The way my rides were going, I was a little worried about doing this ride. The Main Divide can put the hurt on you if you're not in shape, which I knew I wasn't. I knew I had to do my best to pace myself and leave some energy for Maple Springs. Plus, the forecast was for mid to high 80s and I don't do very well in the heat.
We parked at Maple Springs, did the 6 mile fast pavement ride over to Blackstar and started to head up. I hadn't ridden Blackstar since VQ and it was quite soft and sandy. Still, I felt decent and kept my HR a little lower than the previous rides. Israel pulled ahead and I hung back a little with Matt. We made it to the golf ball in 1:13 which wasn't too bad. Really impressive for Matt, esp considering how little he rides compared to the rest of us. The ride over to the Main Divide was pretty tough. I always consider Blackstar Motorway a true test of where my fitness is: the steady climb up Blackstar and the steep relentless climbs on the Main Divide. I don't think I passed. I tried my best to pace myself up the steep climbs and avoid spiking my HR, but I just wasn't in the kind of shape to do so. Still, I did okay and made it over to the Motorway without feeling too bad.
Headed down the Motorway, which was fun, then refueled at the car. Matt took off, and Israel and I headed up Maple Springs. It started to get warm, but I felt okay at first. Still, knowing I wasn't at my best I told Israel that if he got ahead we could regroup at Four Corners. That last mile or so of the pavement when it gets steep is where I started to suffer. Israel was riding strong and gapped me here and I figured I just needed to get past the steep first mile or so of the dirt, then I should be okay up to Four Corners. Was I wrong! I suffered really bad at this point. In hindsight, was definitely experiencing some mild heat exhaustion brought on because I was out of shape. My HR wouldn't come down below 180 and I felt really fatigued all over. I had to stop several times but at least wanted to make it to Four Corners. Up near the top Israel came down and met me. I told him later that if it was much farther from the top when he met me, I might have just headed down. I did tough it out and made it up to Four Corners in 1:38, almost 30 minutes slower than my VQ split. A very humbling experience and now I was truly concerned for Leadville, which was only 7 weeks away!
On Saturday, I decided to do a recovery ride and took the Crosscheck to the beach and headed north to Playa Del Rey. It felt really good to spin the legs at a steady, but moderate pace.
On Sunday, I wasn't sure how I would feel but decided to go to Santa Monica and do a similar ride to what Israel and I did the week prior. I parked at Amalfi and headed up Sullivan Ridge. It took awhile to warm up, and some guy on a singlespeed dropped me right away, but I still felt decent and kept my heart rate in the mid to high 160s. A definite improvement. I got to the top and decided to go straight to Hectic, wanting to do the climb out of Cabellero Canyon while it was still cool. My HR spiked up a bit on this climb, but I was encouraged that it recovered quickly. And what a difference a week makes! On the fireroad climb back up towards Sullivan Ridge a week ago, I was in granny gear and couldn't get my HR to drop below 180. On this day, I was in the big chain ring as I should be, comfortably in the 150s and 160s and probably going 7mph vs 4. I went down Sullivan Canyon, climbed back up and still felt good. Got to the top and decided to go do the car trail. Felt equally good on the return, which was really encouraging. Finished the ride and was really happy. I knew I still wasn't primed for Leadville, but it sure looked significantly better than just 48 hours earlier.
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