E's Recap

After having the last week off from work, here is what i recall from last week.

Monday - Thursday: Mainly did projects around the house, cooked, and did some swimming, biking and running. Managed to cook enough that we have frozen lunches in the deep freeze for about half of the time between now and when we leave for Canada in late August. Also made enough pumpkin, chocolate chip muffins and banana bread loaves so we'll have post-swimming breakfasts for a while. Finally got a seat put on and the cables replaced on my old tri bike, but can't find my non-carbon brake pads that i took off before IM AZ, so it still isn't ready to ride.

Friday the 4th: The day started with heading up to the Scar Top Mtn 12k in Coal Creek Canyon. We mainly knew that it was pretty hilling and mostly on dirt roads, but hadn't seen the course before hand. Amber stated before hand that she wanted to ignore how I went out and keep it mellow for the start. I was pretty amused then when she took off ahead of me, but that was due to a small pack of women that had formed. A few minutes in, I moved ahead of Amber and started chasing the lead woman as I learned in my first road races that the women are usually better pacers then the men. The first half of the race gains in elevation with some steep uphills that burned the lungs but there were a number of downhills which required pretty quick turnover. Around 2.5 miles, I moved in front of the lead women and two other guys, but the next guys were steadily pulling away. For the next five miles, i was pretty much alone, although the lead woman did get close at the top of the course at 4 miles, but I had the weight and height advantage on the downhills. On the way back, some kids in the 5k tried to race, but they couldn't hold on for too long. Finished in 52:37 for 10th overall and second in age group which earned me a pint glass. Enjoyed the pancake breakfast afterwards although waiting in line wasn't fun.

From the race we headed up to the peak to peak, over to Nederland and down Boulder Canyon to where Four Mile Rd starts. The plan was to cruise up on mountain bikes to Gold Hill Inn for the concert and bbq to get our planned spin in and avoid having to park up there. Its been since '02 or so when we last rode up there which was a big mistake on road bikes, but we figured that with the mountain bikes it wouldn't be too bad, even though we had my bike and Amber's old mtb bike since Sunny had Amber's nice bike, were taking clothes up there in our backpacks, it was already hot, and we had just finished a running race. The biggest problem was we thought it would take 45 minutes or so to get up there. Well, it took about 1.5 hours to get up there and we were in bad shape and even worse moods by the top. Four Mile Rd 2, Rydholms 0. Well, soon after I stared suffering from heat exhaustion with disorientation, elevated heartrate and respiration, etc. Not good. Actually really bad. With enough cold water, a wet towel and some shade, I started feeling better. I was actually able to enjoy most of the concert, but still feel really stupid for getting myself into that. The ride down was fun, but we were too beat to go watch fireworks.

Sat: The day was supposed to start with a 3hr bike with some efforts and an hour run. Due to our unplanned efforts on the day before, I tried to draft off of Amber but when she dropped me, i called it a day. She didn't do the whole ride, but since it was in the nineties for most of her ride, that was probably a good idea. In the afternoon, we made our way to the Beer Mile, where Amber did pretty well (2nd woman (out of three)) and I just tried to finish. Considering she had never slammed a beer before let alone 4, she made me proud.

Sun: After 20 minutes of our planned 2 hr run, i had to turn back. Amber stuck it out and had a good run. When she got home, she immediately asked how hot it was and was dissapointed to learn it wad only 76, but it was actually a little humid here which is unusual. Amber ended up taking an ice bath, but the day turned cooler so it took a while for her to warm back up.

Later we headed up the Niwot to volunteer for the crit that our bike team was holding. It was pretty impressive to see how fast the pro's were taking the 170 degree corner that i was marshalling. There were a few crashes in the higher cat's as there was a some rain that made the road slick.

After the crit, we headed home and had dinner with Sunny who had just gotten back from her adventures in the mountains.