In my neighborhood, you don’t tell Spring has arrived by some vegetation sprouting — you tell it by when all the cyclists return to the roads. Using this guage, I think Spring officially began today. (And, we turn the clocks forward\u00a0tonight too!) I say this, even though it was still a bit chilly and the wind was steady and brisk the whole time I was out riding. Not five minutes from home, a group ride made up of several “clumps” or riders and folks caught between clumps went by going the other way. The first clump had 50+ riders in it as did the second main group. Overall, counting straglers, I’d say there were 100-125 riders. Awesome sight. I wish I had my camera with me today because there was a super-cool shot of them rounding the corner onto Woodland Rd with snow-capped peaks of the front range behind them. Kinda like a wintery version of a Tour de France shot!<\/p>\n
For me, today was a struggle. Yesterday I ran…yes, my full-back built body … and took pictures while the Rocky Mountain Fjord Horse Club particpated in the kick-off parade for the Denver Horse Expo. They rode and drove with the Colorado legistators thru downtown Denver (about a 13 block route) that started and ended at the state capital. I mention this because as a result, I have a sore left achilles and somewhat tired muscles. Did I mention that I ran this in my hiking boots and “street” clothes? I think that was my main mistake!<\/p>\n
Mentally, I was OK today — which is a good thing, because I had to really rely on my mental fortitude to get me through. And, to be honest, these “mental” training days are every bit as important as the physical ones. Had I just said, “Nah, not today”\u00a0 and turned back early, or not gone at all —\u00a0 it would signal an issue for me with respect to my upcoming cross country ride. On that ride, you don’t get to say, “Nah, I don’t think so….” — you get up, and you PEDAL!\u00a0<\/p>\n
I headed to the hills for the first time this season. I rode 3-4 miles up So. St. Vrain Canyon — and wouldn’t you know it, once I started climbing I felt better! I just love the challenge of climbing. I didn’t go farther because my legs were a tad tired, and it was getting colder the higher I went. Pair that with the wind and I was downright chilled. Luckily, I brought an extra jacket and a second pair of dry winter glove that I put on for the descent. I was toasty and smilin’ when I got to the bottom. Something else a little different about today’s ride. I wore a small GoLite backpack with my snacks, a frame pump (doesn’t fit on Scooter though…) and my extra clothing. I found that it really didn’t bother me. I can see that it might hold in heat during the summer months and for that reason, I’m not planning on using one regularly on the tour.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, I forgot to re-charge the Garmin after my last ride, so I don’t have any GPS\/elevation\/heart rate data today. I think there was more climbing today than I’ve done on any other rides this year. But, nothing earth-shattering. Just a good solid day.<\/p>\n
Stats for today’s ride (all off the Vetta C-16):
\nDistance:\u00a0 47.1 mi
\nODO: 1010\u00a0 !!! YAHOO!!!
\nRide Time: 3:19:25
\nAve Speed: 14.2 mph
\nMax Speed:\u00a037.3 mph<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In my neighborhood, you don’t tell Spring has arrived by some vegetation sprouting — you tell it by when all the cyclists return to the roads. Using this guage, I think Spring officially began today. (And, we turn the clocks forward\u00a0tonight too!) I say this, even though it was still a bit chilly and the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-411","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.starfirefarm.com\/ride\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/411","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.starfirefarm.com\/ride\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.starfirefarm.com\/ride\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.starfirefarm.com\/ride\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.starfirefarm.com\/ride\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=411"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.starfirefarm.com\/ride\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/411\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":413,"href":"https:\/\/www.starfirefarm.com\/ride\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/411\/revisions\/413"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.starfirefarm.com\/ride\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=411"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.starfirefarm.com\/ride\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=411"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.starfirefarm.com\/ride\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=411"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}