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RIDE THE ROCKIES 2011: The Videos

New Post: Videos of the descents off Tennessee Pass, Woolcott Divide, Rabbit Ears Pass, and Berthoud Pass Here.

Day One
Day one underway: 76 miles and 4700 of climbing. Pretty manageable until you remember that you top out at 12,000 feet and the last 18 miles of climbing are on dirt. Here we go!



Day Two
Whoa. What a great ride. The descent off Tennessee pass was absolutely epic -- one of the best ever. We'll see how the footage looks. Showered and sucking some electricity from the high school right now. Felt good today and there were only about 200 bikes in the bike corral when I arrived here.

Today's ride covered 76 miles from Buena Vista to Edwards. Headwinds made the first 20 miles interesting, but soon subsided. Moderate and steady climbs up to Leadville and Tennessee Pass were rewarded with that awesome descent. The stinger in the tail came with the climb over Battle Mountain, but the final long descent to Edwards came quick and offered more amazing Colorado vistas.

Alas, my camera battery had called it quits by then -- just as well, the downhill took all the concentration my tired mind could muster.



Day Three
Day three done. Another toughie as we climbed out of Edwards on our way to Steamboat Springs. 80.5 miles and 4,400 feet of very real-deal climbing made for a challenging but beautiful day -- but the last 40 miles was straight into the teeth of a 15 mph headwind/crosswind. Thank god I found those two guys to work with; that paceline saved my ass. Thanks guys.



Day Four
‎The 50 mile steamboat loop on day 4 of the 2011 edition of Ride The Rockies was definitely not a "rest day." In fact, it was beautiful but full of punchy, double-digit climbs that had most muttering to themselves in amazement, terror, or disgust. But what a ride! The climb just past the tiny Apple Dam Resovoir was particularly tough, with grades nearing 15%.

All the climbs were less than two miles long, but they were all bitches. In fact, that's the locals name for the loop, "The five bitches." Ride The Rockies day 4: enjoy your rest day.



Day Five
I found the perfect partner to pace me up Rabbit Ears pass (7 miles, 3,500 feet and 8%), and I was feeling good with the "hard" part of the ride done. But beneath Muddy Pass the headwinds returned and were with us for 20 miles until the town of Kremmling, when we turned left up the Colorado River and into blessed tailwinds that helped push us nearly all the way to Granby. Byers Canyon, near the end of the ride, was particularly impressive. Day 5 Ride The Rockies.



Day 6
The sixth and final day of the 2011 Ride The Rockies dawned rainy and cold down in Granby, and for those of us out in tents, we could only imagine the suckatude we'd encounter at 11,000 feet over Berthoud pass. I have to admit, if there was a big sign that said "sag here"I might have been all over it, but since there wasn't I convinced myself to harden up and get going.

The first ten miles were miserable and cold, but as we hit the lower slopes of Berthoud pass, the day started to slowly improve.