Colorado

Winter break is usually the time when I head to Vail, CO to ski with the family, but this year was different. We heard from my dad's parents, who live in Monument near Colorado Springs, that the Vail resort hadn't gotten very much snow at all. Only about 19 inches of base had accumulated on the mountain, compared to 41 inches last year. Though I was a little bummed out about not being able to ski, I realized this might be the chance to ride some of the best roads in Colorado, something my dad and I have always talked about. After all, we didn't need to bring all that ski gear with us on the trip, which opened up a couple spots on top of the car for bikes.

We eventually make it to my grandparents house in Monument, CO, and already I'm itching to ride. Unfortunately all the snow that wasn't falling in the mountains was instead being dumped all over the Springs, Denver, Boulder, etc. I took this as an opportunity for a mini break in my training and some snow activities. First I tried out the cross country skis, which are kind of tricky to handle with their narrow width, then traded them for snowshoes. My dad, brother, and I even headed to the golf course and hiked around for a few miles. This is when I really started to notice the altitude effect on exercise. I would describe it as getting only half a breath's worth of oxygen for each breath you take, kind of like hyperventilation. Sounds fun right!

After four days of waiting for the snow to melt a little we finally had the chance to ride. Garden of the Gods was our best bet for clear roads, and we managed to get in about an hour of riding in the area. The next couple of days I stayed near Monument, but there was still some nice riding to offer in small towns like Palmer Lake and Perry Park.

Garden of the Gods^

Papa Sills heading into Palmer Lake^

The Tuesday after Christmas was our chance to do some real Colorado climbing. My dad and I mapped out a couple routes and headed to the best cycling city of all, Boulder. According to Map My Ride's classification, we were going to do something like two Cat. 2 climbs and a Cat 4 in 20 miles for an elevation profile that looks like a mountain stage of the Tour. No big deal. It was his idea actually.

After the first steep climb up Linden road we started to reconsider our original plan that had over 2500 feet of climbing. However, that little devil on your shoulder that always says, "come on you, don't be a whimp" obligated us to push on. The climb of Lee Hill road was more gradual than Linden and I got the chance to snap a good picture of the amazing scenery. Dad took a rest and got a cool action shot as well.

Lee Hill road, about 3.5 miles at 5.6%^

Wednesday was my last chance to ride, so I decided to get a ride down to Colorado Springs and see what last bit of climbing I could muster. I planned out a route with a Cat. 1 climb to Crystal Park (once again, this is according to Map My Ride, not sure if that is comparable to a TDF Cat. 1 but it definitely means it's going to hurt!) and a Cat. 3 climb to Cave of the Winds. I started up the road to Crystal Park only to reach a road block a mile into the ascent. There was this lady at a booth that said it was a private, gated community. Laaaame. So no Cat. 1 climb, but I still had Cave of the Winds to do. I rode through the quaint historic downtown of Manitou Springs and found myself on the climb, much steeper than I expected with multiple hairpins. To make things worse, the climb was on an exposed ridge with little cover to the strong winds. I was literally crawling up at 50 rpm in my 39X27, but eventually I made it up.

How's that for a hairpin turn^

IN CONCLUSION, I have to say that riding in Colorado for the first time was just as hard and thrilling as expected. Hopefully I can come back someday and squeeze in some training along with the skiing and Christmas stuff. I really don't know how the pros were able to ride such difficult climbs at over 10,000 feet altitude in the USA Pro Cycling Challenge (much too long of a name).

Being the start of the new year, it seems fitting to make one of my resolutions to be more blog posts. I'm extremely thankful for all of the support I get, I want to let people know how things are going as I chase my goal of becoming a pro cyclist. So, I pinky-swear to update regularly, especially since I have a good feeling about this next season. I didn't want to say anything too soon but I think it's safe to say things are coming along well for the new team I've gotten on board with, Astellas Oncology powered by ABD. I am going to be racing with some pretty darn good bike riders and I'm hoping I can step up and help the team win some major races. More on that later.