begging for money!

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07-19-2013, 08:50
Sawin

begging for money!

I thought I'd see how it feels to be a worthless lefty for the day, and beg for money.

Pardon me, can you spare any change? Does anyone have any money they can throw my way? Well not exactly my way. It's for a local charity, First Descents.

On August 3rd, I'll be riding the spectacular "Copper Triangle" in support of First Descents, suffering through the nearly 80 mile loop that crests three mountain passes - Fremont Pass (elevation 11,318'), Tennessee Pass (elevation 10,424') and Vail Pass (elevation 10,666'). Let me just say that cycling the length of the Vail valley and then up Vail pass, after 60+ miles, is nothing short of torturous....

First Descents is a non-profit organization that provides outdoor adventure experiences to promote emotional, psychological, and physical healing for young adults with cancer. If you or a loved one has battled cancer, you well know it can be very difficult emotionally and physically, breaking the spirit and confidence of the patient, even after treatment is over. First Descents does their best to rekindle all of these things at once. It really is a cool program.

If any fellow members would be willing to contribute, or wants to ride with me, please let me know. Myself and everyone at First Descents would truly appreciate it!
http://teamfd.firstdescents.org/2013...apital/jswain/
07-19-2013, 08:51
Sawin

Oh, and I didn't mention it but every penny donated to FD is tax deductible!
07-19-2013, 09:03
Skully

Better hurry up and get into shape there Joe, last time I saw you you were very out of shape. [Coffee]

http://www.allfunnies.com/wp-content..._people_05.jpg

.......side note, good for you doing something positive. [Beer]
07-19-2013, 09:07
Sawin

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skully

Better hurry up and get into shape there Joe, last time I saw you you were very out of shape. [Coffee]

http://www.allfunnies.com/wp-content..._people_05.jpg

.......side note, good for you doing something positive. [Beer]

Yikes! But seriously, good for him. I hope he sticks with it and slims down!
07-19-2013, 09:22
Delfuego

Spandex truly is a miracle material...
07-19-2013, 09:40
Skully

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sawin

Yikes! But seriously, good for him. I hope he sticks with it and slims down!

So Joe you are denying that is you?

[Coffee] Bump for a good cause.
07-19-2013, 13:03
Sawin

1 Attachment(s)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skully

So Joe you are denying that is you?

[Coffee]

Yes Matt, I am unequivocally stating that that is not me. Here I am, although I will be riding my road bike, not my mountain bike for the aforementioned torture test.
Attachment 31691
07-19-2013, 13:39
KestrelBike

begging for money!

Is it possible to ride just part of the route with you? My current long rides are ~30 miles.
07-19-2013, 13:45
Skully

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sawin

Yes Matt, I am unequivocally stating that that is not me. Here I am, although I will be riding my road bike, not my mountain bike for the aforementioned torture test.

You funny........................

[Coffee]
07-19-2013, 13:47
Sawin

Quote:

Originally Posted by KestrelBike

Is it possible to ride just part of the route with you? My current long rides are ~30 miles.

Well I suspect you could hop on one of the aid vehicles and hitch a ride anytime you needed it, but to do so you'd probably have to officially register for the copper triangle. Otherwise, you'd want to have someone planning to meet you in Leadville or Minturn.
That being said, I've ridden the copper triangle 4 years now, this will be my 5th, and all of my training rides are 15-40ish miles. I've never trained the full length of it, you just get in decent shape and eat along the ride, taking it easy when you need to. I'm sure you could make it with the proper amount of willpower, that's all that ever gets me through it.

edit: oh and some advil.
07-19-2013, 13:52
KestrelBike

begging for money!

Interesting! How fast mph are you typically going?
07-19-2013, 13:52
Skully

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sawin

edit: oh and some advil.

.......and a couple days off after wards.
07-19-2013, 15:01
Sawin

Quote:

Originally Posted by KestrelBike

Interesting! How fast mph are you typically going?

Well Strava shows my average for the triangle last year at 14.9mph, which includes everything except the last leg up Vail pass and then the downside back to Copper, which would have been much faster. I recall looking at the end and my battery had died, so my tracking was cut short. I normally ride to and from work (18.5miles one way) at about 17.5mph average.
07-19-2013, 15:09
mtnhack

OP, you should also be clear about riding at altitude. A lot of this is over 9K feet and that will sap you at the least and could really make you ill or stop your ride pretty quick. KB Tomorrow, go ride Evergreen to Mt Evans as training to see how you handle the altitude and some volume. You don't even need to go all the way to the top to get an idea of what these passes are like.
07-19-2013, 15:41
Sawin

Quote:

Originally Posted by mtnhack

OP, you should also be clear about riding at altitude. A lot of this is over 9K feet and that will sap you at the least and could really make you ill or stop your ride pretty quick. KB Tomorrow, go ride Evergreen to Mt Evans as training to see how you handle the altitude and some volume. You don't even need to go all the way to the top to get an idea of what these passes are like.

That is also very true. I've not spent any length of time at altitude this year, so I'm sure I'll probably feel it worse than ever. Fortunately for me in years past, I've never felt like the altitude was as much of a factor as the pitch and overall length of the ride. Subconsciously I know breathing hard is just part of the game, so I guess I just count on constantly breathing hard and haven't "compared" it to rides down here. I'm sure I just go slower.
07-19-2013, 17:03
KestrelBike

Quote:

Originally Posted by mtnhack

OP, you should also be clear about riding at altitude. A lot of this is over 9K feet and that will sap you at the least and could really make you ill or stop your ride pretty quick. KB Tomorrow, go ride Evergreen to Mt Evans as training to see how you handle the altitude and some volume. You don't even need to go all the way to the top to get an idea of what these passes are like.

I don't know where that is : ( Can you give google-mapable address as a start & end point, and I'll try to figure it out from there?
07-19-2013, 17:26
mtnhack

There are many places to start. If you start at Bergen Park in Evergreen, the ride is up around the 60 mile range, but you can cut out at Echo Lake (elevation 11,000) and head back down for about a 40 mile round trip.
You can also start further west in Idaho Springs. If you sign up for a Strava account, you can get a lot of information by searching destinations and getting routes with elevations and distances.
But this will give you an idea about the Mt Evans Scenic Byway
07-19-2013, 18:06
MrPrena

Oh damn... how did you guys get my picture?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skully

Better hurry up and get into shape there Joe, last time I saw you you were very out of shape. [Coffee]

http://www.allfunnies.com/wp-content..._people_05.jpg

.......side note, good for you doing something positive. [Beer]