Yesterday, the Kansas gang, plus Karl, heading North to ride MTB trails.  The problem is there is a lot of snow pack above 11,000 feet.  It is June, but it must have snowed here a bunch.  I wasn’t paying much attention to where we were going, but next thing I know, we’re walking through snow.

I am up for an adventure as much as the next guy, but I’ve already done the walk through snow in the high mountain thing much too recently, so I was dragging my feet and casting a dissenting vote on continuing.  I do sometimes learn from experiences.

Anyway, I was out voted so we kept going.  We could ride about 1/2 the time and the then had to dismount and walk in deep snow for a couple minutes.  We were nearly to the top, where there was a trail junction and hopefully more exposed to the direct sunlight, thus no snow.

I finally just said I wasn’t going anymore.  Karl had forged ahead and was out of voice contact.  No one wanted to go fetch him.  He eventually yelled back that it was worse ahead.  So we turned around.

I very rarely turn around on an adventure, but this was the right decision.  It was much quicker going down.  We could ride about 1/2 of what we walked up through because we had beaten down the snow enough to not stop our front wheels.

When we got back to the dirt road, it was started to get super dark and I could hear thunder.  I wasn’t dressed to get wet.  The problem was that there was a 25mph headwind going downhill. I pulled the few miles back to the bike path and then we just took the bike path back.

We stopped and got soup in Breckenridge, which hit the spot.

I’ve been having super headaches every since I got here.  We’re nearly at 10,000 feet and the altitude difference must be the reason.  Whatever the reason, I haven’t been sleeping much. Today we’re riding on the road.  Not sure if we’re headed over to Vail or over Hoosier Pass. Either way, there isn’t enough oxygen here for my current state.

 

 

 

 

I am been having fun riding and hanging out in Breckenridge with my friends.  So much fun I barely have anytime, or more accurately, need to be on a computer.   Computer time, to me, is individual time.  I’m hanging with a group.

Anyway, the DK200 was last weekend and I feel like I’m being remiss not posting on it.  But I’m still not posting on it.  I’m rushing to get everything ready to go do stuff.

Here is a link to Nick Frey’s disqualification from last weekends event.  Nick finished 6th, which is beyond good.  I received a bunch of emails from different guys giving me their thoughts.  Luckily for me, Nick happens to live in Breckenridge and I’m going to go for a ride with him this morning, just to catch up.  I’m sure the DQ will be a topic of conversation.

So, before I post on something that I’ve only heard 2nd hand, I’ll do a short post on a rider safety.

Tom Boonen made a statement at a special meeting in Belgium.He said “It is especially important that there is a change in mentality among cyclists. There is too much selfishness in the peloton, riders forget that they are responsible for the safety of others.”

That is something that has really changed in the sport since I began. The last recent years, racing here in the US has been getting more and more aggressive. Riders used to look out for other rider’s safety. That isn’t necessarily the case now. When I started racing, when there was incidental contact during a race, both the riders involved would get smaller. Now it is like what I encountered in New Zealand. People will be bigger, ie, throw an elbow and most likely curse. Totally uncalled for. It doesn’t do anything for the sport other than make it super dangerous and cost everyone a ton of money in equipment.

We’ve allowed this to happen. When we don’t DQ guys out of the Dauphiné when it is on camera, like what happened on stage 1, then it sends a really bad message to every rider in the world. Go ahead and instigate contact. That is what the pros do and that is bike racing. It isn’t.

Anyway, Nick Frey’s link above is worth reading. He covers lots of aspects of his particular situation and gravel racing in general. I’m going to take Tucker for a run then get out and about.

 
Tucker was so overwhelmed by chaos he went out tot the porch to decompress.