I'm officially 2 weeks into my high altitude training camp/prep for Leadville. For the past 2 weeks I've been staying up in Silverton and in my Altitudetech tent between 9,300-11,000 ft to get ready for this super high altitude event. I did a sweet ride loop from Silverton to Telluride on dirt over Ophir and back Black Bear pass. If you're ever in Telluride you have to check out Bridal Falls located about 1,500 ft directly above town. And I would avoid driving the Black Bear Pass unless you're a serious 4X4er. I saw a bunch of guys trying to pull out their rented Jeep Cherokee on one of the easier sections about 3,000 ft above town.
Anyway, I've been spending most of my time in the high country trying to boost my endurance but feeling like I'm loosing my power. It's a hard balance since the race this weekend is 100 miles at or above 10,000 ft the whole time and the World Cup next weekend is 20 miles at sea level. Hard to train for both but hoping the big volume I put in the past few weeks will get me through this weekend and allow me to taper for Worlds in 3 weeks. Guess I'll find out.
July and August in Colorado have been awesome. We've had beautiful days and just enough rain to keep the trails in good shape and the trees and plants green. Winston has been logging in some river time, too hot for running but great for swimming.
I've seen O-dog more this summer then I have the past 3 years combined. He is sporting some new shoes nowadays seen here at the SKA World Headquaters.
I've been playing a little golf with Barthel and Troy but not as much as I would like. Especially since Anthony hooked me up with the custom PROV-1 Cal Giant golf balls. I have been watching quite a bit of TV even though the Tours over. It's been Royal Pains, Burn Notice, Necessary Roughness, Suits and just about anything else on USA, it's my go to channel in the summer.
Meg has been logging in the hours at Nectar, the lingerie store in town. If you're in need of a present for your lady I highly suggest checking it out.
I'm planning on riding from Leadville to Meg's parent's house in Vail, taking a nap and then hitting the Eagle Vail golf course. Might even try to sneak in a spin on the bike path before dinner and then back up to 10,200 ft. I'm looking forward to the race this weekend but also looking forward to it being over. It's a delicate balancing act spending enough time at high altitude to become acclimated but not so much I become tired and lose all the power. I'll tell you, the first week I rode half as much as last week and felt so tired I thought I had the flu just from sleeping and training so high.
I wonder how the Darts' swing is coming along.....
