There are times when you get a glimpse of what something would be like. Let me give you an example. Last summer when I was in Colorado we climbed a 14,000 ft peak. You could definitely tell there was less air. We wanted to go up to a ridge that was a couple of hundred feet up. It was a little bit of a struggle. I though about the people who climb really high, things like Everest, and how they talk about taking 3 hours to go 200 ft or so. Hiking at 14,000 ft is most definitely NOT the same, but it gives you an idea.
I had a glimpse yesterday.
The Tour Divide is a mountain bike race from Banff Canada to the New Mexico/Mexico boarder running along the continental divide. There is a great movie about that race Ride the Divide, and if you have some time it is definitely worth watching.
Anyway, this race takes about 30 days to do (although the record was set this year at 17 days). And somewhere during many riders have a moment where they are done with riding their bikes in beautiful, awe-inspiring scenery (the kind of scenery you might make a movie about). My little glimpse into that came yesterday, my last day in Lake Tahoe.
On Tuesday I rode a 4 hour ride. It was kind of a combination of the rides I did on Sunday and Monday. This is what the profile looked like:
That was about 6000 ft of climbing in 40 miles of riding. The last climb was done above race pace (as requested by my coach). And when I was finished I was pretty tired.
In fact, Tuesday marked the 7th day I had ridden in a row with two very long rides, and 3 days of hard intervals in there. Yesterday I had a light single track day on my schedule.
All the single track in the Lake Tahoe area is up on the mountains. I wasn’t really in the mood for a long climb so I got a ride up to the trail. Made for a funny profile:
I got going on the trail and well……. I was really just not into it at all. It was beautiful, and gorgeous. The weather was fantastic. But I was done. I had 8 days in a row on my bike. My legs were feeling the effects of the previous days of hard climbing. I just wanted to be off my bike.
I had a glimpse of what the Tour Divide guys must experience in their race. Just a glimpse.
I’m heading home and no biking for me today. Two weeks at my house then off to CO to take on Leadville. Its starting to feel close.
A Year of Living...humm...dangerous? 