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BikeToberfest –
The Copper Triangle Route
The Copper Triangle Route of the BikeToberfest ride is an eighty-mile loop that starts in
Leadville, Colorado. It goes north on Highway 91, over Fremont Pass, down to Copper Mountain, up a bike path to Vail Pass,
down to Vail, over to Minturn, then climbs to Battle Mountain and over Tennessee Pass before going back down to Leadville.
This is my account of that ride. Ok, my day of the ride starts about 12:30am, I wake, look at the clock on the nightstand
and decide it’s too early to get up. Back to sleep. I look again at 2:20am, still too early. Back to sleep again. Look
at the clock again, it’s 4:04am, time to get up and start the pre-ride rituals.
I mix and drink some awful tasting
carbo and electrolyte mixture that tastes like a bad banana milk shake, I eat a real banana, eat a PowerBar, eat a Clif Bar.
That’s about 800 calories to start the day. I drink 16 oz. of water, and then a 12 oz. can of Hanson Energy drink.
I check the bike, tires, chain, handlebar pack, seat pack. Spare tubes, patches, chain tool (like I have figured out how
to use THAT), tire tools, cell phone, map of racecourse, candies, and toilet paper. Bike’s ready.
Time to start
getting dressed, shorts, socks, long sleeved t-shirt, bike jersey, leggings, and rain jacket. I put extra gloves in my CamelBak
along with about four more Power Bars and four gel snacks. I mix a high carb drink with about 24 oz of water that goes in
one water bottle. Another water bottle holds 24 oz of something called EnerGade, a mixture of the energy drink and Gatorade
I suppose. All together I’m packing about 2,000 calories of food and drink to consume on the ride. I hope it’s
enough. (As it turns out, it isn’t)
About 6am, my wife drives me to the Lake County High School, where the ride
begins. It’s cold and dark when we arrive, but people are there already. I get two cups of coffee to try to get going.
They don’t work. I check the bike again, check the CamelBak again, put on gloves, jacket, neck warmer, bike shoes and
begin moving to the start area. THEN the coffee decides to start working, so I dash back inside the school for another potty
break.
Back outside, I kiss the wife and kid goodbye, get on the bike, and zoom out of the parking lot as a Race director
shouts “Copper Triangle riders take the road to the right”. As I’m thinking about what he said I go right
by the path I should turn on. About a quarter-mile down the road I see a sign that says “ Turquoise Lake Estates”.
Oh shit, wrong way. So I turn around, go back the way I came, find the race people and turn on the correct bike path to start
the route.
As I take Highway 91 north out of Leadville, the road starts a gradual downhill slope. It cold, damp, and
the sun is behind the mountains. I get cold really fast; in a few minutes my fingers and toes are tingling with that cold
pain. I’m not dressed warm enough. S***!! A few miles out of town, I pass a guy off to the right side with
a flat tire. I’ve had three flats on my last four rides. I hope that’s not a bad sign. I really don’t want
to try to fix a flat with my fingers freezing. I stay cold until the route starts uphill and I have to start peddling. My
feet begin to warm up, but my fingers are still freezing. I pass more people and more bikes with flat tires, probably a half-dozen
in the first hour.
I begin the climb to Fremont Pass and slow to about five miles per hour. This will be about a 1300-foot
vertical climb. I’m wearing a heart monitor and I’m trying to keep my heart rate in the 155-bpm range, that’s
the comfortable range for me while exercising and I feel sure I can ride a long time at that pace. I finally make it to the
top of Fremont Pass about an hour and a half after leaving the high school. A long climb, but not too difficult. There’s
a rest stop at the top with tables of fluid and food. I stop and pull my gloves off to get stuff out of my pack. I eat a couple
of the gel packs and drink some of the carbo juice from a water bottle. As I pull my gloves back on, I realize a mistake,
they have gotten COLD from the weather, and next time I’ll put them inside my jacket.
Back on the road, we begin
a long downhill descent towards the Copper Mountain resort. I tuck down, scoot back on the seat, and put my hands on the aero
bars. I’M ZOOMIN’, man, that’s a great downhill ride. I don’t even mind the cold much. I coast most
of the way to the Copper Mountain.
After a quick porta-potty break at the resort, I begin the second climb of the day,
up towards Vail pass. This part of the ride turns out to be the best. I’m on a bike/hiking path, away from road traffic.
There are plants and flowers and trees everywhere. And the sun rises over the mountains and begins warming me up. Life is
Good!! And so, I climb and climb and climb and climb and climb and climb….
….A long time later I make it
to the top of Vail Pass to the rest area. In what would become a ritual at rest stops, I hit the Porta-Potty first, then
get water and Gatorade-like fluid, then get food. Banana, Power Bar, ClifBar. I also stretch my legs, trying to keep them
loose. Since I’ve warmed up some, I think about shedding some clothes, but realize I have a long downhill ahead, so
I won’t be pedaling much until I get to Vail. I leave the clothes on, and start out once again.
The bike path
gets out next to I-70 and goes sharply down, down ,down. I realize that I hit over 40 mph on my bike going down the hill
and start thinking how I can’t stop quickly if I needed to. So, I gradually slow to about 25-30 mph and scoot back on
the seat and enjoy the ride. The bike path follows I-70 for a while, and then cuts over to an old, two-lane blacktop closed
to car traffic. Two lane road, no traffic…I let go of the brakes, put my hands on the aero-bars again, tuck down…and
I’M ZOOMIN’ again. I officially hit 44.6 mph on this stretch of downhill. Needless to say, it didn’t seem
like any time at all before I got to Vail.
The road bottomed out in Vail and the route followed a frontage road to
a park where the ride officials had set up lunch. I have been out on the bike for 4 hours and 17 minutes. Rode about 47 miles
so far. People are splayed out on the grassy area soaking up the sunshine and stretching and eating. I start my rest stop
ritual, potty, water, food, stretch. I also call my wife and give her a progress report, this is one of the few places I
get a signal. I am also pretty warm now, so I remove leg coverings, jacket, and my head cover. I change gloves; the new ones
have more padding. Repack the stuff in my CamelBak, and stretch some more. I wind up spending about 40 minutes at the Vail
rest area.
I leave Vail, get on Highway 24 and head south toward Minturn. I join two other riders as I get into Minturn
and wind thru traffic along the main street. Then it’s out of town and we begin the climb to Battle Mountain. Minturn
is at about 7800 feet. This will be over 1000 feet of uphill in a relatively short distance and it seems steeper towards the
top. Car traffic is light, the weather is pleasant, but I’m beginning to feel the strain of the ride. Body parts are
threatening to cramp as I finally pull into the rest area about 59 miles from the start. Stretch, stretch, stretch….
then get drink and food from the tables they have set up. I’m beginning to be hungry, very hungry. I mean, just looking
at the food makes my mouth water. And I’m lusting over the cups of juice set up on the Gatorade table.
Back on
the road, I have a downhill, a short one and then began another climb to Camp Hale. The food and water from the last rest
area seem to help and it doesn’t seem like a too difficult segment of the ride. I get into the rest area at Camp Hale
feeling OK. A potty break, more water, more food, some stretching and I’m ready to go again. Just 13 miles back to
Leadville.
Just after I leave the rest area, I see a sign that says “ Tennessee Pass 5 Miles “. Oh boy, closer
than I thought. Then the road turns almost immediately sharply uphill and another struggle begins. I’m thinking there’s
no way it can be this steep for the next 5 miles. (I hope). My heart rate goes over 174 bpm on this part of the climb and
I know I can’t continue at that pace for long. I slow to about five miles per hour and drink all the water I can. And
then my CamelBak goes dry. I have water bottles, but they are awkward to pull and drink from, especially being as tired as
I am. The sharp grade lasts only about two miles, but I’m really feeling the effects of all the mileage today plus the
effort to get up this pass. Sag vehicles go by loaded with bikes and people, and I pass riders standing at the side of the
road. Mentally it begins to get very, very tough to continue now. Fortunately the road levels out some, it’s still
uphill, but not nearly as steep. I continue, just focusing on the stroke, stroke, stroke of the pedals. I climb and climb
and climb, and my mind goes into la-la land. I honestly don’t remember much else until all of a sudden there’s
the next rest area and I’m at the top of Tennessee Pass. People have dropped their bikes all over the place; I find
a clear area and lay mine down. I see the same people I’ve seen at the other rest areas, good; I’m not the only
one slowing down. I get water, Gatorade, juice, whatever fluid I can. I also partially refill my CamelBak. Take a potty
break, then stretch. I’m beginning to tighten up all over. Someone tells me that this was the last hard climb and that
lifts my spirits some. Then I realize it’s only 7 miles back to Leadville, and part of that is downhill. Cool. I think
I have 7 more miles in me.
After a few more minutes of stretching and some more water, I start again. Oh boy, downhill.
Big, wide road, no traffic to speak of, I grab the aero bars, scoot back on the seat, tuck in…and I AM ZOOMIN’ down
the road again. After about 3 or 4 miles the road flattens out and I begin to pedal. I’m just concentrating on getting
back now, trying to stay within my range. Another Sag vehicle passes, the driver gives me the thumbs up sign. Good, he thinks
I’m getting close. A short uphill into town, then I’m in traffic on Highway 91, and I have a good idea of the rest
of the route. Two traffic lights, a right on the bike path, and a short downhill and I’m coming to the Ice Palace Park,
i.e. the FINISH LINE.
My wife and 8-year old son are there to greet me as I get off the bike. I’m as glad to see
them as they are to see me. I look at my watch, nine and a half hours out on the course. I am so tired that I just feel numb
all over. I set my bike down, grab a Mountain Dew and find a picnic bench to rest on. I don’t want to move for a while.
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