Ride the Rockies 2012 Training -- Week One

It's been just over a week since we learned we were selected in the lottery for Ride the Rockies 2012. In those nine days I have ridden a total of 135 miles, 125 of those on the road! That has been an unexpected treat as we have been enjoying spring-like weather in Castle Rock a little earlier than normal. Typically, March is Denver's snowiest month, averaging 11.7 inches of snow.

My goal is to ride 100 miles per week in March, either on the road or my Cyclops Fluid2 trainer. Its a lot easier to get the miles in on the road and, as my buddy Troy observed on our ride today, "There's nothing like riding on the road to train for riding on the road." I totally agree but indoor training is a must during the winter in Colorado. And the Fluid2 helps me practice on spinning a perfect circle, which is probably the number one thing I need to work on to improve endurance and get faster.

But there is nothing like riding on the road and climbing the hills around my home in Castle Rock for pure pain and enjoyment! Those 125 miles on the road consisted of three rides: 42 on Sunday the 4th, 48 yesterday and 35 today (Sunday the 11th). The total elevation gain: 5,699 feet; Calories burned: 8,076 (according to my Garmin Edge cycling computer).

I have the good fortune of living along Hwy 105 which runs for 33 miles along the front range of the Rockies between Sedalia and the Black Forest. The views are amazing and their are plenty of good climbs to simulate the grueling mountain passes we will tackle in June. The roads around my these are range from 6,000-8,000 ft. above sea level.

I now live at 6,400 ft. However, the first two years I trained for Ride the Rockies (2005-06) I was living in Kansas City at 1,000 ft above sea level. So how did I simulate the hills? Well, first of all Eastern Kansas is NOT flat. We may not have the sustained climbs of a mountain pass but we have hills, lots of them. Second, I really think the key to finishing every mile of Ride the Rockies is to get in as good shape as you can, not matter where you live, and stay hydrate during the ride (more on that later).

The other key is to fuel your body properly. As you may have guessed, my fuel of choice is beef. Of course, man cannot live on beef alone (although I come pretty close). They key is to enjoy a wide variety of foods to get all the nutrients your body needs to sustain and recover from long workouts. Lean beef provides the power athletes need with nutrients like protein to build muscle, iron for healthy red blood cells (which transport oxygen from your lungs to your vital organs and muscles, pretty important at the summit of Independence Pass!), and B vitamins for energy.

Threw these ribeyes on the grill last night to fuel my ride today (no, I didn't eat BOTH of them!)

Of course, one of the reasons I do things like Ride the Rockies is so I can enjoy the foods I love, like ribeye steak, red wine and chocolate! It just doesn't get any better than that after a long ride and a nap on the couch, which I am fixin' to do right now!

Ride on!

Daren

Ride the Rockies 2012 Will Be Another Epic Adventure

I woke yesterday suddenly, the way you do when your eyes pop open and your brain is fully awake with a thought. Mine was, "Today is the day we find out if we were selected in the Ride the Rockies lottery!" I immediately jumped up and checked my e-mail. Nothing yet, but it was still early in the day.

I had no idea when to expect the e-mail so I checked throughout the day getting more anxious as the hours went by. But then my friend Al, who I met on my first Ride the Rockies in 2005, posted a link to the Ride the Rockies Roster on my Facebook page saying, "I see your name on the acceptance list. You're going." So of course I clicked the link and there it was:

Then the adrenaline rush hit. I was so pumped I couldn't focus on anything else. I'm in! After doing RTR for five straight years, from 2005 to 2009, I took two years off but I am back and Ready to Rock in 2012.

I remember finding out the news in a very different way back in 2005. I lived in KC at the time and my friend Dave, a former neighbor who had moved to Colorado, called and said, "I'm registering for Ride the Rockies. Are you in?" "I'm in," I said, giving it little thought. I really didn't think about it at all until I received a big envelope in the mail a month later. "Congratulations!" I read, and that's as far as I got before I thought, "Oh my (or similar exclamation), what have I gotten myself into?!"

Dave and I leaving his house for the starting line of Ride the Rockies

RTR 05 after crossing Grand Mesa
(in the background)

That first year was an amazing experience. As I told the Denver Post after the Day 2 climb to the top of Grand Mesa, "This is the toughest thing I have ever done." It was brutal: 91 miles and 6,000 feet of vertical gain in 90 degree weather. One-fourth of the 2,000 riders failed to complete the climb that day. But I made it to the top and finished all 405 miles of the ride that year.

Crossing the finish line in Breckenridge, after tackling Monarch Pass (11,312 ft.), experiencing Salida for the first time (and ending up in the ER in Leadville the next day with "altitude sickness"), and finally crossing over Fremont Pass (11,318 ft.) into Summit County, was the greatest feeling of accomplishment up to that point in my life. Even after finishing five RTRs, three Ironman 70.3 triathlons and riding to the top of the highest paved road in North America to the summit of Mt. Evans (14,240 ft.), it still ranks right up there in the top five.

I look forward to crossing the finish line in Ft. Collins on June 15. But this year I want to enjoy the ride to the fullest extent possible. My goal is to be in the best cycling shape of my life by June 9 so starting today I am kicking it up a notch, doubling my usual time on my Cyclops Fluid 2 indoor trainer to one hour. Hopefully I'll be able to get back out on the road soon and start logging some serious miles in the saddle. My goal is to ride 1,500 miles in the next 14 weeks. That's awfully hard to do riding inside my house going nowhere!

Ride on...

Daren

Just Registered for Ride the Rockies 2012!

Six days, 442 miles, 5 scenic mountain passes, 2 national parks, 1 century option and 24,937 vertical ft. of climbing. That is what I just signed up for. Now comes the waiting part. Registering for Ride the Rockies is a lottery system so I won't know if I am in until next Friday, March 2. But now that I have registered I want in more than ever. After two years off I am once again Ready to Rock!

Patty and Kris of Team DFL on RTR 2005

The first year I entered the lottery for RTR (2005) my friend David signed us up. I have to be honest, I was a little scared. When we got the letter notifying us we were in I was very scared. Living in KC at the time I wasn't sure I could handle the altitude or the mileage. I had never ridden more than 150 miles in a two day stretch. That year RTR average 75 miles/per day for six straight days!

The 2005 finish line in Breckenridge!

I'll never forget my first RTR. It was such an amazing experience riding over 12,000 ft. passes by day and partying every night, showering in school locker rooms and camping out, and making new friends like Kris and Patty (Team DFL), Jeff, Nick, Woody, Skinny Dennis and Paul the Pilot (Team Bar2Bar), and Bob (Team Bob). Reaching the finish line that year will always rank among one of the most fulfilling experiences in my life.

Over those five years I checked off epic climbs like Grand Mesa (10,800 ft.), Monarch pass (11,312), Independence pass(12,095), and Cottonwood pass (12,126) while experiencing awesome Colorado towns like Aspen, Salida, Leadville, Pagosa Springs, Glenwood Springs, and many more.

I hope to see my democrat friend Bob on the ride this year :)

This year the ride will traverse the Rocky Mountains from Gunnison in southern Colorado to Ft. Collins near the Wyoming border, passing through Hotchkiss, Carbondale, Leadville, Granby and Estes Park. For the first year I am registering with my friends from Team Bar2Bar. The name is pretty much self-explanatory. It will be another epic adventure...if we get in. Wish us luck.

Ride on!

Daren