Training Takes on Variety

Yea, I know, the last half dozen posts are headlined and/or in reference to TRAINING....well that is about all racers do this time of year. Today's ride was a bit different for me and accomplished a couple of personal goals even if most racers think it routine.

The Broomfield to Left Hand Canyon route was pretty uneventful until I entered the canyon. The usual thought process goes....plenty of time, legs still attached (30 miles in), and weather looks like it will hold out. I'm going to Ward. Or, not much time, legs squeaking and looks like a storm is at higher elevation. I'm going to Jamestown.

This ride the 2008 Yeti ARC CX is under me and I'm doing a loop on the mountain bike trails of Heil Ranch. Yeti has gone un-dinged long enough and the technical handling is yet to be tested. I'm riding an off-road virgin.
Plans were to actually use it for a couple of late season CX races but mister gimpy leg threw a wrench in the cog on that one.
Heil is among one of the more "rocktical" area rides especially on the top loop although the ascent is relatively mild and even. Having never ridden the CXer up technical terrain and steep grades, I had no idea if it or me would be up to the climb. No Granny MTB gears to fall back on when boulders need to be attacked. Maybe I would find out why the bike's shouldering ability was a major design consideration.
The Texas longhorn sized Salsa handlebars proved useful to power-jerk the front wheel up and over babyheads. The lost art of finding a "line" suddenly became important. My fore and aft Fox suspended ASR makes that a much less important task.

Through multiple stand ups and anaerobic sprints I made the first 2.5 miles to the start of the rock infested Ponderosa Loop with no major injuries or broken bike parts. On to the feared loop. Taking the counterclockwise route put me quickly into a rapid descent through loose rocks, tire slicing angled flagstone and an occasional snow crossing. Rough but I held on and so did the Ritchey wheels and tires. Stark reminder of why MTBers need to work the upper body more. It has been awhile since the arms worked harder than the legs on a bike.

A little more climbing and I'm greeted by the familiar benchs marking the highpoint (6,821 ft) and farthest end of the loop.

Visible below the benches, is Hall Ranch another Boulder County MTB meca. Rumors last year were that there are plans to tie the 2 areas together making an excellent multi-hour MTB ride.

The long descent back to the trailhead had me feeling like a jackhammer operator. Two guys on older Cannondales were impressed when I asked to pass on the left. Guess they thought I was actually in control.


On the way back to Broomfield, I was please to know the answer to the questions that had me wanting to do the Heil Ranch ride. Yes, my legs were able to push up the rocky stuff with CX gearing and no the bike did not fail under MTB trail conditions.
Constant bouncing of the seat bag did finally cause the zipper to fly open and deposit everything squarely on the cross over bridge. Two nice Boulder type ladies put down their field guides and helped me gather it all up. I made a mental note to zip tie the bag closed as soon as I get home.
Garmin stats for the ride were 67.5 miles, 6,494 ft of elevation gained, ride time 4 hrs and 40 min. Lets not talk about average speed.