Ride the Rockies 2013 Route Announced!

Seven days. 513 Miles. Telluride to Colorado Springs. Just over 73 miles per day.

Here is the official route announced this evening at the Ride the Rockies 2013 route announcement party:

**Drumroll**

Sunday, June 9 -- Telluride to Cortz (75 mi, +2,218 ft)

Monday, June 10 -- Cortez to Durango (64 mi, +3,442 ft)

Tuesday, June 11 -- Durango to Pagosa Springs (86 mi, +3,635 ft)

Wednesday, June 12 -- Pagosa Springs to Alamosa (91 mi, +4,678 ft)

Thursday, June 13 -- Alamosa to Salida (84 mi, +1,631 ft)

Friday, June 14 -- Salida to Canon City (67 mi, +2,789 ft)

Saturday, June 15 -- Canon City to Colorado Springs (46 mi, +2,008 ft)

Click to enlarge

Here are my initial thoughts:

This is a long ride -- this would be the furthest I have ridden in seven days. Seventy-three miles per day for seven straight days is a long ride.

I love the start in Telluride. Only been there once (on RTR 2010) and loved it. One of the most beautiful places I have visited.

I've Alamosa to Salida (Day 5) and Salida to Canon City (Day 6). Alamosa to Salida is not a tough ride and I love the overnight in Salida (party at The Vic!).

Salida to Canon City IS a tough ride. The long ride down the canon at an average -2% grade is a lot harder than it looks due to headwinds coming up the canon. But the killer is the climb up the south rim of the Royal Gorge. This is the toughest 2-mile stretch of road I have ever ridden! Riding your bike across the wooden bridge (1,270 planks!) is a big payoff, however, and just a little freaky!

I like the finish in the Springs. That's only a 30-40 minute drive home and downtown Colorado Springs is a cool place to end the ride (it was also the finish line for this past year's USA Pro Challenge).

That's it for now. I'll break down each day in more detail later.

Ride on!

Daren

Ride the Rockies 2013 Training: Building Aerobic and Endurance Base

Click to Enlarge

I'm off to a pretty good start toward my goal to ride 2,000 before the start of Ride the Rockies 2013 on June 8. Since January 1, I have logged 190 miles on my Cyclops Fluid2 indoor bicycle trainer (and right now seriously debating whether to go log 10 more to make it an even 200!). At this time last year I had only ridden 75 miles on the trainer.

If you are planning to enter the lottery for Ride the Rockies be sure to follow me on Twitter (@REAL_BEEFMAN) this Saturday night, Feb. 2. I will be attending the route announcement party in Denver and tweeting the route as it is announced (approx. 7:30 p.m. mtn time).

Even though I find spinning my wheels and going nowhere exceedingly boring there are many benefits of riding indoors. For one thing, winters in Colorado make it difficult to get in consistent workouts on the road. But this is also a good time for building a solid aerobic and endurance base. And riding on an indoor trainer allows you to get a quick but effective workout, on your own bike, any time of day or night (here are some great tips on How to Ride Inside from Bicycling.com).

I try to keep indoor training interesting by varying the intensity and length of workouts and setting goals to push myself. I also pay close attention to RPMs. I usually try to keep my cadence above 90 in order to train my legs to spin faster instead of push harder. Studies have shown pedaling at higher speeds with less force preserve glycogen in the fast-twitch muscle fibers and burns fat more efficiently.

As I move into the second month of training I plan to add in some single-leg drills to improve my "perfect circles" technique. I know that's something I need to work on to become a more efficient cyclist. This year I'm all about cycling smarter, not harder!

Ride on!

Daren

Beefman's Big Game Bite-Size BEEF Nachos

From left to right: fill scoops with ground
beef (column 1), cheese (column 2),
salsa (column 3) and top with
sour cream (column 4)

The stars aligned today as I was left in an empty house with the big screen all to myself,  plenty of beer, and the NFC Championship game on TV. There was only one thing missing from this perfect picture: Nachos!

Checking the pantry I found a bag of Tostitos Multi-Grain Scoops. In the fridge I found some leftover ground beef, a half-empty jar of Jardine's Chipotle Salsa, some pizza cheese and sour cream. Viola! Beefman's Big Game Bite-Size BEEF Nachos.

Directions: Line up 16-20 multi-grain scoops on plate (see below), fill with cooked ground beef and top with cheese, salsa and a dolop of sour cream (at left).

And there you have a quick and easy game time snack for 2-4 people (or just one if you have the house to yourself, plenty of beer, and just finished running 5.5 miles!).

Enjoy!

Daren

Select only the best (unbroken) scoops and eat the rest :)