Here’s the wrap up of the ride….

After 21 years, this ride is a well oiled machine. Great support, great people, great scenery.

I checked in on Friday with plenty of time to relax, listen to some music and drink a couple “soda pops”…hey, I had to carb up. ;)

Day 1: Saturday the ride started in Loveland, but since Eli and I carpooled and he needed it to get to Loveland on Monday, I didn’t really have a ride to the starting line…so I rode my bike. It was 30 degrees at the top of Freemont pass and the fog was so thick I could only see about a bike length in front of me. I made it to Loveland and basically turned around and rode back up over Tennessee pass, Battle Mountain and Vail Pass (King of the Mountain). This ride is commonly known as the “Copper Triangle”…a GREAT way to start a 3 day ride.

Day 2: I knew it was gonna rain around 2pm so I got out there early for the Century option. 100 miles that takes you from Copper to Silverthorne, North on Hwy 9 to Ute Pass (pass line picture, myself and 3 other strong riders average about 27 mph to Ute Pass. It’s awesome when you ride past a car radar and it flashes SLOW DOWN), then back South on Hwy 9 through Silverthorne to Keystone, up over Swan Mountain into Frisco. Frisco to Breckenridge (for lunch, my “power lunch” consisted of ½ a can of Coke and a cherry pie Lara bar), then Breckenridge back to Copper. I demo’d about ~$5000 bike (Full Carbon Specialized) from Wheat Ridge Cycling and CRUSHED the ride. I spent 5:25 in the saddle and only got caught in the rain for the last 5 miles.

Day 3 came early, and another ride up Freemont pass, this time with some wonderful company. Finished up with a short ride around Turquoise Lake (I highly recommend, it’s straight out of an MC Escher book, the road seems to continually go up). At the finish line I received a gold medal from a Children’s Hospital patient in a wheel chair.

Over the 3 days, I rode 230 miles, climbed over 15,000 feet of elevation, spent ~14 hours in the saddle, and raised $334 dollars ☺

Here are a few pictures from the weekend.

Cheers,
Ted