I don’t really care for riding loops or out and back routes on a bike. I think I was spoiled by a bike trip I went on where we scouted a bike tour through the Belgian countryside. Recently, I also did the ExperiencePlus! Bicycle Tours Pedaling the Andes tour with my friend M.E. (I blogged about it here and the PTA series here) We woke up everyday in one awesome spot, we got on a bike and rode through awesome spots to another awesome spot where we would spend the night and do it all over again. I decided to try to simulate this experience here in Colorado – fortunately, I’m already in an awesome spot. Lindsay Brust
I woke up in Boulder yesterday morning, and after work, I started riding to Ft. Collins. Google Maps told me it was about 50 miles away, and while I was only suppose to ride 75 minutes I felt like a 50 mile ride would give me a little confidence about the 56 mile biking leg for the half Ironman. Plus, it’s a long Memorial Day weekend I don’t have any other plans, so what the heck. Here’s the route I took.
The elevation wasn’t too bad either. A long slow downhill north.
I started off about 3:20pm fueled with this fantastically delicious yogurt, granola, strawberries and blueberries concoction.
My friend and co-worker, Lauren rode me out the first 26 or so miles. It was a beautiful day, though I spent most of these first 26 miles with my eyes glued to her back wheel knowing that I wouldn’t have to work as hard to keep up if I stayed in her draft.
She eventually decided to head back and turned around at an intersection about 6 miles south west of Loveland. I plugged in some music and braved the east blowing wind on my own until I made it to the meeting point M.E. and I had settled on in Loveland. I chowed down on a packet of Justin’s Nut Butter (Chocolate Almond) and waited for my next set of friends to pull me the rest of the way to the Fort. It’s a good thing I have friends who know something about bikes because as I waited, the air slowly deflated from my back tire. By the time they arrived my tire was totally flat. It turns out I had picked up a tiny piece of glass somewhere along the way. Fortunately, Seth (M.E. fiance) had a patch kit with him and after about 10 minutes of fiddling with my tire, we were ready to hit the road again. I just hoped this approaching cloud didn’t decide to dampen my adventure.
We made it the rest of the 10 miles to Ft. Collins in a light sprinkle and pulled up to their house just before my boyfriend Jason arrived in the car to have a yummy dinner and then drive me back to Boulder. Today, I feel great, and tired. My legs are a little heavy and I’m a little sleepy. I couldn’t be happier with my adventure. If you are training for a tri, or anything else, I would highly recommend two things:
- Great people to keep you company
- Turning your workouts into adventures. It takes them off of your to do list and put them on your fun list.
Eat. Run. Read. Travel. 