracks back to the roads,  and did a little loop around the neighborhood.  After hot showers we all got together at Priscilla’s sister and brother in laws for a feast of a dinner.  Everyone pitched in and made an incredible spread of butternut squash soup, chili, salads, guacamole and chips, fruit, cheese and crackers, all with wine, beer, and water!  I am always so grateful for the friends I have especially when we get to meet new people and sit together at family style dinners.  Over dinner plans were laid for the ride on Sunday as the forecast was calling for a clear, beautiful, albeit a little windy day.

Anyone will tell you living with Colorado weather is wild.  One day we will have snow and the next day it will be 70 degrees.  Lucky for us the forecast was correct, and we woke up to clear, blue, sunny skies and the possibility of an incredible day for biking.  The plan was to head from Buena Vista to Salida.  Refuel in Salida then head back to Buena Vista for another food and water stop  before heading as far as we could to Turquoise Lake in Leadville.  The lot of us got ourselves breakfast and headed out the door.  The weather was a little cool but really quite comfortable for riding.  We discovered we would have a tailwind with us on the downhill to Salida and therefore, a headwind on the uphill back to Buena Vista and into Leadville.  We had a great ride.  Lots of chatting and working together.  Little bits of speed work on the way into Salida and then a good strength workout, both mental and physical, back to Buena Vista.  After coming back into Buena Vista we decided not to fight the headwind into Leadville and called the ride at a metric century.  The surly group of us got back to our homes, changed into running shoes and did a quick 30 minute run, ate leftovers for lunch, then headed to the Mount Princeton Hot Springs.  The Mount Princeton Hot Springs was alright.  It is simply 2 swimming pools with hot spring water in them.  There are also some soaking spots along the river, but they weren’t accessible because of the high waters in the river.  It was nice floating around and chilling with B&P, BT&John, and Jewels.  After a quick soak, it was back to pack and for Steve and I to head off on the 3 hour drive to Ridgway.

I am made for road traveling. I love packing the car up, getting good snack foods, and making my way to destinations while being able to check out the areas in between.  Having the bikes along on this trip was exciting because not only did we get to enjoy a drive together but I also knew we were going to get to experience the area by bike.  After our little drive into town and checking into our hotel, we were off to the springs for an evening soak.  Orvis Hot Springs is very nicely kept and very clean.  The little gardens around the pool are quaint and filled with great plants and flowers.  With the pools being outside and away from light pollution at night you soak in the pools covered by a blanket of stars.  The first time we came to the hot springs was New Years this year.  There was a full, blue moon the night we arrived and we were instantly enchanted and fell in love even more while floating around in darkness.  While melting away the ride from the day before and the drive into town we decided to check with the local bike shop in the morning to decide which route to bike the following day.  The options we came up with were:  to ride to Silverton via the million dollar highway or ride to Telluride via Highway 62.  Danika from Peak to Peak Bicycles was great and informed us of conditions on both routes.  She didn’t speak down to us at all and gave us options for all kinds of riding.  She never made judgement on what kind of riders we were, she just gave us information and left the decisions to us.  I always hate going into bike shops where the staff thinks they are all that and treat you like dork cuz you’re a girl.  I really appreciated her approach to educating us about the different rides in the area.

The ride to Silverton was a hard climb over the pass with no shoulder and a decent amount of traffic.

Video of the Highway

Warning it is 10 mins long and it’s not mine !  But great video of the pass.

Our second option, she told us, was a more gradual, gentle climb over Dallas Divide.  There was plenty of shoulder and much less traffic during the week.  She said it was a gorgeous ride as well and let us know about an additional loop we could add on if we wanted to make the ride longer than the 37 miles each way and add a little more climbing.

We hadn’t driven either of the routes or seen them in our lives, so we didn’t really understand the scope of what she was telling us.

After a cup of Joe from Cimarron Books and CoffeeHouse

and a bomber of a breakfast burrito from the Ridgway Mountain Market

We were off to Telluride!

The day was gorgeous and I couldn’t help but keep looking around.  It was difficult to stay focused on anything except how pretty it was all around me.  Good thing I didn’t have focused training to do!  The goal was to just get more miles on my legs and enjoy the day.

The route to Telluride is 37 miles.  I just can’t seem to do the day justice with my writing.  We climbed 2000 feet in about 12 miles to the top of the Dallas Divide, snapped a couple pics

and headed down the backside of the divide.   It was a nice 13 mile and 1650 foot descent into Placerville.  Although, to be perfectly honest, the long descent planted a little seed of worry into my head for the return trip.  What goes down must go up, right?  I knew I would be hitting the climb back up the divide at about 60 miles into my ride.  So the next thought that went into my head was: “Girl, you rode the double Epic Loop which is just a sick amount of climbing, 160 miles, 12 hours long and you were fine.  This will be tough but you are strong.”

After a quick potty and refueling stop in Placerville…

off we went on another climb into Telluride.

The road travels alongside the San Miguel River.  The fact that we were following a river flowing the opposite way we were riding told me we were going uphill, but it didn’t really feel like that much of an uphill.  However, I guess I was going pretty slowly because Steve pulled alongside me and told me we needed to average 15mph to get to Telluride and start back before it got dark!  He pulled in front of me to block the wind and picked the pace up and off we went.  There was one more crazy climb to get into the little town and to get to lunch!

Telluride lay just ahead.  I wanted to be there so badly!  It was a long straight road into town and in the distance you could see this switch back going up the mountain.

We thought it was Imogene Pass, but after a little research I think it is actually Black Bear Pass.   As I was riding into town, I was thinking to myself that I should go run that and then decided I didn’t want to  Maybe sometime in the future.  We found a great burger place, had a fantastic lunch, and headed back out to get home!

The ride home was sick fast!  It took us about 4 hours to get to Telluride, including our stops for various things and 2 hours to get back to Ridgway.  I had no idea how much climbing we actually did.  And the back side of Dallas Divide, that climb I was worried about… well I kicked that little hill’s butt.  Yeah, I averaged 10mph for the 13 mile ride back to the top.  Boo Yaa!

Thank you to Steve for being my partner and always being the guy beside me telling me how strong I am and how great of an athlete I am.  You are my rock.  Solid and strong.  Always behind me 100% no matter the situation.  You are the one who holds it all together and keeps us moving forward as a solid, strong unit.  You make life a little SWEETER-I love you!

I am in a state of absolute bliss.  60 miles on the bike today and only saw snow in the shadiest of shady spots and along the creeks in the mountains.  I rode by Lair O the Bear and saw mountain bikers headed up and got to thinking maybe a run on the ol’ trail is in order tomorrow.  This last couple of weeks have me out of my training funk and really getting my groove on!! It is a great feeling to be out there enjoying whatever weather Colorado is throwin’ at me and working towards Ironman Louisville.  Thanks to Laura and Stephanie for the nice ride and for splitting a buffalo burger from the Blue Cow three ways.  See, you can have your burger and eat it too!

Good luck to Doreen and Cory racing down in Vegas this coming weekend.  Can’t wait to hear all about it!

Melody and I had the opportunity to get out on our bikes for the entire day!  She called me up and asked if I wanted to ride Shadow Mountain.  Oh I thought, that is a lot of riding for my first ride up into the mountains, but why not really? We decided to meet at the famous Deer Creek and Wadsworth meeting spot, we each had ridden about 7 miles to get there and were both already giddy about the weather being beautiful.  I begin to tell her that at the top of High Grade I would know if I would be able to conquer the entire Shadow Mountain ride (remember people I haven’t been on my bike but 3 or 4 times this entire winter).  If I don’t think I have it I will just turn off and do City View, which for the first time in the mountains would make me VERY HAPPY!  She looks at me with a very confused look and states she cannot recall High Grade being part of the route and she remembers that we go all the way up Deer Creek and head over to Parmalee Gulch.  It hits me then, that Melody wants to do the Epic Loop today.  This is an 80 mile ride with like 10,000 feet of climbing.  For those of you who know me, well you know that I am pretty flexible and easy to get along with.   I do not obligate people to stay with me on rides or run.  I am slow.  I know this and accept it.  I love riding with people and always tell those I ride with…”Don’t feel like you have to stay with me.  I know our route and I know how to change a flat.”   With this being said, I agreed to ride the Epic Loop with Melody on my first trek into the foothills of Denver.

That was the clean version of my story.  However, there is a dirty version.  This is the version that takes place in my head…here goes:  Melody calls.  She wants to ride Shadow.  I am up for a bike ride, but am unsure of actually making it up the mountain because I haven’t been on my bike seriously at all this winter.  I know I can commit to starting the ride, but I am unsure of being able to finish it.  I give myself an out:  City View or if it is really bad Deer Creek.   In my head I do not ride fast.  Really I want to ride fast and climb well, but I know I don’t and so I stay stuck in my own story.  I don’t get to bed until midnight because I was working on my race website.  So I know I haven’t set myself up for success.  My stuff is not set out for the morning.   I set my alarm for enough time to get up, get stuff together, and eat breakfast.  Alarm goes off.  I don’t wanna get up.  Again, I see myself turning around and not finishing the entire ride.  Maybe I am too advantageous for the first trip up the mountain.  All of a sudden my mind says:  ”:ENOUGH!!  We ( yes there is more than one of me…my physical self and my mind…oh wait… there are three of me because I also love my bike shadow…she is perfect) are stronger than this.  You will visualize yourself riding the way you know you can and the way you want to ride.”  I make the decision that before I get out of bed I must create a visualization in my mind of exactly what I want the ride to look like.  Honestly, it takes me about 15-20 minutes to go through each climb and see myself the way I want.  It was not easy.  After finishing the visualization I get up and get ready.  Mel and I meet at Deer Creek and figure out the loop Mel wants to do is really the Epic loop and not the Shadow loop.  I simply say I am committed to the ride and will finish it.

Off we go up Deer Creek.  Ever since I did this climb at 3 in the morning I love it.  Riding it in the dark gave me a whole new perspective on it.  When I couldn’t see what I was climbing it was way easier.   We plug along and get up the first climb.  The day is gorgeous and I know I am lucky to be spending the day on my bike.  It is funny how those of us who train through the winter think it is gorgeous when it is 40 degrees and there is still snow piled on the side of the road.   It was one of those gorgeous days.  I didn’t add more layers and I didn’t shed layers.   It was a little chilly going down the hill but not so cold that you are shaking to your bones.  One climb down and three more to go.  Mel decides she doesn’t need to get the back side of Shadow in today that doing the 3 climbs would be great.  Fine with me, but now there is a choice on how to get back from Evergreen.  I pick Little Cub instead of going up 74.  There is less traffic and it is prettier.  But, it means that we are climbing Little Cub!  I just created a clean version of my ride while actually being on the ride.  Visualization helped me a ton today.

The coolest part about it was that I never even had to think about it again.  It just was. Deer Creek, Parmalee Gulch, Kerr Gulch, Little Cub, and the back side of Deer Creek.  All exactly how my mind made it out to be.  It is a hard ride.  There is no getting around that.  But I am pretty bad ass.  Really, I just rode about 70 miles with about 60 of that being in the mountains with my bad ass friend Melody.  I am going to continue practicing visualization.  It wasn’t easy.  I found myself starting off the vision positively and without really being aware I would find myself seeing exactly what I was scared of seeing.  Starting over each time I found myself there helped me.  Each time I went through the story I got a little further through before finding myself having fear or versions of the story I was not satisfied with.  Being diligent and honoring my bad ass self got me through the process with enough time to get up and get ready.  Thank you to Melody for a great ride and great company, and thank you to my mind for playing along with me today.