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Colorado Epic: Day Twelve

 

Today was another rest day.  I needed to get 43 easy miles.  “Easy miles” is relative here, since we are at 9,000 feet, and every road out of town goes either up or down.  Oh, and I started the day by riding with Fresh Legs.  We rode the bike path out of town, up past the ski area, and on to the gravel road to the town of Gothic.  Up and up and up went the road.  I felt really good.  At one point, Fresh Legs was actually drafting off of me.  Let me repeat that.  Fresh Legs was drafting off of me.  Fresh Legs.  Drafting.  Off of ME.  It doesn’t matter that it was only for about thirty feet up a super steep pitch.  It still counts.  

We soon met up with Leslie and her friend.  They were all on mountain bikes, so when the road got rougher, they kept going and I turned around.  I did a bunch of out-and-back routes on all the side roads around town.  It was the perfect easy rest day ride.  

I thought I would take some time today to answer some of the questions people have been asking me about this tour. Here we go:

1) What do you eat?

Everything.  Today, on this easy rest day, I have eaten a bowl of oatmeal with granola and lots of fruit, a package of trail mix, a bar, a Honey Stinger waffle, another bar, three pieces of pizza, and two cookies.  It’s 2:00 in the afternoon.  I am already hungry (yet again), so will have something when I finish writing this, then have dinner at 5:00, then have another peanut butter bucket for dessert.  

2) How many calories do you consume per day?

All of them.

3) Are you tired?

Yes and no.  I am certainly excited to go to bed each night.  I generally have slept well, but there are certainly mornings that I have awakened and not felt rested.  Here’s the thing, though.  There is no mental fatigue.  All I have to think about every day on this tour is riding from A to B, eating, and drinking.  That’s it.  Sure, there is some physical fatigue, but physical endurance lasts significantly longer when there is no mental fatigue to battle as well.  Remove the stresses of the daily grind, and physical endurance goes through the roof.

4) What do you mean when you refer to your “undercarriage?”

Use your imagination.  I’m sure you can figure it out.

5) Will you get 1,000 miles?

Yes!  I should finish with 1,002!

6) How do you spend five or six or seven hours on a bike day after day?

It’s actually pretty easy.  Time goes away.  Especially when I am not on a schedule and don’t have to be done at a certain time or be anywhere after the ride, time doesn’t matter.  I become consumed in the scenery, the effort, giving high-fives to roadside plants, shouting out elevations, and just riding.  It’s really nice.  

Ok, time to go eat again.

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