Triple By-Pass Bike Ride

mtnbkr from Boise is doing this with a friend. Good Luck!

Is it an USCF sanctioned ride? If it is, then they may not allow tri bikes. I think they language they use in their rules is "A bike with aerobars, commonly considered a time trial bike."

I thought that ride was July 12th? Neighbor did it last year on a road bike. Thats about all I know, I will see if I can get more information from him.

I would never ride my TT bike over my road bike on this route. You will see almost zero TT bikes. Can't help you with much else as I don't carry a cell phone on my rides and I'd just take what I need in my bike jersey like any other ride.

I'll be joining you next weekend! Here's what I can share:

1. Personally, I'd dump the tri bike. It won't be much help, as a majority of the climbing is long and slow, and most of the descents are reckless (steeper turns and a fair amount of bikers and road hazards). You may not spend enough time aero to get anything out of it, and you may appreciate the handling and climbing ability of a roadie.
2. Finish times depend largely on rider and weather. Avg over 16mph for the whole ride, and you've had yourself quite the day. Plan for at least 8 hours in the saddle, and more time for rest stops and just soaking up the scenery.
3. Plan on crappy weather, especially on the passes. Do not ride w/out some kind of packable rain coat, and leg/arm warmers, toe covers and long finger gloves are highly recommended. It can go from 70 at the lower elevations to 30's-40's at summits. It can and will snow, even in July.
4. I have Verizon, and they can kiss my *ss when it comes to "can you hear me now" on the passes. The answer is NO. You will get good coverage below 9000 feet along I-70 corridor.
5. see #3
6. Carry enough fuel to get yourself over the first pass (Squaw/Juniper) and into Idaho Springs. The first couple rest stops can get super crowded. Get past those, and things clear out a bit. Don't blow yourself up on that first pass either. Lots of giddy people for the first 20 miles; they forget there's 100 more to go (and a bunch of climbing). Also, the stretch from Georgetown to Loveland is the worst. Not super steep, but just a long annoying climb. Plan on doing a fair amount of fueling between Idaho Springs and Loveland. It'll help keep your body intact for when you hit the Loveland Pass climb. Get past Loveland, and the rest is totally manageable. Vail Pass is by far the easiest climb, but at mile 100, it may seem like Mt. Evans. Lastly, it's not a race. Please have fun, and take pride in the fact that you'll be taking on a ride that most people only dream of (or run from).

(I've got more time this morning to comment)

That descent down into Idaho Springs is about the fastest in Colorado that I can remember. My comfort level is pretty high >50 mph and guys BLOW by me in full road aero like I'm barely moving.

All the comments above are dead-on. Weather is my expertise so....

Almost every day in the summer it can easily rain here regardless of how the weather appears early in the day. Our storms don't move like in most areas. They pop up quickly out of a perfectly clear sky and then just rain themselves out which can be seconds or hours. They'll grow wider and expand but they don't really move much in the mountains. The way to tell if it's about to storm on you is to look straight up and when the clouds loose their defintion, precip is falling from them and evaporating. Soon (a few seconds / minutes) that precip will probably start making it to the ground. I don't put on rain gear until the rain/ice is actually falling in big drops or lots of little ones because it could only last a few seconds and there's just no way to know unless your riding into an area where you can see heavy rain falling.

You can't be too concerned about the clouds around you and not in your immediate path because on a normal summer day here, there will be storms all around. Unless it's just pouring down rain at my house, I'll leave on my bike regardless of how many storms I see around the mountains. Whether I actually get rained on is 100% unpredictable.

When the clouds start dropping precip, the temp drops quickly and immediately to the 40s or colder (due to evap and the icy cold precip cooling the air). There is always sleet and/or hail mixed in with the rain (both of which hurt differnently on a bike). TRUST ME as one who rides these routes daily, you DO NOT want to get caught in one of our rainstorms without gear to keep you warm.

So unless we're in some abnormal high pressure area where there's no chance of rain (maybe ten days per summer) you have to carry clothes to ride in a 40 degree downpour. On a training century up here, I usually take arm warmers, a light weight fleece (or poly shirt) that I can put over my jersey for core warmth, and a thin rain jacket that has mesh inside the sleeves so you can wear it in warm rain too. IMO, the most important item is either waterproof or warm-wet gloves. I use mittens so I can quickly put them on over my cycling gloves while riding. Riding in the rain with frozen hands is very miserable. Lastly, I recommend bringing a couple zip lock baggies (sandwich size). If it starts raining hard, you can just pull your foot out of your bike shoe, put your toes in the baggie and slip your foot back into the shoe (works perfectly). I don't bring anything warm for my legs in the summer. Keep in mind also that our air is very dry so getting a little wet isn't a big deal since you'll dry quickly. Staying warm is what's important.

One interesting thing about our weather is that our wind is very erratic. As rain drops out of the storm clouds, the air is displaced and forced outward in all directions (outflow). That effect what mostly dominates which way the wind will be blowing. There is also a huge temperature component between high and low terrain that effects wind direction. Lastly, the mountains themselves will dictate how the air flows around them (EG. cool air is heavy and drops down the mountains).

Have fun and remember, coming from low altitude there's no way you'll be able to ride with the locals even if you have better bike fitness. Good luck!

Edited by breckview 2009-07-02 9:04 AM

All of this is great info and will now help boost my LBS's bottom line! I've got a few NF rain jackets, but I think they'll be too loose fitting. (They're my fishing jackets!) Arm warmers will be another addition! Love the sandwhich bag tip!

While in CO. last year, I climbed the Idaho Springs to Echo Lake route! A pretty challenging climb, especially (if I remember correctly) around or near the last 1/4 of the route to the top. It was after this day and the recommendation of a friend that I decided to tackle the x3BP. I think I'm physically there, but it's all of the other little things that everyone has warned me about that could take you out on a day like this. I.E - Moisture protection, temp protection, nutrition, coming out of the gate to hot, etc. It's about enjoying the day and not suffering through it. They're are plenty of other opportunities yet this season for suffering!

As far as acclimation, not much I can do coming in from Iowa, except stay hydrated. We're all used to sucking air all the time anyway, right? A bit nervous, but looking very much forward to it as I've heard nothing but great things about the experience!

You mentioned you are coming out next Weds. Where are you staying? Are you getting any pre-rides in?

My friend that's riding with me has a sister living in Evergreen, which really comes in handy for this event.

I plan on doing a 5K Thursday afternoon once I get there and then we want to join Team Evergreen for a scheduled training ride on Friday. I think there is more information about it on their website. I want to stay loose, but hope they don't try tackling any climbs the day before the ride.

I'm just preparing myself to suck some serious air on Saturday.