Today I biked: 32 miles (of 101 mile course), about 2000 feet of climbing.
Cumulative: 11 days, 850 miles, 42000 feet
Elevation here in Cortez is 6000 feet, and we have covered 30% of our route across the continent.
Well, I rode in the van a lot today, as promised. And...I feel fantastic--ready to be back full-time.
I took the van out to mile 25, at Navajo Twins rock formation, where the San Juan River comes in from the east. I set out here and rode to the Colorado border. I rode at a high cadence and went pretty fast, which felt great. My goal was a zero-effort day, but better than spending the entire day in the van.
Turned out that one of the guides, Berkis, this young sweet and very strong rider, was mopping up the rear and caught up with me about 5 miles from the border and I went all out racing him. Now, of course, I have no illusions that I could ever beat him or even challenge him, for that matter, but I went all out for those last hilly miles and I like to think he had to work a bit to keep up with me.
Then we made a sprint for the border where I managed to psych him out, yelling out to him as he passed me, "I have nothing left!" then, in fact, had a wee bit in reserve and dashed past him to cross the cattle guard into Colorado just in front. It was all good fun and very exhilarating. I was at a heart rate of 188 (I know exactly what this feels like thanks to my trainer in London who got me there routinely) and my legs were shaking when I dismounted. But what a kick! I forgot I could go so fast and have so much fun on a bike. Then, of course, we got in the van. Just as well, the last 20 miles into Cortez were relatively ugly and, you guessed it, against a head wind.
It was great getting in early, too. I had time for a swim, did the laundry, and even got in a little upper body workout in the hotel gym. The next two days are short as we head into Durango then Pagosa Springs, but after that we have a 140 mile 10000 feet climbing day into Taos.
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