FYI - No Advanced Ride: August 6th

Hi guys, I just wanted to let you all know that there won't be an Advanced ride this Saturday due to the lack of ride leaders. I will be leading the Intermediate ride out to Chatfield/Titan road. Sorry for the inconvenience, hopefully we will be back to Advanced rides on August 13th.

RECAP: July 30th Mt. Evans

Hello Advanced riders... Just a quick recap for you guys but you already know what an awesome day we had on the mountain.  We started our journey in Idaho Springs where 6 riders where willing to take 3hrs of punishment climbing 28 miles up the highest paved road in North America.  Ben, Eric, Solomon, Scott, Martin and Adam met me at the park-n-ride across from the Shell gas station by the Mt. Evans exit off of 70.  Beautiful sunny skies welcomed us and a nice temp in the high 60's was very pleasant to ride in.  I was joined by Gretchen who was awesome and helped me sag for the boys.

Every one's smiling at the start... :)

The wheels started turning just after 8:40 or so.  I took a before pic of every one and then let them loose on the mountain.  Gretchen and I hung out for 45 to one hour as the boys were making their way up.  We hopped in my car and started heading up the mountain our selves.  As we caught up to each rider we would ask if they were ok and see if they needed anything while also taking a few pics.  After catching up to every one we drove up the road a ways and waited till they passes us again.  We did this one more time before we decided to meet half way up at Echo Lake.  They all took a break and refilled water bottles, had some food and used the restroom.  After a little break the boys remounted their rigs and continued on their journey.  Gretchen and I played cat and mouse with the boys 2 more times as they were nearing the summit.

Every one who had started this journey made it to the top!  It was pretty awesome following the guys and I felt like we were in our own little tour for the day.  The top was pretty crowded with other tourists but we managed to find a parking spot and got the boys more fluids, food, clothes for the descent back down and of course a couple of pics.  :)  We decided to meet at the little ranger station where you have to pay on the way up just to make sure every one was doing ok and so that the guys could shed some clothes from the descent. The guys made it down just about as fast as we did!  We had one last quick stop and picked up some jackets, arm warmers, etc and the guys were gone.  Adam actually beat us back to the park-n-ride with Solomon, Ben, Eric, Martin and Scott bringing up the rear.

WE MADE IT!!!

It was an awesome day, the weather could not have been any nicer.  I wish I could've rode but I had just as much fun sagging and cheering you guys on.  I am really proud of all of you for attempting this ride and super pumped that every one made it to the summit and down safely.  Thanks for a great ride guys and I had a blast helping you guys make the journey.  I'm not sure how we will top this ride...

Ps. I'd like to give a HUGE thanks to Gretchen for sagging with me and bringing all the food, water and even some extra clothes.  I really enjoyed your company and you were a big help.  :)

The sag wagon... Thanks Gretchen!

Check out the rest of the pics here:
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=bicyclevillageaurora&target=ALBUM&id=5636065595259918177&authkey=Gv1sRgCPiSidjhpo3KpQE&feat=email

RECAP: July 23rd Deer Creek/High Grade

Advanced Ride: July 30th Mt. Evans

Alright, you guys asked for it so you got it! We will give Mt. Evans a go for Saturday's group ride. The weather looks like it should be pretty good with partly sunny skies and a high of 55. There is a chance of thunder storms after 3pm but that shouldn't affect us. I've gotten a couple requests to start earlier so for this ride we will start at 8:30 be ready to roll. Hopefully starting earlier we will be able to avoid some traffic and get to the summit just before noon and get down ahead of the possible afternoon thunder storms.

There is a large park & ride lot just off the Idaho Springs exit right by a Shell gas station where we will all meet & start from. I'd say plan to b there at 8 so we can roll out by 8:30. I've done this ride once before last summer and it took me around 3 hrs to climb and a little over an hour to descend just to give you guys an idea of what you're in for. Get yourself mentally prepared to suffer for at least that amount of time if not longer. This is no joke and is probably one of the hardest things I've done.

With that being said I want to see all you guys succeed so I've decide that I am going to be your personal sag wagon. When I rode it before I did it with 2 bottles & just a little food and I was wasted when got to the top. I wished I had at least 1 to 2 more bottles and definitely more food. It will also be pretty cold on the summit so you'll want to bring arm warmers and or a jacket and possibly even knee warmers. Bring as much food, water and clothing as you'd like because I will carry it for you guys in my car and will follow you guys up there and can give you supplies as you need them or if you don't need some thing you can pass it off to me so you the best possible chance of succeeding. If some one doesn't feel they can make it all the way or doesn't want to do the descent then I can drive you back down in my car. I just wish we had radios so that you guys could tell me if you need some thing or have a problem.

I'd definitely give your bikes a good looking over and tighten all nuts/bolts, check your tires. If they are worn I'd suggest getting new ones, make sure it's shifting ok, chain is clean & lubed. Computer is good and charged if need be.

Things I'd suggest you bring:
2-4 water bottles
Lots of food- chews & other solid food (sandwich, etc.)
Arms warmers, knee warmers, jacket, etc.
Extra tube & Co2 or pump.
Cell phone (may not get reception but good to have just in case)
ID & some cash (need to buy a pass I think its $5-7)
Sunscreen
Inhaler
Bottle of O2... Lol.
Any other things you may possibly want.

If you guys have any questions feel free to give me a call (may not answer but leave a quick message and I'll call you back ASAP) or text me. 415-420-7723. Other wise I'll see you guys at 8 in Idaho Springs at the park-n-ride lot ready to have some fun! :)

Advanced Ride: July 23rd Deer Creek/High Grade

We are back to riding and will start off again with another trip to Deer Creek so we can get some climbing in before we tackle Mt. Evans. I was hoping to maybe ride Evans this weekend but they are having the hill climb there this weekend so maybe next week if the weather is good. Tomorrows weather should be really nice with a high of 92 but when we are climbing it will cool down nicely for us. We'll meet at the shop & head out around 9:30ish... :) see you guys then.

Check out the stats from last time here:
Advanced Ride: Deer Creek by edge705cb at Garmin Connect - Details

RECAP: July 16th Look Out Mtn.

This was some what of an impromptu to Advanced ride out to Look Out Mtn. on Saturday thanks to some good scheduling of other ride leaders.  We had a small group of Adam, Paul and I to start out with but we picked up Solomon and Bridgette later on.  Adam, Paul and I started down the CC trail which was busy with runners, walkers and other cyclist along with debris from the river flooding.  We caught up with the Rec Group at Confluence Park which is where we pick up Bridgette.  From there on we followed the same route that we usually do, 23rd to Quitman, and then to 26th and on to 32nd.  After we arrived in Golden we met Solomon at the Sinclair gas station while we refueled.

Solomon mixing up his secret concoction.  

Once we had fresh bottles and some food in our bellies we headed up Look Out, although this time instead of riding up the front like we usually do we went up the side/back which I feel is a longer climb and more consistent.  Solomon and I lead the group up the climb and half way up we stopped and found some shade while we waited for the others to make their way up.  Paul was the next to arrive and so were the clouds.  The three of us decided to head back down and we picked up Adam along the way.  We stopped one more time at the Sinclair gas station for a quick water bottle filling and then we made our way back to the shop so we could be the rain back.  On our run back home we ended up catching Bridgette who's back was hurting on the climb and also didn't quite have the right cassette for climbing which is why she turned around early.  We made a quick stop at Confluence park to let a few people catch up and Solomon treated himself to a hot dog before getting home.  The rain held off just long enough so we could make it back to the shop dry but very tired.  Thanks to you guys for a nice ride, I look forward to seeing you all next Saturday.

Check out ride stats here:
Advanced Ride: Look Out by edge705cb at Garmin Connect - Details

Check out ride pics here:
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=bicyclevillageaurora&target=ALBUM&id=5630452182832747601&authkey=Gv1sRgCJ6Slovgz5-vtQE&feat=email

FYI-postpone Advanced Rides

Hey guys, I just wanted to let you know that I may not be having an Advanced Ride for a while, because I will be helping out lead some Intermediate rides to fill Jacquette's shoes due to unfortunate injury. There may be a game time decision if there are other ride leaders to help out. I'll try to add some mileage on to push Inter's and give you guys a good work out or we will due routes that will allow you guys to take off on your own if you feel like it. Thank you for your patients and let's wish Jacquette a speedy recovery!
This Saturday we will head out to the Aurora Res. and I plan to add a few extra miles on to our normal route so you guys will get a good work out.