Copper Triangle

Saturday was a great day!  After weeks of subconscious, and sometimes more overt worrying, I cycled Copper Triangle.  This ride is a 78 mile loop with three mountain passes and 5,981 feet of elevation gain.  It includes three Colorado mountain passes, hence the name triangle, Fremont Pass (elevation 11,318’), Tennessee Pass (elevation 10,424’) and Vail Pass (elevation 10,666’).  I have ridden this ride twice before in 2007 and 2008; it is a very scenic ride and is definitely physically challenging.  My stomach has been in knots because I felt that I had not ridden enough in preparation and that I was not acclimatized enough to the extra humidity we have been experiencing this year.  Add to this that during the final week before the ride the cycling gods seemed to have taken a distinct dislike to me.  It was not my imagination that each time I tried to ride the heavens opened and down came the rain.  Not a light shower but thunderstorms packed with two to three hours of constant rain and flash flood warnings.  One evening with a bloody mindedness my Mum and Dad would have been proud of I biked 20 miles in the rain simply because I was tired of the weather dictating my biking schedule!  I was soaked to the skin and had mascara running down to my chin but I was beaming triumphantly with the song “Ain’t no mountain high enough, ain’t no river wide enough…” playing in my mind to the steady rhythm of pedal strokes.  

Saturday morning dawned and at 6:45am when we set off it was a chilly 47 degrees.  Despite the hour there were plenty of cyclists who hit the road before us and we were surrounded by equally cold and sleepy riders.  Within the first half mile of the ride the climbing begins and the trepidation of the first 12 miles made my hear beat faster.  In my  mind it was a grueling start to the day; all uphill, steep and unrelenting.  In reality it was a steady climb with some flat and downhill interspersed and I made it to the first rest stop without incident and was irrationally happy to see chocolate chip cookies.  I am not a big chocolate chip cookie eater usually but today there were a great source of strength to me at yes, every rest stop!  Glad the first pass was completed without a mental or physical breakdown, I hit the road again knowing we had some nice downhill to enjoy and another pass to tackle before reaching the next rest station.  The miles flew by and suddenly we were climbing again.  My stomach lurched and those muscles in my legs that I half expected to fail me at any moment took over and suddenly we were there at the top of Tennessee Pass.  I started to feel good that two of the three passes were conquered but an inner voice kept telling me I could not relax because I still had to climb the dreaded Vail Pass.  More chocolate chip cookies, some grapes and water and we were ready to descend 3,000 feet in 22 miles; fast and fun.   

We glided into the third rest stop long enough to munch on some more cookies and started the 8 mile climb to the next rest stop.  At mile 57 of a 78 mile ride the toughest work begins and I had to shake that sluggish fear that had been my companion for the last couple of weeks and was now trying to get my attention again.  The fourth rest stop is on a steep hill and some riders were soldiering on through but I felt I needed to stop even though it was hard to get back on and get any momentum going.  With the help of strength gained from my new friends, chocolate chip cookies, I managed to get going and even passed some riders while many passed me.  I tried to look around and enjoy the scenery but that voice, that I hope never to listen to again, kept warning me that the worst was still to come and to not get too comfortable.  Over the course of the next 4 miles I feared and I loathed and I bargained and then I realized I had 3 miles of climbing left and that what in my head had been this colossal, gigantic mountain pass was challenging but not impossible.  I looked around again and it reminded me of when I was told I had to wear glasses when I was 8 or 9.  When I went home with those glasses I was very unhappy and thought I could manage without them.  I went to my bedroom so that I could least have some privacy while seeing how hideous I looked in them.  I was distracted by the field outside my window.  To the best of my knowledge it had always been a field with grass and trees.  That day I discovered there were a myriad of beautiful wild flowers and I never took my glasses off again until they were replaced by contact lenses. 

Now I looked out and saw jagged outcrops accented by a crystal blue sky, dense emerald trees, and similar wild flowers.   I was climbing and enjoying every moment of it.  I could feel myself grinning from ear to ear and I had to wonder why I had built up this ride to be so insurmountable in my mind.  I had all but convinced myself that I was incapable of finishing and even if I did it would take me hours longer than the previous two years.  It took me 19 minutes longer but the victory was sweeter, perhaps because I had not doubted myself before.  I thought about child birth and how the woman’s mind smooths the trauma of that intensely physical act.  I have always believed that if the brain did not take away that distinct memory and replace it with the flood of emotions associated with holding your baby for the first time all women would only ever have one child.  Why then had my brain not eased the memory of this ride but instead magnified and practically deformed it.  I do not have the answer except to say that if I was lacking confidence before the ride that was not the case after.  There will be no more babies but there will be more Copper Triangles.