Wheeler trail to Spruce Creek

well I started from town as seen below. 3,000'+ of climbing in less than 8 miles. not exactly a great recovery ride, but I had to do this ride now or possibly not til next year. click the photo to see the web album. way easier than uploading a bunch of pics through Blogger. fall is definitely here. Nice shades of purple, orange and yellow up above treeline.

Wheeler trail to Spruce Creek

Peaks disappointment

well I rolled a 44:17 last night. over a minute faster than last year, but nonetheless I have a disappointing taste in my mouth right now. I should have been in the mid 43 range I think. it is a difficult course to pace yourself well, as the first 20min you are on the rivet climbing. I felt good in the last 15min, which was a goal, but at the expense of perhaps going a little too easy early. more importantly, I felt as if I hadn't raced this morning, which leads me to believe that I didn't run the tank empty last night. what the hell?! Tim had a scorching ride of 43:17 on his bone of a bike. that is impressive, though the course is tailor made for a single. I hope to do better at Copper, which is definitely my kind of course. My debut in the pro category (yeah it's a joke really) was about what I expected, 5th out of 6, with the one guy I beat a kid from Steamboat. So amongst the very few locals who race pro, I got last. If I had stayed in Expert 35+. I would have finished 3rd. weak. the one bright spot about last night was the many compliments people were giving on Helen's great race over in Vail last weekend. amazing what a little press can do. and oh yeah, Alina and I went to Quandary for dinner and the post race party.

road ride today. i have some angst in me that needs to come out. maybe Dennis and I deserve to get lost on tomorrow night's epic night ride.