Triple Bypass 2008

Rode the Triple Bypass today. 120 miles, 3 Mountain passes over 11,000 feet. Very tired. Too tired to give details. Stay tuned.

That was all I had energy for the evening after I finally got home about 10:PM. I got home, cracked open a beer and risked falling asleep in the tub for an hour or so.

Everything went pretty well on the ride, except that I never saw any of the guys I was supposed to ride with, until the finish. That's because I started before they did, and then when I got to the first rest stop at the top of Squaw Pass, I waited and watched for 45 minutes for them. It turns out that they all blew through that one and kept going. There was no cell phone coverage up there so I had no idea. After that I was far behind the rest of the day.

No matter though. The weather was perfect all day. The ride up Squaw Pass was was chilly, but calm. My toes were cold the whole way up.

Once at the top, I refueled and used the bathroom, walked around, waited and refueled some more. Finally I got ready to head down "The Dark Side" of Squaw pass. For this I put on all my wind protection: Wind shell, hand and toe shells. I already had on my next to skin silk layer (the one I should have had on the Mt Evans trip) The one item I was missing was the balaclava, that JB had with him, and that I we had arranged for me to get from him when we hooked up at the first rest stop. I decided not to put on the leg warmers, and it turns out I was ok without them.

The ride down The Dark Side of Squaw Pass is cold, and long. Many people complained that after Squaw Pass, their toes and hands were frozen until they got to Loveland pass some 40 miles later. I think I was well prepared, and the cold air didn't penetrate too much as I blasted down the 10 or 15 mile descent.

At the bottom (Idaho Springs) I pealed off and after trying to make phone calls to my buddies, I got going. The section from Idaho Springs climbs gently on the access road that runs parallel to I70 through Dumont to GeorgeTown where the next rest stop was.

Once again, I lingered at the rest stop and refueled, used the bathroom and sunscreened up. About here I got a call from JB who was pulling into Loveland, the next aid station about 20 miles up.

I got going again and continued the steady climb up to Loveland. This section of the ride takes you along I70 (part of it you actually have to ride on the highway). Just as I was about to get onto the highway section, my sister Alice called and we talked for a few minutes. "Oh, ya, you said you were doing a bike ride or something. Is that this weekend?"

A bike ride indeed.




The ride along the highway sucked and occasionally huge trucks would pass by and scare the crap out of me. It seemed like each mile was getting longer now. I got a call from Jim Pefanis who was at Loveland now. I told him I'd haul ass and get there ASAP.

When I finally pulled into Loveland I gave Jim an call, and when he answered, it was obvious that he was riding up the steeps. Between gasps, he said, he'd seem me, down the road.

Since I had missed him again, I wasn't in any big hurry, and so I lingered at the Loveland rest stop. Here there was live music, ham and turkey sandwiches and a table covered with nasty mustard and mayo bottles. Most were empty, and all were crusted over and vile. I found a Grey Poupon, banged it on the table and managed to get a squirt onto my ham and Wonderbread lunch. I can't complain. They did a good job of having plenty of energy food there, and the watermelon was awesome.

It was at this rest stop that I applied some kind of a salve to my crotch. The label identified it as some scary sounding medical name, but the first aid guy (discretely) recommended it. At first I was alarmed when it felt kind of like that "icy hot" stuff and I thought I had made a big mistake. It turns out that whatever that stuff works pretty well for saddle sore. Nuff said.

Next: Loveland Pass, painfully steep. Vail Pass, painfully long.