This was my first successfully completed grand randonee (although I had ridden this distance at the Cascade 1200 that I completed as a 1000k/260k option last year). It was a stunning ride with great scenery, wildlife, thunderstorms and high altitude. I ended up with a time of 82 hours 28 minutes, finished in daylight each day and averaged around 8 hours at each overnight control. This was quite a change from a year ago on Cascade when I was finishing each day at ~2 am and getting 2-3 hours rest.
Day 1
The ride was limited to 50 riders and we started at 4 am from Louisville. Susan drove down to the start with me, or rather followed me in the car as I biked the 3 miles down to the Inn. The first 100k was on rolling terrain and I rode with the front group. We averaged over 20 mph and actually arrived at the first control only 5 minutes after it officially opened. 3 hours for a 100k (with a secret control along the way) was the fastest I’ve ever done that distance and we still had 1100 km to go. I fueled up at Verns and then started the main climb of the day up Cameron Pass.
This was a 60 mile extended climb up the Poudre Canyon with a steeper stretch for the last 12 miles cresting at 10,276 ft. I was riding with a couple other people for the first 20 miles or so but then I let them go as the altitude started to kick in and my energy output dropped. I settled into a steady rhythm and eventually made it to the top. The altitude meant that any time I stood up on the pedals I had no extra power available and ended up sitting back down and spinning again.
A thunderstorm was just starting to roll in as I reached the top so I raced down the other side to Walden and managed to avoid all but a couple drops. I drafted off one guy into Walden which helped wrap up this stretch pretty quickly. At this point we were about 150 miles in and had 67 more to Saratoga climbing progressively higher ridges to get there. This was a tough stretch for me and when I felt the altitude most during the ride. I was racing to stay ahead of a number of very dark lightning storms that passed across the road behind me. I’d see them sweeping across the plains towards me and feel drops from the edge of the storms but managed to avoid getting hit by the full downburst. I stopped for a Coke at Riverside across from the Mangy Moose bar and debated waiting out another storm that was approaching but the swarms of mosquitos got me back on my bike to finish off the day.
I arrived at the overnight at around 7:30pm, ate a bit of food and went to bed to rest ahead of my planned 3:30am departure.
Day 2
Day 2 started with a 40 mile climb up the Snowy Range. I was taking it pretty slowly, which was a pattern which repeated over the next day as well i.e. start slow and then get progressively faster as the day progressed. There were various people suffering from lack of sleep along the climb, some of them stopping to walk or take a short nap beside the snow.
I soon had all my layers on as we reached 10,700ft before our descent down into Centennial.
By the time I reached Centennial after a great descent I was in need of calories and stopped for a eggs, toast, bacon etc.. at the cafe there. Nice fast service and a large calorie intake soon had me back on the road to Laramie. I rode with Jim for about 10 miles into Laramie before we parted ways as I took off ahead of him back to Walden.
This was a non-descript 20 miles or so to Woods Landing before starting a steeper climb and then a nice descent down the other side. I caught up with Vinnie in Walden and waited for about 30 minutes while some pizza was cooked before leaving for the final stretch of the day to Steamboat Springs (via Muddy Pass and Rabbit Ears Pass).
I left at the same time as Vinnie and 2 other riders but they were going at a slower pace so I took off ahead. I was feeling strong along this stretch and made good time. The mosquitos were out in force and were swarming all over me when I dropped the pace down to 15 mph. It was a good incentive to keep pushing faster. I kept getting different views of Rabbit Ears Pass as I wound my way over to it.
This climb felt pretty good and as I reached the top the dark clouds that had been threatening over the pass started to rain. I put on all my rain gear and rode the brakes hard for the 7 miles at 7% downhill grade down to Steamboat Springs. I let the bike run free at the top to check my stopping distance and it was a long way, from that point on I took it pretty cautiously down the wet roads.
I managed to get in just as it was getting dark, ate and got into bed to rest up ahead of my 4 am planned departure.
Day 3
Yet another extended climb to start the day, this time over Gore Pass. I rode with George for the morning stretch and we took it easy and chatted all the way up. It made the time go quickly as we rode up in the morning fog. As the day heated up we stopped near Kremmling for an icecream cone which hit the spot. I was starting to feel like picking up the pace more so we parted ways and I rode with another group of 4 riders up to Grand Lake.
We stocked up on slaty food and drinks at Grand Lake as it was pretty hot now (high 80s) before returning to Granby for our last climb of the day over Willow Creek Pass. I headed on by myself at Granby as I felt I was climbing a bit slower than the rest of the group and thought they’d catch me after their stop for more drinks. I started to climb better though and didn’t see them again until the overnight control.
Willow Creek Pass started steeply but then settled into a nice gradient for 20 miles or so. I caught up with Ian at the top and we rode into the overnight at Walden together, over a 20 mile stretch of frostheave cracked road (ba bump, ba bump, ba bump all the way). We were smiling once it ended!
We shared a room and got up at 3am to head out around 4am. I didn’t feel I got any real sleep as we were at 8000ft but I did manage to rest and felt fine once I got up.
Day 4
This was the final day and yet another climb to start us off. This time just a 30 mile ascent up the other side of Cameron Pass. It was a great ascent as the sun came up with numerous moose sightings along the side of the road.
Then it was a 60 mile descent to Verns, woo hooo! Ian and I traded 1 mile pulls once the wind started to pick up lower in the canyon and made good time.
George joined us as we were leaving Verns as he was concerned that his odometer wasn’t working and might have difficulty following the cue sheet. We were all in the same boat as all of our units had failed as well but the cue sheet was straightforward enough. We made short work of the last 60 miles despite the heat as we smelt the barn, stopping for drinks at a nice little store at Hygiene. It was impressive to see the number of fit bikers on nice bikes who were out riding mid week along the roads back to Louisville.
We finished in 82 hours and 28 minutes feeling strong. I felt I’d paced myself well and the long rest stops at the overnights had made this a pretty comfortable ride.
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