Patrick Anderson's Blog

This week we revisited a ride that I absolutely hated at the beginning of last year. Deer Creek was the first real climbing we did last year and it was the first for many on this year's team. And this year we started further up the Platte River Trail (at Overland Pond Park).

The ride down the Platte River Trail looks flat but it is actually a slight incline. It isn't too bad and with fresh legs, is just an easy ride. Once we hit Chatfield State Park, we were confronted with our first real challenge: we had to climb to the top of the dam. It is a pretty short climb, but is definitely a wakeup call. This brought back memories of last season when I fell to the pack of the group and need to lay down in the grass at the top of the dam. This year, I chugged up the climb and just kept going.

After we left Chatfield, we took a short break on the side of the road to refill our water bottles and grab a fig newton or two. We had 8 miles of climbing ahead. We kept the break short because we didn't want our legs to cool off too much and we just wanted to get the climb out of the way.

A small group of us left the SAG stop early and started the grind up Deer Creek. The weather was a cool 45 degrees or so, but we soon worked up quite a sweat. As I was trudging up the road, I once again thought about last season. The first time I did Deer Creek, I stopped 3 extra times and nearly fell over at one point because I was going so slow. Deer Creek is still tough, but I was able to go up without stops and and a decent pace.

Of course, the best part of any climb is going back down. The roads were in pretty good shape and we were able to fly. We ended up just pushing all the way back to our start point without any stopping (well, we had to stop for a flat, but that is it.)

I had this copy of my Moab Century video on my hard drive since last year, but I didn't want to upload to YouTube since I used copyrighted music. But from what I understand, You tube won't necessarily delete a video with copyrighted video, but they will show links for people to purchase the music. Just to be safe, I uploaded this with my other account.

So here it is... With better music:

Here are some highlights from today's TNT ride. This is the third week of training for America's Most Beautiful Ride around Lake Tahoe on June 3rd. The ride started at Bicycle Village in Aurora, went through Cherry Creek State Park and down to the E470 area. Total mileage was about 31. (see the complete map at MapMyRide.com)

Today I just took a short warm-up ride by myself. I rode over to Cherry Creek State Park, did one loop and then came back home. It was a bit chilly -- maybe about 38 or so. I wore some of my cold weather gear, but not all. I'm still learning what combos work best on these chilly days.

For this ride, I wore an UnderArmour type shirt, leg warmers, full finger gloves, and a wind breaker. My core was warm and even hot at times, but my mid section and feet were freezing. Luckily, it was just a short ride, so it wasn't too bad. Next time, I'll go with the cycling tights and shoe covers.

In any case, it is all part of the process of learning about cycling. This is my first time riding in temps like these or in February. On Saturday, we have a Team in Training ride in the morning. Temps are expected to be around 20 degrees, so I will definitely have to be better prepared. 

February 16th Ride Map and Info at MapMyRide.com