Courage Classic Day 0

After a lot of training, anticipation and fair amount of anxiety, The Courage Classic is upon us. Today has been hectic, but productive. After taking care of some emails and business, it was time to load up Aggie for her vacation at the Flying Piglet Ranch (she gets to pool, graze and fence fight so she loves it!). Upon my return home, I took care of a few more emails and then loaded up the car, so I could pick up Roberta (training partner and fellow rider) and Amanda (our volunteer driver) and headed up to the mountains. A little traffic, a little rain, some great conversation.

It started to rain when we arrived at Copper Mountain, on which I shall blame my inability to find our check in location (2 u-turns) and condo (1 u-turn). The condo is nice (a little rough hewn, but fitting with the location), unfortunately it is on the 3rd floor...and no elevator! Oh well, good last minute training. The location is good, close to the center village, but far enough away to be quiet.

We registered (I turned in an additional $500 in checks) and picked up our gear. We decided to get some food...fortunately, I picked the restaurant where Walt and Phil were just finishing a beer or two...and ignoring their phone. They were heading back to the condo to drop off some items and wait for the rest of the crowd (most of whom rode last year). About 30 minutes later, the rest of the crowd walked past the restaurant, so I dashed out (nice cloth napkin in hand) to let them know we had arrived and were waiting for their wonderful company. They headed back to the condo to drop off their gear.

We had just finished our dinner when the whole gang (all 9 of them) arrived. It was really nice to chat with the friends from last year (lots of people know the Weavers). Unfortunately, it was also time to get back to the condo to get ready for the ride (I will not repeat my mistake from last year).

Check some email, prepare my sports drink bottles and supplements, write this blog...

Tomorrow will be a tough day. 58 miles and about 4,000 feet of elevation gain (including almost 3000 in the last 1/3 of the ride). Battle Mountain will be the steepest (1,000 feet in under 4 miles), but Vail Pass (2800 in 16 miles) is tough because it comes at the end of the day. Fortunately, the descent to Copper Mountain is fast, but it is also difficult because you have to be totally focused on your descent. It is narrow, twisty, often crowded. I have seen a lot of close calls on this section of the trail and it will take my full attention to make it down safely.

Time to get the last few items ready for tomorrow. Please keep all the riders, volunteers, staff, and families in your thoughts.

More tomorrow!