The sun came up and the clouds had dissipated.
Sleeping on the ground isn’t all that bad. It definitely keeps things simple.
Our trail was covered with a treacherous snow field. Our other option was to push straight up the side of the mountain to get on the trail. My dad used to drag me on hikes as a kid where there was no trail, so this was no different… minus I had a bike to drag behind me.
These are the times I wish I had longer legs.
We got up on the Continental Divide Trail. Once again, there were some clouds to the left, but no immediate danger. We were very exposed with treeline being far, far away. If you don’t know what the weather is going to do, you have to hustle a little bit. I wanted to roll around and lay on my back and look at the sky, but alas, we had to keep moving.
It felt good to ride after a couple more hours of hiking!
Superkove at it again.
Lots of water
and more hiking through the snow.
Saturday we ran into Brian and Davey. Sunday, we ran into Eszter and Chris doing the exact same thing we were (and what were the chances, seriously?). Eszter set the record at CTR last year with essentially no preparation. I can’t wait to see her slay it this year. Definitely inspiring.
We dropped back down to 8500′ where the air felt thick after spending a lot of time over 11,000′! We jumped on the CO Trail at Chalk Creek and rode it back to the car. There was a little more hiking, and then some super fun trail which I rode about 3 years ago. I wish I could have finished the Vapor Trail a couple years ago. I will be back to slay that beast!!
Different views from “lower” elevation.
Zoom zoom!
Rewards at the end of this ride. Calzone and a porter at the Eddyline in Buena Vista. I bet that even despite the baby wipes, we smelled like cattle!
I was surprised that I didn’t feel exhausted after the weekend. My energy levels were much higher than after the DDC training weekend before this one. With these huge training weekends, I end up taking it pretty easy during the week to recover.
The only thing that weighs on my mind is that these training days are actually SHORT compared to CTR. Most days will be 16+ hours of moving forward and not a lot of sleep for 5-6 or more days. That is still intimidating to me. I have one more big block this weekend and then the taper begins and my anxiety will continue to build.
