Ride the Rockies 2012 Training -- Week Two (Riding with Big Troy)

Week two of my Ride the Rockies 2012 training began and ended on rides with my buddy Troy. There's just something about riding with Troy that always pushed me to a new level. Troy said the same thing when we were riding today. It seems like we always end up racing to the top of a ridge or seeing who can set the fastest pace pulling on the straightaways. To say we are both competitive might be an understatement!

Big Troy at the southernmost point of our ride, Palmer Lake, Colorado.

Troy is a big, strong rider. The two of us must be a sight on the road. He stands 6'6" and I'm 6"4". Our bikes are about as tall as you can buy without having one custom built. Heading south on Hwy 105 into a headwind towards Palmer Lake, Colorado, he makes a great wind block. But when we came cruising back down Spruce Meadows Road with a tailwind into Larkspur, we were flying along at 35-40 mph.

We rode past Spruce Mountain Ranch on our 54-mile ride today.

There's nothing much more rewarding than riding with the wind after two hours of pushing against it, which is why I always try to start into the wind. But even as we headed north towards home I found myself having to push hard to hang with Big Troy.

I was hurtin' for certain by the time we rolled back into Castle Rock. My legs ached for about an hour after the ride, even after breaking out the rolling pin to roll the lactic acid out of my quads.

I enjoy riding alone. Its a great way to get lost in thought and relax. But riding with a rider who is as storng or stronger than you is an important part of training. The route we rode today featured 2,136 ft. of elevation gain over 53.93 miles. I averaged 16 mph, about one mile per hour faster than I normally ride. But I didn't need my Garmin Edge bike computer to tell me that. I can feel it.

Ride on!

Daren