Part of the Colorado Endurance Series, this 75 mile death march began in Ouray on Saturday July 30, and shot straight up Camp Bird road up to Imogine Pass. I knew I was in for a rough day at around mile 3, when my legs began to scream at me, and I couldn't get my breathing under control, pressing on I managed to settle into a type of rhythm.
I knew I hadn't been riding much, so I decided to take my geared bike, a Specialized Stumpjumper Comp with a 2x9 gearing. the gears were nice, but still hiked a-lot on some of those steep climbs heading to Imogene Pass. I hung with TR Larson and Jeff Hemperly from the race team, (both on Single Speeds) but could only manage to keep them within a hundred yards or so. This was not my day.
The ride into Telluride was a blast, and I managed to gain some ground on my two team mates. only to be dropped again on the single track climb out of Telluride and into Deep Creek trail. The climbing was steep, and my legs were beginning to give out on me. While in Telluride we stopped at the county courthouse for a quick bite and a fill up from a hose. I filled up my two water bottles and my 3L Hydration bladder in my Osprey Talon ll Pack.
Once on Last Dollar road I managed to catch up to Jeff and TR again. (I caught them while on a break) Up and up with more hike-a-bike on Last Dollar Road.
We even had a guy in a Ford Pickup (on his way down Last Dollar) give us a water hand out, this was a blessing, because my Talon ll was dry, and I only had around 2 oz left in one bottle. "Thanks Ford Truck Guy!"
The ride down Last dollar was fast and fun, and once on the paved highway I decided to Bail out straight to Ridgeway and on to Ouray along the paved highway. "I have had enough Hike-A-Bike"
When we turned onto Co Rd 9 by Double RL Ranch, (Jeff Had Stashed some food and water here the day before.) TR was now talking me into continuing on. I had been COOKED since Mile 5, It was all I could do to hang on to this point....
Up we went, up Co Rd 9 to Dallas Trail. the climb to Dallas trail head was not too bad, easy gradual climbing, Using my lower gears to save my legs, the two single speeders soon got out of sight.
My team mates were nice enough to mark turns with a skid mark on the ground, even a rock arrow at one point. The left turn and the beginning of Dallas trail was a demoralizing to say the least, it was a WALL, straight up she side of the mountain, " I should have turned around here " TR said there was only a little Hike-a-Bike, this must be it... Wrong again. the next 20 miles were probably the most Agonizing time Ive ever had on a bike, ( when I say on a bike, i mean pushing a bike ) at least 1/3 of the final 20 miles was pushing up incredibly steep trail.
the rain actually felt nice, it was mostly a drizzle, I didn't stop to put on my rain coat, I just pushed on, one small step at a time, My legs screamed at me, My arms and back hurt, and My moral was dropping FAST!. Iv had to dig deep to keep going before, but not like this. this was a real mental ass kicking.
As the rain soaked in the trail got slick and finally I got to a point where it was funny! " oh of course I cant climb this hill because im slipping backwards" " sure, Makes perfect since, i cant roll down this trail cuz the mud wont let my tires roll" Good Times! good times!
Catching up to TR and Jeff, the told me they could hear me talking to myself on some of the steeper switch backs, even yelling for the sake of yelling. They told me later they decided to stay away, figuring i was a little pissed.
by now I was feeling better, knowing we only had about 5 miles to go to the valley floor or Ouray, and this final decent had some pretty sketchy switch back, where a mistake meant a sheer cliff and broken bones, or worse!
On the valley floor. Now the gears feel good, nice slow cadence along a 1% Grade... Heaven!
finishing up at 7:30 with 13 hours of overall time, over 15,000 of climbing, Legs Sore, Arms Sore, Back hurting, Might lose two toe nails, wet, muddy. all with a huge Grin! Happy to make it.
Beer - Pasta - Bed
