Cyclocross – Page 4 – Rodeo Adventure Labs, LLC

“Roadie? Oh”: Six flats and an MTB detour.

Sometimes you plan on rolling out and doing 100 miles in the mountains with friends. Sometimes you get distracted and have an adventure.

Peder and Matt and myself chanced upon the 2nd option recently. We had expected to put in some huge base miles for the upcoming race season. Plenty of smooth ups and downs were on tap, and we were geared up and ready for it.

We should have known from the start that something was amiss though. Before leaving the house Peder found both of his tires flat from thorns. Similarly, I found a flat and a thorn while leaving my house for the meetup. While en route I suffered a 2nd flat. The ride hadn’t even begun and we were 45 minutes behind “schedule” and 4 flats down.

High Line Iditabike

When not exploring the mountains or on a local group ride in Denver, Colorado, the High Line canal is a go-to route for quick miles. My favorite section is south of Hampden Blvd where the trail turns to gravel and meanders for over twenty miles, south and west, around Chatfield reservoir and to Waterton Canyon.

Adventure Colorado Cyclocross Denver Dirt Gravel High Line Photography Snow

Cyclomountaineering

Once in a while you do a ride that leaves you tingling for days afterwards, and not because your fingers and toes are still recovering from frostbite and numbness. Colorado has experienced a remarkable cold snap in the last weeks with lows in the range of -15F and highs in the single digits F. I’ve never experienced anything quite like it myself, and for the first four or five days of the snap I didn’t seriously consider going outside.

Adventure Colorado Cyclocross Photography Snow

Cyclocross Mount Falcon

My training is falling off a cliff these days due to diminishing sunlight and increasing workload in the office. Thus swings the pendulum of life. Trying to stay in shape for CX is getting tricky and takes some creativity. On top of the time challenges, the fatigue challenge complicates the picture. How do you stay motivated on the bike when the local roads are getting long in the tooth and the interesting roads are too far away to get to?

Bianchi Colorado CX Cyclocross Exploring Mount Falcon Mountain Biking MTB Parmilee Gulch