Team Salomon/Crested Butte:
Three Weeks to PQ Means Time to do the Team Thing

Doing some things for the first time completely rearranges your perception of what’s possible in life, and riding the 401 Trail at Crested Butte ranks right up there with driving, using the internet, and having sex.  Comprised of almost an hour of tight, high-speed, downhill singletrack—not to mention chest-high wildflowers as far as you can see—the 401 provided the team with a bit of pure bliss after eight hours of excellent riding.  Although 10,000’ of climbing left us feeling less than cherubic at times, the mountain biking in Crested Butte is truly heavenly.

Saturday:  With three weeks down from the last big race and three weeks to go before PQ, it was time for some hard training.  After helping my old buddy and ex-teammate Dave Mackey load up his rented POD (he and his family are moving to California for PA school), he and I headed out for an excellent run up and down Bear Peak outside of Boulder.  You can’t beat Boulder for awesome trail running from town!

Sunday:  Nice weather provided a great opportunity for five hours of mountain biking from home in Golden to Bergen Peak in Evergreen and back.  With almost 5,000’ of climbing, it’s a good ride.

Monday:  I bit the bullet and drove 3.5 hours to Gunnison early in the morning to meet the team for some training, and the scenery there made the trip worth it!  We hopped on the bikes for the long ride described above followed by utter indulgence at the local burrito shop.

Tuesday:  Up early again, we drove to Crested Butte for some trekking. The “Four Pass Loop” was the Rx for the day, and I was once again stunned by incredible wildflowers as we trekked 26 miles over four 12,000 passes through classic Rocky Mountain scenery.  Two long days together on the trail provided plenty of time to discuss PQ details like gear selection, getting there, and sleep strategy.

Wednesday:  Back at home, I spent most of the day addressing real-life issues, primarily selling our house in Golden so we can move to Evergreen.  Ran 60 minutes.

Thursday:  Paddled 90 minutes and continued with real life.

Friday:  More housing work plus a drive to Leadville with my dad and little sister before a 60-minute pre-race bike ride there.

Saturday:  The Leadville Trail 100 organization runs a superb and uniquely-Colorado series of races every summer.  I grew up watching my dad run the hundred miler, and heading back to Leadville always brings meaning to my racing.  The Leadville 100 bike race overlaps with PQ this year, so I decided at the last minute (thanks, Merilee, for faxing me the entry form!) to hop in Saturday’s Silver Rush 50.  After beginning with a 100-meter, super-steep hike-a-bike up an open hill at 10,000’ elevation, the course hits competitors hard with steep climbs, loose rocks, and hairy descents on a sweet out-and-back course.  I thoroughly enjoyed the course—a real mountain biking route with no pavement or boredom—and finished third.  It was an excellent way to finish off the week and spend some good time with my dad and sister.

Tip of the day:  During the final week or two before PQ, you may find yourself scrambling to make enough time for training with the increased emphasis on gear preparation.  My opinion is that, by two weeks before the race, you have probably gained almost all of the fitness you will have for the race.  At this point, spend those extra moments with your family, gear preparation, and wrapping things up at work.  You’ll be good and sick of trekking, biking, and paddling soon enough anyway!

As PQ approaches, the team will continue to be in close communication about gear and logistics.  We can’t wait to get up to South Dakota!

See you there,

Travis Macy

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 28th, 2009 at 8:54 am and is filed under Primal Quest. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.