A Year of Cycling, A Year of Progress

As I look back at a year of cycling, it’s been a year of progress. I really can’t believe how far I’ve come and how many miles I’ve logged. To think that just a year ago I was training for my first cycling event.  The thought of completing a century wasn’t even on the radar. And now, I’ll be participating in my third in just a little over a week. I’ve seen a lot, learned a lot and experienced a lot this past year.

No, I didn’t start cycling a year ago, I’ve been riding, well for a long time. Of course as a kid I learned to bike at a young age and grew up with a bike.  At some point in my late teens I stopped riding.  I’m sure I had other priorities and I’ll be honest, I was fat and not very athletic at all. Fast forward a decade or so, My friend Adam wanted to go on a bike ride and invited me.  I didn’t even have a bike.  So we went to Dick’s Sporting Goods and bought a cheap mountain bike for about $250.  After that Adam and I went on several bike rides.  We would ride around Bear Creek State Park near Morrison, Colorado.  It’s a great park with some amazing bike trails and several climbs.  I remember I used to have to walk my bike up some of the hills.  Now I fly up them!

I remember seeing all of the road bikers out there flying by me on my mountain bike. I wanted to go fast just like them. So in 2008 I took my tax return and ventured out to look at road bikes.  I quickly realized there wasn’t anything in my budget. Luckily at the second bike shop, I found a Specialized Sequoia Elite that was on clearance.  It was the previous years model, and the right price.  And with that I really started riding.  Back then I mostly rode a short course just under 15 miles.  I also usually road alone.

For years I repeated this pattern, short rides alone.  I loved the time on the bike, it was a release, therapy an outlet. I suppose my obsession started then, but it was in now way as intense as it is today.  I was out there for myself, for exercise a good way to spend a few hours on the weekend.  I was lucky for a few years and had been working at home for a company out of California.  I was able to ride a couple days a week in the mornings before they got into the office.

Last year my aunt convinced me to ride in an organized event.  I had never really considered doing anything like this before.  I had always heard of Ride the Rockies and though it was a really cool thing to do one day.  But it wasn’t a reality so I didn’t put much thought into it. My Aunt’s company had a team for the MS 150, and she got me a spot on it. I didn’t know anyone on the team so I asked if she could arrange a lunch with some of the guys so I could meet them.  I remember it was about Saint Patricks day (2013).  I think at that point I had been out on the bike one or two days.  One of the guys, Matt was training for a half Ironman, I felt like I was never going to be able to do the MS 150.

The MS 150 course was from Westminster, Colorado to Fort Collins, Colorado.  Approximately 75 miles each way, split between two days. I had never ridden that far before, and definitely not consecutively. I continued to train on the weekend, squeezing in some longer rides when I could.  I had been doing a lot of travel for work then and wasn’t able to train as much as I probably should have.

I met Jessica in June of 2013. I remember talking to her about one of the crazy rides I would be doing.  I was riding from Idaho Springs to the base of Loveland Pass.  This was a 25 mile ride up, almost all the way to the continental divide.  It was also the first ride I would be doing with the team from my Aunt’s office. It was a good ride, I remember the last few miles of the climb were grueling, but then we got to go 25 miles strait down!  Now that was fun!

Shortly after I rode in the MS 150.  I arrived late and had trouble finding parking.  I missed starting with the team.  There was another lady from the team that was late too.  We started the ride together and had a nice chat.  Since I never participated in an organized event I felt comfort in riding with her.  She told me about the rides she had done and of course I was enamored by the fact that she had rode in Ride the Rockies.  The start was fun and we even rode right by a friends house, ironically he was still asleep but would be joining me at the finish in Fort Collins.  Eventually I lost my riding partner on a hill and decided to go it alone.

As I approached Fort Collins the was an accident.  A biker was lying in the middle of the road, blood gushing from her head.  To this day I’m not sure what happened, but it really shook me up.  Help was on the way and there was nothing I could do, so I continued on. Shortly after I reached the point where the century option started.  It didn’t even seem like something that was plausible so I continued onto Fort Collins.  As I crossed the finish line, my eyes filled with tears.  I felt this sense of accomplishment that was truly amazing.  It was a hard ride for me, my longest ride up to that point and I was exhausted.  I wasn’t quite sure how I was going to ride the next day, but I did.  Actually the second day was really easy.

Shortly after the MS 150 Jessica and I rode together for the first time.   She didn’t have a bike back then, so she borrowed an old road bike that I had.  I had bought it for $100 in Arizona so I could ride when I visited my parents there.  I never really used it much.  It was a little too big for her, but Jessica is a trooper.  I remember her asking if it was going be a fluffy ride or it it was going to be a workout.  We rode for 20 miles and I think it was a fairly hard ride.  We did some of the hills in Bear Creek State Park, and she kept up with me.  I was impressed.

With the MS 150 under my belt I felt like I really wanted to do more organized rides.  My dad kept mentioning Pedal the Plains. At first I wasn’t interested, but then I started thinking about it.  What really appealed to me is that you got to camp out.  It was a 3 day ride in the plains of Colorado.  So I signed up, thinking it would be a great experience.  I did it alone, which was a little unnerving. The first day was a Friday and was a short day, I think about 38 miles.  You started a little later in the day so you could drive out and not have to spend the night.  It was a fun ride, a little windy I remember.  The best part was arriving and setting up the tent.  Then off to the beer garden!

The next day the ride was 78 miles with an option for a century. I never even considered the century option. That morning I got up, having a surprisingly good nights sleep in the tent, and got on the road. There was a section that was miserable, the bumpiest thing I had ever experienced. The vibrations left my entire body in pain.  I got to an intersection where they had a state trooper guiding traffic.  We basically had to make a left across a four lane highway.  There was a man talking to the trooper.  He looked familiar, it was my client Marc!  It was exciting to see him.  He was not riding in Pedal the Plains, but had a booth at the finish and was just doing an out and back.  I rode with him for a while so we could catch up.  We stopped at a rest stop where they provide a free luck.  I was wanting in line for the restroom when I ran into another friend from the past, Jane.  She was riding with her husband.

I’m not sure if it was running into old friends or what, but at that moment I decided that I was going to go for the century option.  I’m glad I did.  It was a cool route, that went through Rocky Ford, an area known for their cantaloupes. The had some to eat at the rest stop.  Funny thing happened right before the rest stop.  The old guys was stopped along the side of the road. Now I had been riding with no one in sight for a while.  I decided to slow down to ask him if he was okay.  As I did I quickly realized he was peeing.  I remember texting Jessica about that experience. The crazy thing was we were only about 5 miles from an aid station.

The century finished in La Junta, which is kind of a cool little town in the plains of Colorado.  I remember riding down and they had a group of cheerleaders cheering on all the cyclists.  While it might sound silly, it was such a great feeling.  It’s really hard to discibe how I felt.  Having  accomplished something that I never even thought I could. I was hooked, cycling was becoming an obsession, something that I must do.

The last day of Pedal the Plains was a hard one.  I had drank a few too many beers and didn’t get a great night of sleep. I had developed saddle sores at it hurt to sit in the saddle.  It was a long ride back to my car.  Somehow it was still an amazing experience.  I could pedal through the pain knowing I would accomplish my first three day ride.

Jessica and I started riding together after that.  I guess we didn’t ride a ton, but got got some miles in.  The mild winter helped.  At the time she was riding her uncles mountain bike.  Again she would keep up with me. I have to ben honest, I’m a little jealous of her ability.  Sure she is a little younger, but she has progressed far faster than I have.  I’m lucky to have found a truing partner with such ability. But I still think it’s funny how it all happened.  I don’t think it was even a consideration for us when we first met.

Eventually Jessica and I started riding more, and talking about getting her a road bike.  She didn’t have a huge budget so we decided to go to Boulder to look at some used bikes.  We though surely they would  have a good selection.  After speeding the day and going to countless stores we came up empty handed.  The next day Jessica happened to find a bike on clearance in town.  We made arrangements to check it out after work. It was new, but a 2012 extra small frame.  Luckily Jessica is short and it was a good fit.  She got a killer deal and we were set to get serious about riding.

I’m not exactly sure how we decided to do the Elephant Rock, but it was exciting to have someone to participate in one of these rides with.  We started training and had been very good about getting miles in every weekend. It’s funny how things happen, I don’t think a year ago either of us would have thought we would be where we are today.  At the end of the day, cycling accomplishments aren’t going to change the world.  But they have changed our lives, the’ve made us fit, adventurous and showed us how far we can push our bodies.  Cycling is relatively new to us, but I think it’s something that we’ll have for our entire lives.