Welcome to Colorado - Let's Climb

I could tell you about altitude acclimation... or the half marathon I think I'm going to do... or that little think called a Half Ironman that I want to do. Or my first ride where I ended up turning around at a beautiful little spot on Cherry Creek.

Cherry Creek Trail

But I'm going to tell you about my SECOND ride in Colorado, with the Rocky Mountain Cycling Club, because it truly tops all others.

In Colorado, I want to join a cycling club - make friends and learn bike routes... race.. the usual. So I looked up the club and they had a ride 30 min away from my house today that was supposed to be "flat" and I thought "good because I'm probably not too ready for the climbing around here."

I anxiously couldn't sleep too well last night - worried about group ride etiquette, forgetting something dumb like my helmet, getting dropped/lost, having to work hard to prove myself.. but I got to the start location 10 minutes early to see... no one. Then a car with a bike pulled in. Then another with two bikes and two men on bikes. Our small group of 6 headed out on a 33-mile ride. There were two other women and I thought "hey, how hard can this be..?"

As we headed out, we let one woman named Sue slowly pace us through a warm-up. We started slowly climbing up the side of a mountain, me at second wheel. Sue yelled back "well, this will be about 6 miles up averaging around 6% grade, gaining 2500 ft." I laughed tentatively. My mind said "Oh crap," my outward attitude said "All right then, guess I'm in for a challenge. Let's do it."

We grinded up and up. Once I was on Sue's left and she motioned for me to go around a group we were gaining on. Naturally, I put in a little more effort to speed up around that group only to find myself riding off the front of the entire group we were with. Oops. I stopped when I seemed to be at a reasonable grade to start up again, and let them catch up.

I rode the rest of the way up with another woman named Mary Ellen, who is a few years older than I am and also new to Denver. We talked in between gasps for air, constantly wondering why we hadn't reached the top yet.

13.7 miles from the start of our ride, after much grunting, groaning, whining, and VERY low cadences we reached the top of the mountain. I started losing Mary Ellen on the steeper climbs toward the very end, but just as the top evened out and I eased off for water, she caught up and we coasted to a stop together to find THE CYCLIST STOP! Complete with free cookies, gatorade, and water all for a requested donation.

Making it to the top of that Rocky Mountain "foothill" was probably the single hardest thing I've ever done. I was never so happy to see a chocolate chip cookie and water. I think this is the most work my small chain ring has ever had.

We continued on after a generous break. The descent was fierce. We were braking and easily looking at 35 mph, whipping around corners - some with little room for error if you didn't desire to go flying down the side of a mountain. This descent was complete with a few sharp hills when suddenly one must be in the smallest gear to make it up.

It was painful and incredible all at the same time. I can't believe I'm still alive but I ALSO can't believe how little my legs hurt right now... 

At the end, Sue looked down at her computer to notify us that we had experienced between 3-8% grade hills on the ascent, it was over 10 miles long, and we had in fact gained nearly 3700 ft in our ride. 

To top it ALL off, I also somehow got a free t-shirt and Sue bought Mary Ellen and me pizza for lunch.  I guess that's a pretty good reward. That and being able to say I did it!