All week I was hoping to bike a 14er or 3 as I had the day to myself, but last minute changes in the forecast had me scrambling for a plan B. I went to bed with my only plan being to sleep in and see what the weather does. Sleeping in for me today was 6:45am and views of live Breck cams showed sunshine. Should I chance it? I was skeptical that the weather would hold, so after conversing on the phone with Kevin, we decided to stay local and ride the road bikes.
Had Kevin not driven up from Lakewood, I certainly would have scrapped any outdoor plans, but since he made an effort to come up, I was committed.
After passing time watching Youtube vids of the Leadville 100 MTB race and drinking coffee, waiting for a break in the drizzle, we finally got on the road. It was cool and cloudy, but the roads were dry at least. Within the first mile or two, the coffee and Lucky Charms were making me a bit dizzy, so I quickly downed a Gu and ate a Clif Bar. This made me feel good enough to suggest heading NW to Old Stage instead of South to Eldo. Big mistake.
Once on the top of Old Stage, we went zipping down the other side toward Lefthand as the rain began to fly. Occasional drops turned into a steady downpour and the temperature was hovering around 50 or less. I was somewhat dressed for the occasion, but was still soaked and water was beginning to slosh in my shoes. I cranked down Lefthand and did not slow a bit for the turn onto 36.
With Kevin in tow, I got as aero as I could and just hammered back into Boulder, going between 28-36mph most of the way, only dropping into the low 20's on the little hill just before Broadway. Kevin hung on for the most part, but drifted off a few times and I waited for him to latch back on before I ratcheted up the pace again. This went on all the way out Jay to 75th, then the rain subsided and thus the pace. Though cold as could be, it was exciting to hammer through the rain, imagining I was leading a Spring classic..... Only in my dreams. We managed 37 miles in crappy conditions and it made the long hot shower and relaxed afternoon in warm clothes feel well deserved.
