Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Finished the "triple-bypass" on Saturday in record time (for me).

Some highlights from the ride:

12,854 feet of climbing.
120 miles.
We averaged 16.2 mph.

It was a lot of fun (not) and, as I can only presume women feel immediately after childbirth, I have no intention of doing it again (this was something like my fourth time). The first two passes felt great, I felt like I could have gone much faster, but wanted to wait for the friends I was riding with. The last pass I had run out of water and food (we skipped most of the rest stops) and started bonking big time. I found a conoco and stopped for water, gatorade, and some very over-priced fig newtons, and jumped back on the bike. About 20 minutes later, I was fine, and managed to pass many people on my way to the top of Vail pass.

The stay in Vail was fun, the kids loved it. They swam and biked. I ate food pretty much constantly after I finished, and never felt quite full. We stayed in a very nice condo, except that about 2:30 a.m. the stupid smoke detector started chirping -- which wouldn't be a huge deal, except the ceiling was at least 15 feet high, and I didn't happen to have a ladder with me. Instead of calling the fire department (which I seriously considered) I decided to stack furniture on top of each other until I could reach the smoke detector. I got a coffee table up on end, balanced on the top of a large dresser. Standing on that I managed to rip the detector off the ceiling with extreme prejudice, yank the battery out, and throw it out in the kitchen. Ahhh, and then my sleep was uninterrupted and it was glorious.

Overall, a good weekend in the Rockies, much cooler up at altitude than it is down here. A good time to be in the mountains, and the weather was perfect.

3 comments:

holmesfamily8 said...

You are crazy! I vote you to be the longest living Whitehead though! Glad you had a good trip.

Dolly said...

Ben-I can remember growing up with you...and you were always very athletic. I think we went to one of your baseball games when I went up to Alaska in May of 1982.

LEY DE EMPLEO said...

Ben--that is amazing! We feel so lazy compared to you--you've inspired us to get in shape--do you do personal training by chance? Haha, congrats on your accomplishment!
-Jake