I WON THE RTR LOTTERY! Wait. What Did I Win?

I had a busy day at the office yesterday and completely forgot it was selection day for the 2015 Ride the Rockies lottery. The e-mail notification came at 9:28 a.m. but I didn't see it until around noon, when the Beefwife texted, "You're in! Check the lottery status!" So I checked my e-mail and there it was, sure enough, there it was: I WON THE RTR LOTTERY!

Wait. What did I win? 

Being selected means I also get to add to my RTR gear collection. I love the design this year. May have to get one of these Primal Wind Jackets!

Being selected in the 2015 RTR lottery means I get to pay $500 to ride 465 miles with somewhere around 33,000 feet of climbing (according to my calculations). Not exactly a Powerball type payoff but I feel lucky nonetheless because it also means I get to hang out with my friends from Team Bar2Bar (Paul the Pilot and his crew, Flip Flop Jenny, Hankster and Woody) for a week, visit some cool Colorado mountain towns, and take in some amazing views of the Rocky Mountains peddling along at an average of 15 miles per hour :)

Paul the Pilot is once again serving as Captain of Team Bar2Bar and this year he's bringing along a couple of crewmates!

Being accepted for the 30th Anniversary Ride the Rockies also provides a lot of incentive to get up in the morning and work out (as I am about to climb on my Cyclops Fluid2 Indoor Trainer). My belief is that the amount of suffering on the ride is directly inverse to the amount of training you put in (more training = less suffering). I plan to take a different approach to training this year, however, after suffering a lot on last year's ride (with back, shoulder and hip pain). I'm going to focus less on accumulating miles and more on building core strength and conditioning. I'll share more on my training routine in the coming weeks.

If you got in, stay tuned here for training tips and insights into the route, towns, camp sites, hotels, bars, etc. If you did not get in (whether or not you registered) feel free to come along for the ride! It's always an adventure.

Ride on!

Daren