Denver's Curtis Hotel

I had a networking event at the super trendy Curtis Hotel in Denver today and decided to take the bike along for a change of scenery.  After a great PRSA luncheon focused on Denver’s news environment after the March collapse of the Rocky Mountain News, I flew over to Boulder for a regular self-inflicted suffer fest.

Have you ever gotten chamois cream on dress shoes while changing into your kit in a gas station bathroom?  I did today.  The attendant was none the wiser.

I left my trusty ’91 Honda Civic in the free parking area in front of Amante Coffee and rolled south toward North Boulder Park, home of the NBP Crit in May – a stage from the Red Zinger and Coors Classics that you should do your best to get to.  After a circuitous route to Mapleton Ave and a bus that passed me before slamming on the brakes for a stop in the bike lane twice, I began climbing…and felt awful.

I should mention that lunch at the Curtis was a huge plate of pasta and bread and a delicious chocolate cake, which made for a giant glucose spike at Highway 36 and the Broomfield Events Center.  Whoops.

Plains from atop Sunshine Canyon

Anyway, I rode on, beginning to climb into Sunshine Canyon on the roads ranging from 1-10% grades and turning to dirt for the last 10 or so miles before reaching the Peak to Peak Highway near Ward, CO.  It was at mile 6 that I began feeling good and it was game on from there out. 

I hammered out Sunshine Canyon, rolling past inspiring views of the Indian Peaks and through the hamlet of Gold Hill, CO before heading down the Peak to Peak for the descent of Lefthand Canyon from Ward.  Roads were mostly dry, with some runoff coming across in areas.  The dirt in Sunshine Canyon was in prime shape, with only a couple short washboard sections.

The 16 mile descent down Lefthand Canyon is long and low angle – I got bored and turned south onto Lee Hill Road where I began climbing the backside of the Boulder test piece.  I soon joined a nice guy from Allenspark who’s name I cannot remember (I was deep in the cave at this point).  We rode together over the top of Lee Hill and descended to Old Stage, where I turned around and headed back up Lee Hill for a little more fun.

Gold Hill

When I was feeling bad earlier in the ride, my brain was running over my doubts and spitting out a good dose of fail.  The cranks fought every revolution and and my legs wondered why they weren’t hidden away safely in the car.

At mile 6 I remembered a quote I had seen on a friend’s Facebook page earlier in the morning: “Cry in the dojo, laugh on the battlefield.”  I squeezed this out between breathes a few times, smiled, and all of my doubts and resistance ran out and the miles flew by from that point.

This continued on Lee Hill, as I passed the three hour and 5000 vertical feet marks and kept on trucking.  Sure, my shoulders swayed and my legs screamed the insistent call of lactic acid build-up, but I did not heed, instead choosing the samurai quote as my mantra and cranking out the final pitches to the top of Lee Hill, bringing my climbing total for the day to 5700 vertical feet.

Brian atop Lee Hill Road Pt. 2

Rolling at 75 kph through the sweeping turns to North Boulder, I pushed out a labored laugh of satisfaction and I knew that today was another turning point in training my body and mind.  I’ll be laughing on the battlefield soon.

Brian