Settling In

Just bought a house a couple of weeks ago out west of Denver in Idaho Springs. The view to the left is off my deck. I definitely don't live in the town proper, rather I'm perched up on the side of a mountain at about ten thousand feet. If any of you have seen or heard of the Mt. Evans Hill Climb road race, I'm about 2 miles off the course. The road to Mt. Evans is labeled "America's highest road," and my house location has presented some interesting "dilemmas" for me and my training.

First off, the weather up here is completely different from the weather down in the valley. I left for a road ride a couple of days ago and at my house it was a cool 62 degrees (usual evening temps are in the 40's right now). When I got down into Evergreen the temp read 92 degrees. Yikes! At the house I'm in a sweatshirt and jeans. Down there I'm sweating my butt off.

Next, what do you do when you live two miles down a dirt/gravel road and it rains every afternoon at your house? I tried riding from my house on my road bike, it rained while I was away and by the time I got back to my house I (and my bike) looked like I had ridden the Paris Roubaix. I kid you not, it rains EVERY afternoon here. So now I'm driving my truck to the end of the dirt road and jumping on my bike from there.

Lastly, like I mentioned before, I live off the highest road in America. So EVERY time I ride I get about a 10 mile climb back to my truck and house. That which does not kill you will only make you stronger, I guess.

That being said, there are some amazing rides out this way. I rode Idaho Springs to Winter Park last week, 70 miles and two times up Berthoud Pass. It was really fun until it started to rain and then it became miserable. Ever try riding down a mountain pass in the freezing rain, able to see your breath and not feel your arms or legs? I was shivering so much that my jaw hurt. When I got home I was so cold that I was standing in the shower with only the heat on and yep, I was shivering.

I love it!

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I have some great news on the solo RAAM effort front, this week I secured a professional coach who will be guiding my training efforts for '08 RAAM as well as the rest of the cycling season. Eric Kenney is a full-time professional coach who also races for my team, Wild Oats presented by Al's Barber Shop. The organization he works with, Performance Training Systems is a world class coaching and training group for all types of endurance athletes.

Eric and I will be targeting races next season and building a solid training plan around the concept of completing the Race Across America solo, while also completing a season of racing with our Wild Oats team.

Stay tuned for more details on our training plans and efforts.

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That's all I have for now.

Keep the rubber side down...

Tim