My son and I drove most of the route on a roadtrip to AZ for Rockies spring training. The apex of the week is Wolf Creek pass, although I expect the real challenge to be my tail end after days on a bike. Pray for no head winds heading north out of Alamosa on Day 5!
Am I ready? The late spring made training rides tough and cold. I fell short of my training goals, but did put in a lot of riding and training did prove that diet is much more important than exercise for weight control, at least at my advanced age. Am I ready?
In preparing for RTR, a few road trips made training fun. A group of like minded cyclists headed to Sante Fe, NM and completed the century ride in May (www.santefecentury.com). I was ready for my first century, but the last 40 miles into a headwind toasted me. But I stayed on the bike all the way up Heartbreak Hill and took "Ride 100 miles in one day" off the bucket list!
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The following weekend was the Iron Horse, a gorgeous 50 mile, 6700 ft climb from Durango to Silverton, Colorado (http://ironhorsebicycleclassic.com/). The race started as two brothers, one a cyclist and one a train brakeman, decided to race from Durango to Silverton. The train takes about 4 hours and the winning cyclist this year made the trek in 2.5 hours. Sadly, I didn't beat the train, but it was beautiful and challenging ride and the 8 mile down hill to finish was a rush!This spring wore on me, wearing all my gear (tights, shoe warmers, crab claw gloves, etc.), constantly cold, and getting snowed upon. Loved riding last Monday in the heat! Imagine a warm downhill on Lookout Mountain - jersey and shorts and no chills! Tapering this week puts a lot of time on my hands these last days before...
The REI staff know me by name, the bike is tuned, packlist assembled, gear is slowly making it's way into packs. Saturday is the road trip before the RTR road trip and I am almost ready.
Be cool!
-Steve
Awesome Steve! Good luck to you and your son.
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