About 10 miles in, Jen Gersbach and Miles came around me (they are rockin’ the coed duo category). She definitely would have crushed me today if she was in solo women. They were 9 minutes up on me in the end. When she came around I said, “Man! I haven’t suffered on a bike in awhile!” She said, “It feels good, doesn’t it?!” I thought, “You know what…. it actually does.” The last time I went decently hard on a bike was at the B-68. CTR training wasn’t about suffering, it was about moving forward and being consistent at a pace you can hold for 6-7 days straight!
HR and elevation profile for the day.
Stopping at aide 1 to pick up 2 fresh bottles.
I was able to put out a consistent hard effort for the day. Ironically, I rode Little French FASTER than in the B-68, even with the destroyed upper section from a rain storm a few weeks ago. There was a little more pushing, but I actually could ride most of it! I found myself racing around the same 5 men most of the day.
After aide 2, I was starting to run out of gas, but I kept pushing forward. The demons I’ve been fighting were running in hamster wheels giving me a few extra watts. All the training for CTR hike-a-bike came in handy today too!
After Aide 3, I was told that I had a 10ish minute gap on 2nd place. The road to Sally Barber Mine seemed to go on forever, but I stayed motivated. Kent Ericksen, whom I’d been near most of the day, took the charge on the DH and we finished up in just over 4 hours. I was happy that my pace was about the same as last year riding with Jeff.
It was exciting and reassuring to take the lead today! I have a 14 minute lead, but that’s not anything to be comfortable about. There are 5 days left and anything can happen. My plan is to stay steady. Tomorrow will be a difficult day emotionally for me. It’s the Colorado Trail Stage. We will be riding the last section I rode before dropping out of the race. Hopefully those demons go on warp drive!
