Breathing through a straw!

I raced the train on the way out of town along the bike path.
I beat it, thankfully, as it goes about 10 mph a top speed
A view over the Animas River Valley from the top of the cliffs.
The La Platas towering above Durango

After I scarfed down a muffin at Bread this morning I decided to hit up the hills in the Durango area and do some sprints. For my first workout back from the dead it went pretty well. I rode up the newest climb "The Cliffs" to start things off. Being back at altitude is tough and I don't think my body is used to it yet after sea level for a month. I was breathing through a straw and almost yacked at the top after giving it a solid effort on the climb. The Cliffs is an average of 13% grade for over 3 miles with 2,000 feet of climbing up to 9,000 something feet. It hurts. It is also probably going to be off limits to riders soon as the billionaires continue to by out the millionaires. There are new signs on the road saying it is Private and you can't go up there without a Realtor. I hope we can get away with sneaking by the gate for another year or two. So far so good.

It is still hot here in Durango, but not unbearable like the East with the humidity. I have actually enjoyed the training in the heat. Mountain biking is another story though, it just gets to hot out there on the trails.

Not much else going on. B.C. Superweek is not far off, hope I can do something there. I am still not sure about Firecracker 50. The altitude today was allot for me, and racing on the 4th would only give me 9 days back at altitude and Breckenridge is higher. The race goes up to 11,500 feet! Talk about breathing through a straw, maybe not even breathing at all. I am still toying with the idea of the mountain bike comeback for one race to get my ass kicked.

Tomorrow, epic mountain bike ride up the Colorado Trail again but further this time. Hopefully I won't run into any deer looking to trample me on the way up there.