Monday, July 30, 2001 Averaged 18.2mph in this morning. I got a little sick to my stomach after the first hill-climb, though. I'll post a short synopsis of the Courage Classic here soon. Update: I only posted an 18.3mph cumulative average after my ride home today. Man, the wind was terrible. I suffered. muttered around 6:56 AM

Saturday, July 28, 2001 A big cycling week for me: 250+ miles from Saturday the 21st to Friday the 27th. I currently have over 590 miles for the month of July, which already shatters my previous month record. The month will end up being over 600 miles, but not by much, unfortunately. The long miles are due to doing the Courage Classic last weekend, a good part of the Triple Bypass the week before, and doing a couple of fairly long rides with my bud Steve, who was visiting last week. muttered around 3:21 PM

She lost 40 pounds, and now is being mauled by groups of strange men at parties! She loves it! muttered around 3:15 PM

Monday, July 16, 2001 OK, so the Triple Bypass didn't go exactly as I'd planned. But, it wasn't a total disaster, either. Any way you look at it, I did about two-thirds of it, and two out of three ain't bad. Rather than re-write all the gory detail here, I'll just publish the email reply that I sent to my friend Steve. Date: Sun, 15 Jul 2001 14:47:52 -0700 (PDT) From: Mike Thomas Subject: Re: Wimped out again To: Steve ***** Well, I have my own tale of wimping to tell. And I can only blame myself. Long story short - I SAGged out of the Triple Bypass at mile 70. The long story: I felt fine topping Juniper Pass, and OK 30+ miles later, when climbing Loveland Pass. Loveland Pass is a real heart-breaker. You climb and climb and climb, then they have an aid station 4 miles from the summit. I spent a long time at that aid station. I guess I didn't really want to get back on the bike. Come to think of it, I probably spent too long at every aid station (surprised?), which sort of factors in later. The remaining four miles are a real climbing test - probably the longest four miles I've ever ridden. You're above treeline for about half of it. You can really feel the altitude up there (11,990 at summit), even if you live in Denver and train in Evergreen. I rode in a cold sweat the whole time. So, I _did_ summit Loveland Pass. My bike computer registered 60.00 miles, exactly, when I parked it! Got a picture taken by a dude that was doing digital photography out of a van at the summit. Nice shot - he's sending it to me on CD-ROM. Took a group picture for some cute gals. Looked around a bit a the austere surroundings (it's above treeline, with snow still around in spots). Before descending, I switched back to my leg and arm warmers and vest (this changing of clothing was an oft-repeating activity). Just as I got on the bike and started descending, the rain I'd been watching move across the breathtaking valley started taking my breath when it hit me. It was cold, but just a sprinkle. I thought I could beat it down the mountain. And I did, even though I didn't ride balls-out fast down the pass into Keystone. For most of the trip down I was dry and fairly comfortable except for cold fingers, but I didn't feel much like getting over 35-40mph - mainly because of the hairpin turns often associated with mountain descents. But... Eight miles later, when I got into Keystone, and it flattened out a bit I could see the road a mile ahead turn very shiny, and the air was thick with rain. I rode into it, my shoes quickly filling with water. The one cyclist I could see in front of me was called over by some buddies of his who were hanging out under a shelter. There didn't seem to be anyone behind or ahead of me, and I was getting drenched. I'm used to following others on these big rides, but there was no-one left to follow, and was loathe to pull out the map in this downpour. Eventually I came upon another cyclist in nothing but shorts and jersey, waiting at a corner. I stopped and asked him what was up. He said, "this is nuts, I'm waiting for a SAG". I was about to say "good luck" and be on my way, when a SAG vehicle pulled up. The guy got his bike put on, and jumped in. I didn't really intend to SAG out. But, just before they drove away, I thought to ask the driver what the weather was ahead. He radioed to find out, and relayed that it was raining on Vail pass, 20 miles away. That was it for me. I said, and I quote, "I'm out". Sorry ass excuses: a) It was already getting late, and I was feeling quite alone at this point. b) It was already getting late, and the rain would only slow me down. c) If it was raining in Vail, I still had two rain-slicked roads to climb and descend (Swan Mountain and Vail). In the end, I was pretty darn tired, and the rain was all it took to take the last bit of wind out of my sails. I'm convinced I could have made it, given nice weather, but just couldn't mentally tough it out through the cold rain. I guess I'll plead "discretion is the better part of valor". While riding in the van, I discovered that the driver had passed only about 50 riders on his trip from the Loveland aid station. Chances are that I was in the last 10% of the entire TBP crowd. This, despite passing a lot of people during the day. I'm convinced it was my lack of discipline at the rest stops. I probably averaged 45 minutes at each one, with short clothes adjustment breaks along the way. I was really bummed about sagging out. It's the first time I've done it. Feels like crap. It's funny how things change once you're in the car. "Oh, gosh it's probably not that cold out there now". "Doesn't seem to be raining as hard now". "I suck". But for me, once I was in the car, that was the end of the ride. Even if the guy only took me a mile and I rode the rest, the ride couldn't have been "completed" in any real sense. It really sucked to be let out of the car at the finish line, while legitimate finishers rode in to cheers. To add insult to injury, the weather in Avon was beautiful. I've got a commemorative t-shirt and jersey that I don't feel really comfortable wearing. For me, they commemorate a failure. MB says I should be proud to have climbed Loveland Pass, alone. I guess she's right - it _is_ an accomplishment. However, it's not the accomplishment I set out to achieve. Obviously, I'd much prefer to have been rugged enough to finish legitimately. I'll finish it next year. later... PS - a fitting reward for my "effort" is a stye in my right eye that I developed overnight. Big, ugly, nasty eyelash-pimple. Yuck. Hopefully it's gone by the time CC comes around next week. muttered around 6:30 AM

Thursday, July 12, 2001 That's odd. My ride into work today was of what I thought was medium intensity. I didn't push super-hard, and didn't climb the one big hill I climb in the morning out of the saddle, as I do on a "speed" day. I even got held up at more stoplights than usual. So, what's odd? I made 18.0mph average, that's what's odd. That's a good average on a speed day. I guess I'll take it as a good sign. Good signs are important right now, because the Triple Bypass is only two days away. I'll be getting up at 4:00 in the morning Saturday to ride from Evergreen to Avon, 120 miles over three passes (Squaw, Loveland, and Vail), constituting 10,300 feet of climbing, in one day. I'm very fit, but this ride still has me nervous. I've said to people that I've never been really challenged on a long ride. Well, this is the one to do it, I think. I switched back to my Rolf wheels last night. It seemed like a good idea, because even though I could break a spoke, at least if I break one on the Rolfs it's replaceable in the field. That's not the case with my Mavic Cosmos wheels. Anyway, what should have taken ten minutes took twice that long because when the shop replaced the broken spoke (which was actually a broken spoke nipple) they didn't bother to remove the broken piece of nipple from inside the rim. So basically the rim sounded like a metal hoola-hoop when rotated. I had to remove the tire and tube and coax the piece of nipple out of the rim. At least I got to discover whether the kevlar-beaded tires (Michelin Axial Pro) on these wheels are going to be hard to remove/mount if/when I get a flat - they aren't (praise be). muttered around 7:16 AM

Monday, July 09, 2001 At the 45-mile mark of what was to be a 60-mile ride on Saturday, I broke a spoke (actually a spoke nipple) on my Rolf wheels (the content of that link is interesting, eh?). These are the wheels that came with my Trek 5200, and they only have 700 miles on them. Since the wheels have a very low spoke count, the breakage threw the wheel so far out of true that it wasn't rideable, even with the brakes fully released. What a pain in the ass. Luckily one of the guys I was riding with had his cell phone, so I was able to call MB for a ride home. I took the wheel to the shop where I bought the bike, and they charged me $15 to replace the spoke. What a crock! At least the guy that runs the store offered to "work something out" with me if these wheels turn out to be real lemons. Now I'm unsure as to whether to continue riding them and gamble that the breakage was just a one-time thing, or just dump them on eBay to a lighter rider, and replace them with some hand-builts that are better suited to my weight. The Triple Bypass is only five days away. I think I'm ready. However, I don't know if you're ever really ready for a ride like that. muttered around 7:51 AM