Santa delivered a very nice custom designed Timbuk2 messenger bag. It will see a lot of use this coming year, I love those colors!
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Santa was good to me
Santa delivered a very nice custom designed Timbuk2 messenger bag. It will see a lot of use this coming year, I love those colors!
2011 and a New Start
I've been off the blog for a while and have a renewed interest so let's see if I can keep the moment going this year.
A wrap-up of last year (2010) on the Couch. Some how I managed to get almost 4,500 miles on the bike. My goal was 6,000 miles but as usual life gets in the way.
One of my rides that stands out the most was one I did with my good friend Ron. It was a 26 mile 7,500 foot climb to the top of the 14,000 ft Pikes Peak. This was an organized ride sponsored by the local Cadillac dealer. The organizers reserved the Pikes Peak Highway for the day and closed a lane of traffic from the town of Manitou Springs.
Bikes are not normally allow on the Pikes Peak Highway during the day so there is really no way to pre-ride the course. With this in mind we had to take educated guesses as to what gear combo to ride the mountain with. The gear combo we picked was 42x20 on my bike and Ron decided on a 42x19 combo. At about mid way up the Peak we both realized that we will rethink our gear combo for this year. It was a very tough ride up the mountain, with wind gust approaching 50 mph at times, the added challenge was about all I could take.
I mean how do you train for a ride like this? Well I'm not sure you can but strength and determination certainly help. Ron made it to the top before I did, he was in a lot better shape than me that day. One of the rewards of making it to the top is warming up in the summit house restaurant with hot coffee and high altitude donuts.
The donuts are a special treat so I brought 2 extras down with me for My GF Julie and her Mom.
Another benefit is that we got to descend off the 14,110ft peak. They had check points setup on the way down to inspect your brakes for heating. And make sure you could see clearly pass the big grin on your face. Coming off the very top was a bit scary when coming around some of the switchbacks and getting huge gust of wind in your face.
Arriving back in Manitou Springs we went straight to the expo area and found the beer tent. A big cheer of beers and my special delivery of High altitude Donuts and it all seemed like a dream. Really I thought to myself as I turn to look up at Pikes Peak behind me, wow.
Riding a Singlespeed bike to the top of Pikes Peak is a fete not for the faint of heart, granted. But Ron and I were both surprised to see a guy riding a Unicycle up there. Can you believe that, amazing is all I can say!
So will we do it again? You bet we will do it again this year and yes a better gear selection is in order.
I did have plenty of other rides that were just as rewarding, like a 53 mile MTB ride to "preride" the race course at the Air Force Academy. Again with Ron (he was racing there in a couple of weeks).
We got in a few century rides that were fun. One down in New Mexico with Julie, Ron and Julie's friend from work Pat. That was a good ride and very spirited. Usually we will ride the Santa Fe Century but missed it last year. It's on the calendar for this year.
I did get to fulfill one of my goals. To ride from my house over to Salida, Co which is about 125 miles. I did it in November it was a windy and cold ride. I decided to split this ride up and made it a 2 day ride. The first days ride was not bad with a big highway shoulder most of the way. The next day's ride was the toughest, lots more climbing and narrow shoulders. I took a wrong turn and added an extra 12 miles to my trip, then had a flat tire that put me farther behind. I rolled into Salida after 6:00 with lights on and a good chill setting in. The hotel shower was a savior, and I never left the room till the next morning.
Julie and I always go to Arizona for the Christmas holidays and manage to get some really good rides in. The day before New Years I rode in a snow storm in Scottsdale, Arizona. Seems crazy but it was not even 32 degrees so coming down from Colorado it was a balmy ride for me.
Well that's the year wrapped up for now. On to this year!
A wrap-up of last year (2010) on the Couch. Some how I managed to get almost 4,500 miles on the bike. My goal was 6,000 miles but as usual life gets in the way.
One of my rides that stands out the most was one I did with my good friend Ron. It was a 26 mile 7,500 foot climb to the top of the 14,000 ft Pikes Peak. This was an organized ride sponsored by the local Cadillac dealer. The organizers reserved the Pikes Peak Highway for the day and closed a lane of traffic from the town of Manitou Springs.
Bikes are not normally allow on the Pikes Peak Highway during the day so there is really no way to pre-ride the course. With this in mind we had to take educated guesses as to what gear combo to ride the mountain with. The gear combo we picked was 42x20 on my bike and Ron decided on a 42x19 combo. At about mid way up the Peak we both realized that we will rethink our gear combo for this year. It was a very tough ride up the mountain, with wind gust approaching 50 mph at times, the added challenge was about all I could take.
I mean how do you train for a ride like this? Well I'm not sure you can but strength and determination certainly help. Ron made it to the top before I did, he was in a lot better shape than me that day. One of the rewards of making it to the top is warming up in the summit house restaurant with hot coffee and high altitude donuts.
The donuts are a special treat so I brought 2 extras down with me for My GF Julie and her Mom.
Another benefit is that we got to descend off the 14,110ft peak. They had check points setup on the way down to inspect your brakes for heating. And make sure you could see clearly pass the big grin on your face. Coming off the very top was a bit scary when coming around some of the switchbacks and getting huge gust of wind in your face.
Arriving back in Manitou Springs we went straight to the expo area and found the beer tent. A big cheer of beers and my special delivery of High altitude Donuts and it all seemed like a dream. Really I thought to myself as I turn to look up at Pikes Peak behind me, wow.
Riding a Singlespeed bike to the top of Pikes Peak is a fete not for the faint of heart, granted. But Ron and I were both surprised to see a guy riding a Unicycle up there. Can you believe that, amazing is all I can say!
So will we do it again? You bet we will do it again this year and yes a better gear selection is in order.
I did have plenty of other rides that were just as rewarding, like a 53 mile MTB ride to "preride" the race course at the Air Force Academy. Again with Ron (he was racing there in a couple of weeks).
We got in a few century rides that were fun. One down in New Mexico with Julie, Ron and Julie's friend from work Pat. That was a good ride and very spirited. Usually we will ride the Santa Fe Century but missed it last year. It's on the calendar for this year.
I did get to fulfill one of my goals. To ride from my house over to Salida, Co which is about 125 miles. I did it in November it was a windy and cold ride. I decided to split this ride up and made it a 2 day ride. The first days ride was not bad with a big highway shoulder most of the way. The next day's ride was the toughest, lots more climbing and narrow shoulders. I took a wrong turn and added an extra 12 miles to my trip, then had a flat tire that put me farther behind. I rolled into Salida after 6:00 with lights on and a good chill setting in. The hotel shower was a savior, and I never left the room till the next morning.
Julie and I always go to Arizona for the Christmas holidays and manage to get some really good rides in. The day before New Years I rode in a snow storm in Scottsdale, Arizona. Seems crazy but it was not even 32 degrees so coming down from Colorado it was a balmy ride for me.
Well that's the year wrapped up for now. On to this year!
