I got back earlier this week from the Bike Tour of Colorado (BTC). I've just completed a write-up of the trip. I'm posting it in several pieces since it's so long. I tried to keep it short but there was so much to say that the length got away from me.

Day 1- Snowmass to Leadville via Independence Pass (elevation 12,095) - 68 miles

I call this my mental toughness day. There were a variety of conditions that made this a very hard day. It took all the mantras I could chant and all of the perseverance I could muster to make it through the end of the day. It was a cool morning with a light rain so I started the day with layers on, including my waterproof rain jacket. I was already suffering from the altitude -- a slight headache and breathing hard just carrying my bags to the luggage truck. The start of the ride was a short, but somewhat steep climb out of Snowmass Village. I was struggling through that climb and wondering what in the world I had gotten myself into. Thankfully, that was the steepest climb on the whole trip. I found that the grade of the climbs we encountered was not as steep as I am used to in Georgia so, even though the climbs were long, I was able to just drop into a low gear and spin up them.

As I came into Aspen and the base of the Independence Pass climb, the sun came out and it warmed up so I stripped off my layers. I knew I would be going up hill for about 20 miles so I just started spinning and enjoying the scenery around me. About a third of the way from the top, I felt a chill in the air so I started putting my layers back on. The higher I got, the more the weather deteriorated -- gusts of wind with a mix of snow, sleet and hail. I wanted to rest when I reached the top but the weather conditions were making me so cold that I knew I needed to keep moving. As I lost elevation on the descent, the wintry mix turned to a light rain, the temperature climbed a little and the wind let up. By the time I made it to the bottom, the rain had stopped and I had warmed up. I still had about 25 miles to go but I figured it would be a piece of cake compared to what I had been through. Well, just as I hit the last rest top for the day, the weather took a turn for the worse again. Heavy rain with a strong cross wind. A bunch of riders were huddled behind a truck to get relief from the storm. I joined them for a few minutes while I ate a snack but decided I needed to move on before I lost my will to get back on the bike. After riding in the storm for a few miles, the sun came back out and I was quickly stripping off layers again. The weather was nice for the remainder of the ride but the combination of the altitude, the climbing and the bad weather I had encountered had taken a toll on me. I really had to push myself to make it through the last 10 miles or so. I had to take several rest breaks during that time and finally made it to the end.