SAG'n

I was Christine's personal SAG (supplies an gear) vehicle yesterday during the Triple Bypass. I had a cooler full of cold drinks and a bag full of gear to keep her ready for any weather. I also had my own gear so I could ride along with her as much as possible.

I dropped her off at the start area early in the morning and then drove down I-70 to the Georgetown aid station. From Georgetown I geared up and and rode the opposite direction on the course until I found her. I ended up making it almost all the way up to Echo Lake before we crossed paths. We rode down into Idaho Springs and on to Georgetown together. After a bite to eat in Georgetown, we continued west.

When I did the ride a couple years ago, I remember the stretch from Idaho Springs to Loveland ski resort being a tiring uphill drag and I wanted to ride as much of that as possible with Christine. After leaving Georgetown, the route follows along some bike paths and frontage roads for a while before getting onto the shoulder of I-70. I rode almost up to I-70 with her and then turned around so I could get the car and meet her at Loveland resort. I would have loved to ride the whole way to Loveland with her, but that would mean I'd eventually have to ride back on I-70 alone and it didn't seem like a good idea.

The timing worked out well because Christine got to the ski resort a minute or two after I parked the car. I got back on my bike and rode with her up to the top of Loveland Pass. They had a camera man up there, so hopefully there will be a good picture of us together. I said goodbye to her atop Loveland Pass met her again briefly at the Summit County High School Aid Station before driving up to the top of Vail Pass. I hopped on my bike again on Vail Pass and rode down to meet Christine at Copper Mountain.

Of the 3 passes Vail is the easiest, but after almost 100 miles of riding, it's plenty hard. It's a great feeling to pull into the Vail Pass aid station because you know you've ridden about 100 miles, and the remaining 20 miles are all downhill. I said goodbye to Christine one final time and then met her at the finish.

At the end of the day, I had actually ridden 80 miles in between shuttling the car and riding with Christine.

Third times a charm

Christine rode the Triple Bypass today, start to finish. She dug deep into her suitcase of courage to conquer this very difficult course, and I'm proud of her for taking it on..

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Christine got her hot new Blue Sky kit earlier this week:


Even after 120 miles and 10,310 feet of climbing, she still looks amazingly chipper: