What might be my last serious training weekend before the
big ride was a resounding success. A
total of 5,719 feet climbed over the course of 79.7 miles and I feel
great. For the first time, I finished my
rides without debilitating soreness or wobbly legs. Even better, my first training ride above
6,000 feet, maxing out over 9,300 feet, felt amazing. I was terrified about shortness of breath at
that altitude, but instead, felt amazing the entire time.
My first ride of the weekend took me right out my front door
to some amazing hill climbing right on the edge of the Franklin Mountains of El
Paso. My friend and cycling mentor,
Alanna, showed me the route the week before and it was a lot of fun and the
roads were smooth and relatively empty on the weekend mornings. All this time I had a treasure trove of
climbing sitting right out my front door, but was too nervous to navigate
through a few urban neighborhoods to get there.
I woke up Saturday morning, sucked up my own misgivings, swallowed a
slice of cold pizza and two watermelon wedges, clipped in and rode off into
some awesome rollers and two great steep climbs that gave me over 2,000 feet in
less than 2 hours. It also provided some
of the best views of El Paso on a quiet Saturday morning. There’s nothing better than the feeling of
accomplishment and immediate reward gained through struggle and determination
that can be found after a tough climb to a beautiful scenic overlook. There’s also the satisfying feeling of
blowing past other riders on a steep ascent, to glance over at them on their
fancy carbon fiber race bikes while you’re plodding along past them on a heavy
aluminum frame roadster.
After admiring the great view of El Paso from the Scenic
Drive, I cashed in and headed for home.
I wanted to take it somewhat easy in preparation for the next day’s
training ride in the mountains around Cloudcroft, NM. This was a ride that I had been looking
forward to for months. In preparation
for the Death Ride Tour, I needed some riding at altitudes exceeding 6,000 feet
with plenty of climbing to simulate the terrain I would be traversing in
Southern Colorado. I’ve been really
worried about the 6 months I spent at sea level and the less than two months
that I’ve been training at only 4,000 feet.
Jumping up to rides that will mostly take place above 8,000 feet sounded
painful and I didn’t know if my body could handle it.
I met my cycling guru friend, Joe, at his house and loaded
my bike next to his on the back of his Jeep.
We made the 1.5 hour drive up to Cloudcroft where the sun was still
fighting to climb over the mountains and the air was a crisp 40 degrees F. We clipped in rolled out to begin an 18.5
mile descent to the town of Mayhill. The
descent was smooth and I hardly spun my pedals as frigid air whipped across my
face. Just shy of the town we turned
right across a bridge onto a back highway that climbed for a steady 20 miles
past cattle and sheep ranches. It was by
far the longest climb of my life with almost no relief during the entire
ascent. It took me and hour and a half
to cover the 20 miles and for the first time in a while, I resented the
heaviness of my aluminum frame.
At the top of the hill, I followed Joe for an
additional 7 mile excursion that took us up and over the 9,300 foot mark and
added 14 miles to our grand total. I had
ridden this portion of the road once before, almost 2 years ago, and remember
the climb over this smaller hill being excruciatingly painful. This morning, it was fun and I enjoyed every
moment of it. We zipped back into
Cloudcroft, flying down the hills, spinning up the smaller rollers, hugging the
turns. I stayed in my drops for most of
the descents and thrilled in the sensation of flying through the
mountains.
After 52 miles of hard climbing and screaming descents I
expected to be saddle sore, legs filled with lactic acid and wobbly. Instead, I felt a healthy muscle throbbing in
my thighs and a freshness in my lungs. I
was still energetic and almost ready to hop back on the bike to do another lap
around the mountain. This was the feeling
I had hoped but dared not expect after a mountain ride and it gave me hope for
being able to not only finish the Death Ride Tour, but to enjoy riding it.
This was the last free weekend until just before the Death
Ride, and I wanted to make the most of it.
Although I didn’t put up the 70-miler I had hoped for, I think a hard
ride at altitude with climbs was better for my training. For the next two weeks, I will struggle to
put in 20-mile rides between work and traveling, but with 3 weeks to go before the
big ride I think the small intervals will still help. I will also continue to make the effort to
get in the pool, as I think that’s helped build up my lungs to make the most
out of less air.
I guess there’s only one way to find out.
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