Redemption...The Return to Mt Evans

129 - 8:30 - 9409 - 15,652

As the alarm spits out some hip-hop, I have no desire to get out of bed at 6:45am. My legs are tight, my room is dark, my desire is low, but it's Mt. Evans day. I peel off the bed glue, do my morning thing, eat breakfast (plain bagel w/fake butter, Fierce Grape Gatorade, and some electrolyte tabs), and get into my gear.

Luisa and I are riding at 7:50am. We head south down the Platte River bike path, until we can head west on some side roads. An hour of warm-up and we are at the edge of the foothills, climbing up through the town of Morrison and past the world famous Red Rocks Amphitheater.

Luisa's plan is to ride to Echo Lake and then head back home, rocking off 95 miles and about 10,000 vertical feet. As we ride through Evergreen toward the turnoff for Echo Lake, I find myself going a little harder than I desire; Luisa is in the process of dropping me up some of the steep hills on Highway 74. Luckily, the crest the hill is near, I power through 5 or 6 huge pedal strokes and accelerate fiercely to catch up on the downhill. You see how I accentuate the power of my pedal strokes, when in fact it's just the extra 60 pounds that I have on Luisa that lets me get back on her wheel...she is one hell of a rider.

We ride nice and steady up CO-103. The grade is good, the traffic is low and my legs feel great. For the most part we ride side by side, dropping back to single file as cars approach, chatting and just enjoying the beautiful Colorado mountains. Sufficient water, good nutrition, and good pacing made the ride to Echo Lake quite uneventful, for once.

After a stop at the souvenir shop for more fluids I say my good-bye to Luisa and start the 14.4 mile ride up to the end of the road near the summit of Mt. Evans. 14,000 feet...I've never ridden a bike to this altitude before, and really, I've never done much of anything at this altitude before. The highest altitude that I've ever experienced, not counting flying in a plane, was when I was visiting my sister in Bolivia a few years back. We headed to the Salar de Uyuni and the areas beyond where we hit an altitude of 18,000 feet or so; I was pretty useless at that altitude.

The climb starts off serious, a solid grade finds me in my easiest gear, a 39x25 just working to stay at 8mph. This grade doesn't let up, I pass the 4 mile mark and am now above tree line, at the 5 mile mark I'm along the side of the mountain with amazing views to the east, at mile 8 the grade lets up at a false flat. After that false flat I get my first breather, about 1/2 a mile down to Summit Lake on some really shitty roads; at least they are paved. Then it's back to business.

Once above about 12,000 feet I am no longer able to just enjoy the ride. Instead I focus on the road in front of me, and not riding off that road. As the oxygen in the air decreases, my focus increases in order to keep progressing. Narrow roads, switchbacks galore, steep and rocky drop-offs, a plummeting temperature and here I am riding drunk, 5 hours into a ride, just trying to stay on the road. It's a great feeling.

I pass the 13 mile marker and know that I'm close. Mile 14 cruises by and I spot the observation tower that sits on the peak, almost there. Rounding the final switchback I keep pedaling with complete tunnel vision through the line of cars and people who are "summiting the mountain"; lazy fucks. To say that you've summited a fourteener by driving up to 14,100 feet, then hiking a little path another 100 vertical feet to the top is just plain absurd. But I digress, I've made it. 5 hours and 30 minutes after leaving home, I'm at the end of the road at the top of Mt. Evans.

Pee break, water, talk to the Forest Ranger for too long (she just kept asking questions!), down I go...freezing my ass off, and I blame the ranger for that one. Just a mile downhill I'm shivering, trying to negotiate these switchbacks (still drunk on altitude), dodging mountain goats (seriously) and my hands are going numb.

After gaining feeling back to my fingers, the rest of the ride home went really well. Sure my legs felt a little heavy up the last few hills, but surprisingly, this was the best long ride that I've had here in Denver. I didn't blow up, I didn't bonk, I knew where I was going (first ride without a map), and I felt like I could keep riding.

I know that the morning is going to be rough after today, but it was a great day: 129 miles - 8hours and 30 minutes of ride time - 9409 calories burned - 15,652 vertical feet climbed.

I really need a job to keep me from doing these rides...so if you know anyone in the Denver area in need of a guy with HR, Training, and sales experience, just let me know.

Stay healthy.