Triple Bypass

[spokewench]

Sounds good - I'd be happy to show you all the hills - Don't worry, I'm NOT a hillclimber so I'm not fast just steady

spoke

[IFjane]

mt and anyone else who might be contemplating the Triple,

The following is advice from my son who lives out there and has ridden it several times:

"1) Climb some long hills. I mean it. Like find something that climbs 3K' in a stretch and do it, go over to the other side, and ride back.
2) Make sure you can ride in a straight line for 120 miles. This is really important - an accidental swerve coming down juniper pass (or any other one, but juniper is always the most crowded) will most certainly be disasterous & could lead to another participant's death. You have no idea how fast people will be whipping past you going downhill (myself included), and a fair many of them don't handle their bikes all that well.
3) Learn to eat, blow your nose, drink, put on arm warmers, etc. while you're riding. This might sound stupid, but it's much more efficient to keep rolling through those things, keep your # of stops to a minimum, and make the stops you do take count. It's a long ride."

And his description of the route itself (I have ridden the route from Loveland Pass to Avon so I didn't ask him anything about that. This is about the section from the start to Loveland):

"Juniper Pass - not the hardest necessarily, it's just very sudden. You get on your bike in the parking lot of this elementary school and start climbing. For a very long time. But you get to the top and absolutely blast down to Idaho Springs (meeting the Mt. Evans road at echo lake). The key is not blasting out of the start, but just taking it at your own pace and having a good ride. The climb up from Idaho Springs to the top of Loveland pass is what I consider the hardest, simply because of its sheer length. Once you actually get to Loveland, there is an aid station at the ski resort, so you stop & eat some fig newtons, orange slices, etc. The actual climb up the pass does seem easier, because it's more of a traditional climb and your mind is prepared for it. The trip from Idaho Springs up to the ski resort can be tough only because it's just a long pull, not above treeline, no switchbacks, etc., so it doesn't feel as much like the climb you're expecting."

[pkq]

I've found that doing lots of rides in PA, where one can easily do a century with 10,000' of climbing is great preparatory work for CO. It's tough in either state and you'll be tired.

Good luck!

[IFjane]

Thanks, pkg. Have you ridden the triple?