Colorado is great for many reasons, but one of the best is our 300 days of sunshine. This past weekend was no exception. The weather was just about perfect for cycling, not to hot, but not too cold. I’ve been a little behind on my rides this year, so I needed to log some serious miles. Cycling for Endurance and Climbing was my goal. I figured I’d start with a longer ride on Saturday and then get in a climb on Sunday.
I woke up at 10am on Saturday. This is very unusual for me. I had planed to be on the road by then. But I’m happy I got a good night of sleep. I set out planning to ride about 70 miles, or that’s what I thought. The ride started off just as planed. I made my way to the C-470 trail and looped around to the Platte River trail. The trail was a little crowed which is what I expected since the weather was so nice. The worst congestion is alway around REI, where the trail meets Confluence Park and the Cherry Creek trial. Trail access was closed and there was a confusing detour. Finally I made it back on track.
I rode up to the Clear Creek trail, and as usual there was hardly a sole on it. Alway nice. But again there was another confusing detour which zig zagged through a few busy intersections, no fun at all. I was back on the trail for a while without incident. Just past Kipling Street, the path disappears and you have to take a road and dirt drive to get back on the train in Prospect Park. Just before I hit the dirt I felt something funny. I looked down and my rear tire was low, really low.
I had heard that latex tubes provided a superior ride, so I bought a couple over the winter. I didn’t need to change out any tubes so I packed one as a spare so I’d replace them when needed. Well I found out that latex does not hold CO2, so it makes for a poor spare. Well, this is all I had, so I wan’t sure what to do. Luckily I had my hand pump in my backpack and I figured I would just try to add air to the low tire and see what happened. It held! I had to make one more stop in Golden and add a little more air, but I made it.
As I approached the end of my ride I realized I was close to completing the Strava Grand Fondo challenge for March. I needed to squeeze 3 more miles out of my ride to make it happen. I rode a few laps around the park by my house. I thought I made it, but ended up short. By under a mile too! Oh well.
Sunday I woke up with sore legs, as expected after 90 miles. I knew I had to get my climb in so I sucked it up and hit the road. I figured I’d ride to Lookout Mountain which is a good workout. Once I got going I felt fine and was excited for the climb. I made it up and took a short break. The ride down is always fun, but it was little windy which made things slightly sketchy at such high speeds. As I got closer to home, I felt like I needed a little more of a ride, so I took the long way around Bear Creek park.
It was a good weekend of riding. Got the work done, and feel great. Defiantly on track for the busy summer of cycling events planed. I also signed up for my first half marathon, so I’m going to have to be getting on the running training as well.
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