Day Three in the Rockies

The Hampsten brothers are a hoot to hang out with. They finally arrived yesterday afternoon around 4:30. By the time we were even thinking about riding, a steady rain had arrived. That extended the screwing around time at the shop. Getting Andy dialed in to his new 96er and all it's features. Getting Steve excited about the possibilities of mountain biking. He is pondering a move from Seattle to Boulder, going to need one for that move!

Dinner was a classic midwest feast of hamburgers and corn followed by ice cream. Katie is the best hostess ever!!!! The stories that were going around the table were very entertaining to say the least. We all managed to get over our depression about not getting a ride in that evening.

The next morning it was sunny and nice temperatures. We all gathered around the tv to catch the Tour. Nothing like watching it with a guy that has competed in the event to get a bit of insight. During the breaks we managed to get breakfast in and figure out what the ride schedule for the day was. Everyone was kind enough to take into consideration my race tomorrow. The final conclusion - road in the morning and they would go on a mountain bike ride in the afternoon. Everyone was pretty excited to ride together. Me in particular.

Here is a picture of the Eriksen mansion in the morning:



This is a picture looking down their driveway:



Yes, it is that remote. I can't tell you if bears poop in the woods, but I can tell you that they go in their driveway!!

Andy, Steve, and Kent headed down to the shop via the road commute, on bikes, and Katie and I drove down. It takes about the same amount of time to ride as it does to drive - might as well ride. The ride home could be a bit daunting if you are tired, there are a couple of tough pitches along the way.

Once we got to the shop, we put together the fleet of bikes - me on a borrowed bike and the rest on their bikes for what was billed as an easy road ride. We were going to do the Emerald Loop.

Here are a couple of pictures before the Grand Depart:





We rolled out of town for what turned out to be a really fun ride. I had a blast. There were a couple of climbs that got my legs opened up. I just hung out at the back while Andy and Kent did virtually all of the work. The reward for the climbs were some really fun descents. We road a fair amount of remarkably smooth dirt roads along the way. Never seen anything like them in my neighborhood. They were as smooth as many paved roads in OH/MI. I have to say, Andy was a great rider. His descending and climbing are clearly impressive. It ended up being about a 50 mile ride in beautiful conditions.

Afterwards we had lunch in town at an organic grocery store/deli. Delicious! After lunch they all started plotting out what they were going to cook up for dinner. The Hampsten's were going to be in charge of Saturday night dinner. The planning of it sounded so good that I briefly considered bagging the race and hanging out.

After goofing around for a while, we said our good byes and they headed back up the mountain for the afternoon mtb ride and I headed for Breckenridge.

Made it through registration and saw Tinker - there goes my podium position! I think I am ready, but tomorrow will tell.

TTFN!