Monarch Pass

After a breakfast buffet prepared at Chalet de Lizard, most of us headed out at 6:45 AM, bikes pointed towards Crested Butte, by way of Monarch Pass and Gunnison. Sada and Humphries started the Inaugural head-to-head 'Race Within The Race' about an hour later.  The long and only-slightly-uphill approach to the bottom of the mountain gave us time to psych ourselves up for the twelve (12) mile 4300ft climb.

A herd of unidentified creatures on the approach to Monarch Pass. I'm calling them antelope.

John and his bike, pointed in the right direction. We're climbing one of those monstrosities today.

Colorado roadkill, on the way up the mountain. What's funny is both Todd and I (riding about  45 minutes apart) spied this little guy and stopped, thought about strapping him to the front of our bikes, and upon realizing he was soggy, decided to leave him lie.

On the way up to Monarch Pass

Looking down the mountain .... pictures don't do it justice.

WE MADE IT! (That's me in the window taking the picture: proof that I was still vertical). The guys getting into the red car were in their 80s, drove up from Texas to see the mountains and catch a little of the Pro tour.

After a snack at the top and a short break (you can't stop too long, sweat gets cold fast at 11,000 ft) we headed down the other side. I don't know that I've ever been more terrified. At any given minute I could have rattled off at least 7 different ways I could die: majorly lose control and fly over the edge, lose a little control and swing into oncoming traffic, get hit by the car behind me, get mowed down on a blind curve by someone who didn't see me until it was too late, hit a pothole or rock, crash and slide off the road over the edge, get hit by a guy passing someone in oncoming traffic, get hit by a runaway truck. I stopped 3 or 4 times because the death grip on my handle bars made my hands cramp and my legs were shaking. Luckily there were runaway truck ramps and the roads were dry so I could pump my brakes when I started to panic. I started praying for temporarily higher levels of testosterone - lack of protrusions aside, women do NOT have an advantage in cycling. Everyone else (all male, if I haven't mentioned that yet) loved it - hitting 45-50mph.

After only slightly less time than it took me to get up the mountain, I was down. And happy. I breathed a sigh of relief and sat up for the first time in an hour and tried to relax ... only to feel my front wheel wobble wildly in the newly gusting wind. I hunkered down again and just kept pedaling - if I didn't die on that descent I sure wasn't going to give up the ghost now.

The other side of the mountain. It looks so nice doesn't it? Why? Because you can't see the wind!

I found John a few miles later at a gas station, hob-nobbing with a huge motorcycle gang from Europe (they brought their bikes over the pond - we found consolation in the thought that their bike shipping costs might have been slightly more than ours). We chatted with them a bit (mostly so I could enjoy their accents, which I did) and then continued on our way to Crested Butte, wind against us the entire way. The views were still spectacular though and I quickly forgot that I had just been scared out of my wits.

Crested Butte off in the distance, under a killer sky.

Another spectacular spot on the way to Crested Butte. The speck in the lower left is John.

Somewhere along the road we met Felix, who, it turns out, was in town working as a race marshalls. Felix helped pull us into Crested Butte against the wind, and would pop up a few more times during our trip, most notably, drunk as a skunk at the hotel hot tub that night. 

Felix, outside Crested Butte.

The RWTR replay occurred over dinner: Sada attacked Humphries 3 times (with advance notice, apparently Sada was feeling generous today) ... all 3 times Humphries catches him. During one attack Sada passes Todd, reaches over, pulls out his heart (Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom style) and like the cannibal that he is, eats it with a wild grin. Todd laughed and fell off, knowing he would lose 3 or 4 other vital organs before the race was over. Sada made a 4th and final attack, on which Humphries surrenders: Sada wins the day.