Yeah, I'm around...

O.K., just a quick update. Yes, more adventures from High Altitude Training Camp are coming. I have been a little swamped with a variety of dull "real world" and "non athletic" chores and functions.

1. I have been cleaning my kid's room: "Why," you ask, "don't you make HIM clean it???" Ahhh! Those of you who are parents know that sometimes, the job gets done better and faster when you do it yourself. This is a big year for the kid. He starts middle school and it was time to go through that room and move out any lingering baby items and toys that do not get played with to make it a room that will stay somewhat clean and a room that I will not be shocked by if he has his any of his friends come over. In the past it has looked like a dump heap with a small trail or path from the door to the bed and there was lots of stuff spilling out of the door into the hall way. His father was always on him and me to clean it, but when it is soooo bad, you get overwhelmed and you don't know where to start.

I have been hard at work now for a week and I have combed through just about all the crap and I have installed a set of Elfa shelfs from the Container Store in the closet and pulled out almost everything that I feel needs to go. I had him helping me, but he wants to keep every little thing. NO WAY! Some of that stuff has to go. It is not finished, but it is close. Oh, please, no more Hot Wheels, Remote Control cars and race tracks, airplanes, Lionel trains, or Army men. I could sell what we have here on EBAY and easily make over $1000.00 but the kid won't part with it.

2. School starts on Monday: I am excited because I get more training time! It has been busy with picking up musical instruments, school supplies, new jeans that fit, Brahma Night to get the schedule, and a doctor's office visit.

3. I have been cleaning house: When you train a lot, the house gets neglected. I have El Esposo coming home this evening after being away in Canada for work for the past 3 and 1/2 weeks. Not only that, my Dad and Step Mom are coming tomorrow to stay the weekend for a family wedding.

4. Yeah, that wedding: I still have to go buy a gift. My cousin's son who was the ring bearer in my wedding is getting married this weekend. That makes me feel a little old. It will be a nice chance to see a ton of family and family friends from my Mom's side of the family who I don't get to see very often. Since my Mom passed away back in 2002, we don't see much of each other and that is sad since many of us live in the same city and in the same state. It is our own faults for being too busy to call and check in with each other. I am guilty of it as well. I am an only child so my cousins were like my big brothers and big sisters. I will have to do better.

I had to buy a dress for this wedding. Not my favorite job. HA! I consider shopping for a dress and wearing it a job. Anyway, I had a few things in the closet, but they were either too casual (sun dress from The Gap) or way too dressy (black off the shoulder silk cocktail dress) for a 3 o'clock in the afternoon wedding. Add to that fact that I had given away almost all of my "real people" shoes and only held on to one pair of black heels, and two pairs of wedge sandals. Shopping was necessary. I found a dress on sale that got the kid's approval and it is (HORRORS!!!) pink. Not princess pink or bubble gum pink but a deep hot pink. Pink with an edge I guess you could say. Found some rockin' Steve Madden shoes on sale and the color on the box says Blush so they are a very pale pink that is almost neutral. Let's just hope I don't twist an ankle.

So that, and some training, is what I have been up to. Got to get off to work now so I will check in soon,

Later Gators,

Liz

It's the name of the game...

More high altitude training camp adventures on the way!

Later Gators,

Liz

High Altitude Training Camp-Day One

I was in need of a change of pace so when Greyhound ordered me to get my rear end on a plane and head west on a Monday, I booked my flight on a Tuesday, found a bike box ( I had loaned mine out) on a Wednesday, shipped it off at FedEx on Thursday, found a new helmet on Friday because I found a crack in my trusty Giro, did laundry on Saturday after my 3 hour ride, packed on Sunday, and tied up loose ends on Monday before hopping on a plane with the kid on Tuesday morning at 7:23 a.m.

Ahhh! :)

On the way up to Copper Mountain!

Denver was cooler and rainy but as we went into the foothills and up into the mountains, the clouds broke open and we had lovely sunshine and gentle warm temps. Karen and Dutch, who I have ridden with before, and their kids were on the same flight as I was and got to the "dog run" before I did. We caught some time down at the Blue river and a little lunch and when we walked back up the hill to the house, my bike had arrived. I was looking forward to good times with good friends and to get a little relaxation in with all the fun training we were going to do.

On Wednesday, Greyhound and I took off to head to Vail, CO. Once we got there, the plan was to turn around and go back over Vail Pass. All I can say is that it was cold! Greyhound and I must have looked like goofballs wearing so much clothing. About 8 miles into the ride we had to pull over and start peeling off some layers because it was warming up. We had almost the entire way on hike and bike paths! NOTE TO TEXAS: You may be the Lone Star State, but you SUCK in providing alternative transportation options for those who want to "Keep it Green" or be an endurance nut. So we were climbing up to Copper Mountain and you are cleverly fooled by looking ahead and thinking that you are going down hill. But why are we working so hard to go down hill??? One look to the right and the mountain stream is running the opposite direction. D'oh! We are really going uphill!

Water break half way to Copper Mountain...

Copper Mountain is kind of the mid way point to Vail. Now we had some serious climbing to do. We were looking at some dark clouds to the left of the pass and we asked a few people coming down off the path if they encountered any rain. We got reports of sunny skies so we decided to push on. The last place you want to be is caught out in one of these storms because they produce lightning strikes and hail and at over 9,000 feet above sea level, we were not too far away from the clouds!

Again, we were on a hike and bike trail but a few miles after we left Copper Mountain, we did not see any more hikers. As was true of the first stretch, the water was running the opposite direction from where we were pedaling to. There were a few nasty spaghetti like switch backs up to the top of the pass and oxygen was at a premium. I kept trying to distract myself by looking at all the wild flowers along the side of the bike path. I was so glad that there was a Rest Stop at the top because I had been letting the kidneys do more work than sweating off the fluids I had been taking in.

At the top of Vail Pass, 10,700 feet above sea level.

After a snack and a break we headed out because we needed to get ahead of a group of "fun seekers" who had been brought to the top and were riding back down into Vail on mountain bikes. It was too risky to be behind them. There were little kids, people not wearing their helmets, people pulling over without warning to take pictures, etc. Too risky. The first stretch off the summit was fast and fun but then the signs for limited sight distance and curvy-swervy roads started to appear. I was no longer having fun. At one point, the bike path was less than 3 feet from vehicle traffic coming up the mountain in the opposite direction. There were cyclists coming up the opposite side of the path. The clouds had started to roll in and I was having trouble seeing far down the road. Greyhound took off and told me not to pop a tire by heating up the rim using my breaks. I was not having fun. I just fell off the bike 5 weeks ago and I did not want to do it again! We rode the bike path under I-70 and it brought us up on a street wide bike path that would take us the rest of the way down into Vail. After spending some time trying to help some guy change his tire we rocketed down the mountain. I had longer stretches without turns and I could see better, but now it was starting to rain and it was hurting. When I was finally able to slow down and come to a stop, I realized that it was hailing. No wonder it hurt. I made it the rest of the way down, found Greyhound and we pedaled out of the rain, but into the wind as we entered west Vail. It started raining really hard and we took shelter under an overpass on I-70. Once it stopped, the sun came out again and we rode the rest of the way into town.

There were more dark clouds just behind the peaks and we decided that we would call the clan to come have lunch and we would have them take us back home rather than ride in the rain. Greyhound found some coffee and chocolate milk at Starbucks and I found Marble Slab Ice Cream to fuel back up.

Ooo Yummy, recovery yummy!!! Me like recovery!!!

As we were waiting for the group, the thunder started and we decided that we had made the correct decision to not ride back over the pass. We had a great Mexican food lunch, took a peek into some of the shops in Vail and then loaded up the bikes and headed home.

Milage: 37.7 miles

Gain: 1,700 ft. (not accurate) Greyhound said we did more climbing. His Garmin doesn't lie.

Time: 2 hours, 23 minutes

Next up, Loveland Pass!

Later Gators,

Liz

Home to the Houston Humidity...

and I love it! Yes, I am a bit of a freak. As you can see from the new picture on the Blog header, I was in Colorado all last week. I had a wonderful, spur of the moment trip to Breckenridge to stay with Greyhound and his family. Mrs. Greyhound had rented a nice home up on the hill above town and Greyhound had convinced me to come take a respite from the heat while El Esposo was in northern Alberta, Canada for work.

I still need to gather all my thoughts and pictures about my adventures. All I know is that the mountains are quite nice. I am still a beach girl at heart and I might have second thoughts about a Rocky Mountain High in the winter months. Now that I am back at sea level and my skin feels hydrated again, I can say that I truly did benefit from my high altitude training camp. I realized that I am pretty darn good on the bike when it comes to climbing. Descending, not so good. I am a big weenie. I like going fast, but when the roads are unfamiliar, and the curves block the view of what is up ahead, it can get dicey. Slick roads from rain don't help either. I also realized that I might have to go get my vision checked. I can see ok, but in low light things are not very clear. This again was a point that was dicey for me going in and out of the sun and shade on a bike path that had lots of twists and turns. I felt I could not see well. It also does not help that my eyes were burning and I had tears running down my face many times on the way up or the way down a hill. I have had this happen in the past and it is really annoying because it renders me blind until I can pull over and take care of the situation. Many times, there was no convenient place to pull over.

Buddy and his pal Scott sunning on the banks of the Blue River after getting soaked while playing on the rocks.

Anyway, I am home and I had a great break from work and had some great adventures. I will get it all down soon.

Later Gators,

Liz

210 miles of cycling, over 14,000 feet of climbing, 4 epic rides. Trail running at high altitudes. Heading home to the heat

100 miles, altitude, 2 mountain passes, tired, sore, happy that IMCZ is flat!

Toe covers, gloves, jacket, 11,990 elevation, snow, hypothermia, uncontrolable shivering. What did Coach Liz just do???