Triple Bipass Ride - CycleTour

What a day! I rode with the ladies and Kent rode with Chris, Brian and Jayden. We go started a little late, about 6:30 because I forgot my water bottles and it took us a little time to find each other. I met up with Allison, Dina and Leslie. We all wore our " Rosie--We can do it!" shirts and got tons of comments all day long. While the ladies were waiting for me, another woman named Jennifer talked to them, and ended up riding with us. The temperature was decent in the morning but still needed arms and legs. I rode with Dina most the day. Allison was stronger then us but she was nice and stayed with us almost all day. Leslie was a little slower but did quite amazing and rode with the new woman most the day. We all hooked up at every aid station so spent most of the day together. We finished right around 6 p.m.

The best parts of the day for me were the passes. I felt great on Squaw Pass but coming down was really cold. Next year I need my full gloves. The ride up to Loveland was into a headwind so that really slowed us down. Allison and I zoomed up Loveland and waiting for the others to get a cool group photo. Before we got to the top of Vail Pass my legs started to feel a little wore out. I got a second wind on Vail Pass and did okay--although not as strong as on the other passes. Then we got a little break from the wind for awhile. We finally got to Vail and took a break then had five miles into the wind until the end. I was so ready to be done at that point. We all took a turn leading for a mile and that made the time go fast and then we were there.

We had three great surprises/treats throughout the day. The first came as we were about to leave the aid station at Loveland Pass. Someone yelled my name and it was Kiki. She had surprised us all by showing up (she is recovering from surgery and couldn't ride with us). She had a cooler frull of water and gels and goodies and also had bought us cycling socks (with a beer mug on the side--how appropriate!). It was so great to see her and she stopped at the top of Loveland and waiting for us and took photos then hung out with all of us at the end and gave Allison, Paul, Dina and Leslie a ride home. It was so wonderful to have her there to share the day even though she couldn't ride.

The second treat was stopping at Allison's parents' condo by Lake Dillon. They had a cooler of cold Gatoraide and homemade cookies. They were so sweet and welcoming. Of course I ate two cookies :)

Lastly, Julia was waiting for us in Cooper, before we headed up Vail Pass. She had cold water and gum. How did she know I had already chewed six pieces and was dying for some gum?

I felt so spoiled with all these people there to help us out and it really gave us the boost we needed to get through the day.

Our time was 17 minutes slower than last year but I think part of that was because we had more wind this year. I do think I had trained a lot harder last year and wish I had a few more 90-100 mile rides under my belt. However, I felt I did okay and even though it was a really long day (finished at 6:00 p.m.), we had a great time.

Straight to the beer tent, then ate a veggie burger, baked potato, salad and a cookie. Then had a few Mike's hard lemonades on the way home which about put me to sleep!


The wind was rough.


This is my very favorite ride/tour. The course is challenging but doable, the volunteers are great, and the aid stations and post race party is wonderful.