This overnighter brings the week's training to 22 hours. I was going to head over to Salida and do a route that Tom Purvis set me up with but decided to stay around here at the last minute. I left at about lunch time on Saturday and rode out of town and then hooked up with the Ring the Peak Trail as it passes North Catamount Reservoir right at the base of Pikes Peak. The weather was calling for some showers but I was hoping to dodge them. I rode the loop counter clockwise. A week or so ago, I rode this same portion of the trail all the way to some rock formations called the Crags. I was supposed to stay in Zone 2 mostly for Saturday and I adhered to this pretty strictly. I made it to the Crags with a lower average heart rate and 5 minutes faster so I was pretty happy.
I kept going to Horsethief (another trailhead). At one point I had to cross a creek and about 20 yards from it I was trying to figure out what the heck was in the water. Then I figured it out. There was a sixxer of PBR, another of Coke and another of Old Chub. Trail magic?? Then I saw a guy sitting there with his dog. He was waiting for 12 runners but was kind enough to offer me a beverage. I was feeling so good that I declined and kept going. I hit the highway and noticed a big storm brewing just to the west. Luckily, I outran it and made it to Gold Camp Road. Several miles after being on GC, the route heads up 379. I have never been able to clean this entire climb. I can't figure out why. It's a fire road (nothing special) but it just seems to keep going and gets me every time. This time I made it all the way up and the highest my heart got on a few sections was 162. I was jazzed.
Next up is a nasty little Jeep trail that requires hiking. After that, you kinda start heading down for a ways. I was supposed to find a bivy spot 6 hours in but I rode for 6.5 looking for the perfect spot. I found it next to a creek and on a nice flat spot. I stuffed my face, hung the food, I even stretched, and then climbed in the bivy and got ready for the light show.
The temps got down to 38 and I was fargin cold. I got moving again at 7 this morning. After an hour, I had an issue with my rear brake. It was making some horrible metal on metal noises. I wondered if I was out of pad. More on the real deal (and pics) later. Unfortunately, I had to take the pads completely out of the caliper and remount it to stop the rubbing. Now I only had a front brake. I gingerly made way down and ended up having to walk a lot of downhills. By the time I got to Manitou Springs, I was frustrated from 3 crashes. I got a Coke, and figured I might as well make the long slog up the Ute Pass Trail since pushing my bike didn't require any back brakes. I made my way down to highway 24 and rode that up to Cascade and then decided to just call it a day. I had 80 miles in the 24 hours I was out.
I drank a ton of water (at least a bottle every hour). My nutrition is working out wonderfully. I like the food I'm using, it seems to be working, and I can get it at any gas station. Somewhere in the last few days (might be from reading Cordillera V1 or V2) I read that part of the ultra riding challenge is training your body to eat like a 5 year old and get mileage out of it. I feel like I'm well on my way.
Ring the Peak singletrack.
This is actually from a ride I took a few days. It's pretty much just sitting on the side of the road.
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