Triple Bypass

Whew, what a ride!


Our day started off with a 4AM wakeup call at the Dyer's condo so we could get an early start on our long day. The plan was to make it to Shana's condo by 5, but it's reeeeealy hard to move at that hour. :) We made it shortly after 5 and headed out to the chaotic start area in Evergreen. It was so nice to have Shana there to drop us off so we didn't have to find a parking space. I think we finally hit the road around 7.


The course started by immediately climbing the 11,140' Juniper Pass. I rode at a pretty good speed until I caught up with Christine and Annette (who started a little before us), then I slowed down and chatted for a minute. For the rest of the ride up, I kept up a pretty stead pace of ~10 miles per hour, and nobody passed me the whole way up. I've been considering changing my triple ring setup to a double, and this was good chance fro me to convince myself that my legs were strong enough to handle it. I made it all the way up without the shifting to my little ring. In fact, the only time I used my little ring all day was between Georgetown and Loveland Pass.

The descent down Juniper Pass was pretty fun, but it's a little scary going that fast around people who aren't used to it. There was way too much braking and people frequently not look behind them before trying to pass someone. People also liked to ride towards the middle of the road, which makes them difficult to pass and also puts them in the way of any cars that would like to go around them. These are probably the same people who drive in the left lane of I-25 going way too slow.

I underestimated how much climbing there was between Idaho Springs and Georgetown, and by the time we got to the second aid station I was already pretty tired. Tired enough to convince me that using my small chain ring would be a good idea. We forged on to Loveland Pass Ski Resort where we there was some lunch and our personal sag crew of Shana and Livia waiting for us. I'd like to think that they were there to cheer us on, but really there were just there to check out he hot guys in spandex. :)

The real motivation for getting to the top of Loveland Pass was knowing that it was the halfway point, and that the rest of the course was significantly easier. I felt like I was crawling up the pass, but it was only 4 miles from the aid station so I knew I'd make it before long. When I arrived at the top I realized that leaving my leg warmers in the car at the last aid station was a terrible idea. Before I started my descent it started raining, and at 12,000' that was some coooold rain. Oh, and the 45+ mph descent didn't make it any better.

One more short climb later, and we stopped at the Frisco Aid station. The end was near, and we could taste it. The remaining pass was the easiest on paper, but after 90 miles it was still pretty tough. Just like the top of Loveland Pass, the weather at the top of Vail Pass was miserable, but this time I had the luxury of sitting in a nice warm car with Livia, Shana, and Christine. From here, it was just 20 downhill miles to the finish, so I pulled on my arm warmers, vest, jacket, and leg warmers and headed down in in a heavy rain for 10-15 miles. Eventually I rode myself out of the rain and into the sunny finish area. It was a long tough ride, but I'm glad I can say I rode the Triple Bypass.


BIG thanks to Shana for taking us all to the start line, and shuttling us back at the finish. Some more thanks to Livia for cheering us on and providing a nice warm car.

Big props and congratulations to the Dyers for riding hard and finishing. John, even though you've had so many injuries in the past few years that I've lost count, you still rocked this ride. Annette, all your hard training paid off and I'm glad you were able to ride through your bonk and make it to the finish.




More big props to Christine for making it all the way to Loveland Pass. My first year of road riding I was a little worried of attempting a century, yet you decided to do one of (if not the) hardest rides in Colorado. Next year I know you'll kill on this ride all the way to Avon. After all the climbing you did, our century in Austin is going to be a piece of cake.