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Bicycle Tour of Colorado 2009 Part 1

Mr. WeirdWrench

At 513 miles total riding, the 2009 Bicycle Tour of Colorado (aka the BTC) was the longest of its 15-year history.  A week of long rides over some of the highest and steepest roads in the state.  That’s why I wanted to do it.

As an avid cyclist, living and cycling in Colorado most of my life, I have of course done some of the big Century (100 miles in a day) rides, and even did the Courage Classic (3-day charity ride for Children’s Hospital) a few times.  But, I’m not real big on riding in large crowds, so I had never done one of these large, week-long things.  Nevertheless, with the help of my wise and wonderful wife and a couple friends, I talked myself into it.  Said wife, being a botanist (by trade and nature), wanted to come along to be my personal sag vehicle and do some hiking and botanizing along the way.  Actually, I think she mostly wanted to keep an eye on me.

The route as advertised started and ended in Glenwood Springs, going 77 miles over McClure Pass (at 8755 ft) to Hotchkiss the first day, then 98 miles to Grand Junction over Grand Mesa (10839 ft) on the second.  The third day would be a short jaunt of 63 miles to Montrose, with an option to ride an extra 40 through the Colorado National Monument.  The forth went on to Crested Butte via Highway 50 over Cerro Summit (7950 ft) and Blue Mesa Summit (8704 ft) for another 93 miles.  Day five was a rest day in Crested Butte, on which we were free to ride as much as we liked.  Day six would take us 75 miles over to Buena Vista via Cottonwood Pass (12325 ft). Then, on the seventh day, we would not rest.  At least not before riding 107 miles back to Glenwood over Independence Pass (12095 ft).

Now, if you are one of those whose eyes are bugging out just trying to imagine all that, you probably don’t want to hear that I was really looking forward to it, and that I was not really intimidated by any of it.  Well, maybe a bit of trepidation about the consecutive tough days; it had been a long time since I had done more than two or three 60-plus mile days in a row.  But, with limited hubris, I am considered a fairly strong rider, and a better than average climber (for my age cohort), so I was stoked.  The biggest real concern I had was the weather.  I really hate riding in the nastiness, and the weather patterns this year were promising to serve up cycling misery for the whole week.  On the other hand, Glenwood has a nice mineral hot spring (one of my favorite things), and so does Buena Vista, so I figured I wouldn’t be too far from muscular rescue if I really needed it.

Although the tour organizers claim that most riders camp, we, being of the over-50 persuasion, opted to stay in nice comfy civilized quarters.  I don’t consider sleeping on the hard ground right next to 1500 other people jammed together in tents on a high school football field after cycling 60 or more hard miles much of a reward.  I also don’t consider it camping.

Arriving in Glenwood in the middle of the afternoon the day before the ride, we went to the school to get checked in – collected the packet with the wristband and ride bible, etc., then headed off to our motel.  Walking down Main Street to find dinner, the sky was threatening rain, and soon started to deliver a light drizzle.  We ended up at our favorite Glenwood restaurant, a little family run Italian place that’s been there for ever.  They seated us outside at a large table that had an umbrella.  As we ordered drinks, they seated a party of six obvious cyclists at an adjacent table, which had no umbrella, so they were getting quite wet.  As the rain continued, we felt increasingly bad, and invited them to share our umbrella.  Turned out these cats were from Maine, and had been doing the BTC for many years.  This was a story we would keep hearing all week long – people from all over the country riding their nth BTC. So, we had a great dinner, chatting with them about Colorado, travel, cycling, Lance’s comeback, you name it.

I tried to get to bed early, but didn’t sleep particularly well.  Getting up at 5, my heart sank as I pulled back the drapes to see a parking lot full of big puddles and a steel gray sky.  Feeling victimized by the weather gods as usual, I took solace in the fact that it wasn’t actually raining.  I dressed in layers, hoping I could remove some as the day went on.  We ate breakfast fairly quickly and I rolled out of the parking lot and down the road toward Carbondale and McClure pass.

I really wanted to pace myself conservatively the first day, fighting my usual tendency to beat myself up.  I figured that a really good average pace for me that day might be like 15 mph, but expected something well under that, because I couldn’t remember what McClure pass was like.  So, I hooked up with some riders going at a pace I liked and hung in.  About the time I got warmed up, the weather seemed to be lightening, and I increased my pace a bit.  I rode for a while with a woman from Idaho, had an interesting conversation, but lost track of her at the first aid station.  That’s the way it goes on these rides.

The weather had continued to clear and the road dried out, making it a nice day, so I packed my jacket and leg warmers into my seat bag and felt much better.  A bit later up the road, I ran into one of the guys from dinner the night before and rode with him for quite a while.  This was turning into a really nice day, and I was feeling great by the time we got to the bottom of McClure pass.  There is a sign just below all passes or significant summits that says “X miles to Whatever Pass.”  The one here says “3 miles to McClure Pass”.  This is also the point at which you know that the climbing is either going to get harder, or sometimes easier, depending on the pass.  Today, it was only slightly harder.  A couple switchbacks with a not terribly steep grade, and we were there.  The official photo guys usually like to place themselves just below the summits, and this day was no exception.  Most people give them a dorky smile and wave, but I always like to stand up and crank hard with a nasty grimace on my face.  The photogs love it, but it always results in the same picture – my ugly mug with a nice mountain in the background.

I got into Hotchkiss about two hours earlier than I had expected.  Amazingly, I had covered 79 miles at an average of 17 mph.  My support unit was off doing her thing, so, physical recovery being a priority, I managed to find the ubiquitous Small Town Chinese Restaurant and had some passable post-ride food (lots of carbs with a certain amount of protein, etc.).  I then went to wait for the support unit and did stretches on the sidewalk, much to the amusement of the locals.

That evening was probably the best of the whole week.  My wife’s company has a small office in Hotchkiss, and two of her co-workers who live in nearby Crawford had invited us and another of her co-workers who was doing the ride out to dinner at their 40-acre place overlooking the West Elk Mountains.  They served a fabulous meal made from all local ingredients, including the wine and beer.  Sitting on the deck taking in the view and being buzzed by the humming birds, it was hard to imagine a better end to the day.

Day 2 would be very, very different.