Saddle Sores

I got a call from Ben Kneller on Tuesday asking me if I wanted to do a big ride with him and Ben Hoffman on Thursday. I accepted, somewhat ignorantly, not fully knowing what I was getting myself into. It turned out to be the longest ride of my life. Here's the ride by the numbers:

Route: Durango to Silverton to Ouray to Telluride to Dolores to Mancos to Durango
Length: 230.7 miles
Ride Time: 12 hours, 25 min
Total Time: 14 hours, 2 min
Total Elevation Gain: over 16,000 feet
Average Speed: 18.6 mph
Average Watts: 190
Total Pedal Revolutions: over 60,000
Total Calories: 8479

Here's the ride by the photos.

The start, in the dark, at 6:00 am.

The first, and one of the hardest, of five mountain passes for the day.

The second pass, Molas, immediately after Coalbank.

After a stop for water in Silverton it was onto the highest point of the day, Red Mountain Pass, at an elevation of just over 11,000 feet.

This is part of the descent off of Red Mountain Pass down into the town of Ouray.

Ben, trying to entertain himself.

This sign says it all: We were riding through the "Switzerland of America."

Dallas Pass, only one more pass to go.

Not quite up to Hammer Nutrition protocol, but we were hungry, and pizza fit the bill.

The top of Lizard Head Pass. It was all downhill from here, except for when it went uphill.

Finally, as the sun set, we crested Hesperus. It was eleven more miles of downhill into town.

Normally, I only do a few six hour days a year. Six hours is a big day for me. What's weird though is how you can make a mental switch. Yesterday, when I hit the six hour mark, it wasn't a big deal at all, it was just the halfway mark. It got boring out there but I was happy for this blog. I spent most of the ride thinking about what I would write and what photos I would post. You might be thinking "Over 12 hours of thinking about this post and this is the best you could come up with." Well it is so lay off me.

Time to go ice my gooch again.