Ring the Peak Bike

There is a trail system (although not totally complete) that rings Pikes Peak. The official route, which include roads is approximately 75 miles. Other routes that include existing trails through private property covers about 62 miles give or take. This weekend a group of hearty mountain bikers namely my good friend Kevin Cahn, Paul DeWitt of Ultra running fame and no relation to me, Carol Gerber – ultra runner and ultra-biker, Steve Bremner the mountain man of mountain men, and myself set out to “ring the peak” on mountain bikes. We took the official route.  Although all of us were at pretty much the same fitness level, there was a pretty big span in skill level, however, we still had a great ride and experience. Where sections were too technical there were alternate routes that the less skilled riders could ride. I highly recommend the ride to anyone who wants a great challenge and stunning scenery. The trails range from dirt roads, to fast smooth single track, technical descents, and hike a bike climbs. A bit of everything a trail can throw at you. When all was said and done we finished in approximately 10 hours, 75 miles and thousands of feet of climbing. My Garmin battery died after 7.5 hours which was at > 10,200 feet of climbing. It was definitely an epic ride, one which I don’t think any of us will soon forget.

Carol on Sweet Single Track!

Passng by Catamount Reservoir

Steve in the Meadow

Paul & Carol lovin it!

So on Sunday the day after Ring the Peak I started on a run with Max to complete my weekend “Leadman Sandwich”. I thought it was going to be a short run but I felt so good that I didn’t finish until a little over 20 miles later! I even added an extra hill up Flying W at the end. After all one of the keys to Leadman training is to get the back to back long ride & run sandwiched between two rest days. These kind of weekends are very good for confidence building which is a big part of completing something like Leadman.

	Training Log 21 - 27 May 2012	Bike	Bike	Run	Run
		HRS	Miles	HRS	Miles
Monday
Tuesday	Run with Max in Ute Park. Took it easy, legs feeling pretty tired from last weeks Gentlemens Ride.  10:35 pace, 1,212 ft of climbing. 10:35 pace			1.3	7.5
	ProCycling shop ride. Felt surprisingly good this evening. Went with second group and was between 3rd and 5th on each climb. Gold Camp, Cheyenne Canyon, and Orion. HR 124/162, 4,068 ft climbing.	2.3	28
Wednesday	Easy run with Max, Hank's Loop. 9:55 pace.			0.5	3.2
Thursday	Easy run with Max and Primus to Ice Lake Parking lot and back. Had to make a lot of stops with Primus peeing and pooping ans sniffing along the way. Felt really good. Best I've felt on a run since back from the bike trip.			1.4	8
	Ride home from work. Now have Garmin on Autostop so only ride time is measure. Avg speed 11 MPH HR 96/132. Started to do tempo ride on Santa Fe Trail but legs were trashed, so just did easy recovery ride back home. Need to save it for Sat.	1	11.4
Friday	Easy ride to work on Road Bike. Went up new section of bike path instead of CostCo. Felt good.	0.6	8
Saturday	Ring the Peak Ride. Great Ride, but a lot of waiting. Felt good pretty much the whole ride, but was ready to be done. Ride was with Steve Bremner, Paul DeWitt, Kevin Cahn, and Carol Gerber. Great group to ride with. Took Gold Camp back as it was not a good idea for Carol to ride Frosty's/Jones/Bear Creek trails since here technical skills were questionable. Still a great ride and great workout.	10.5	75
Sunday	Easy run that turned out to be longer than planned because I felt good and I know I have to do these LeadMan sandwiches to get effective training in. Ran with Max to Ice Lake and back then dropped him off since it was hot, then ran in Ute Park for a couple of hours. Added the Flying W hill for an extra climb.			3.6	20.5
		14.4	122.4	6.8	39.2
				21.2	161.6