Amanda Miller

Another day of sunshine

Ah, sun and warm weather. What else could I ask for? Today 6 of us headed up the Poudre Canyon. The gang included Julia, Rachel, Tirrel, Chris (a.k.a. Fuzzy), and fellow mid-westerner Kurt Refsnider. We were able to maintain a decent speed up the first part of the climb. Then the inevitable wind kicked in, making things a bit slower. After the 40mi+ climb up highway 14, we headed north up “Pain in the Ass Pass”. I started the climb in my 39-25, and ended it in my 39-25. This climb is brutal no matter who you are. The warm temps had melted most of the snow off the dirt road, but there was some spots that were a bit sloppy. The wind was pretty strong , and on the way down it was a bit sketchy. Nothing like getting hit by a crosswind while descending at 40+mph. We all made it down safely, even with two flats. Stopped at the Livermore convenient store for some water refills. Then we headed back down towards FoCo. Definitely a good, solid ride. Ended up with 85+miles in just over 5hours. About 3500feet of climbing when the day was over. Tomorrow I get to rest…yay! Here’s some pictures.
Where’s Rachel??

Kurt (in the CU kit) and Chris with a shot of the Cache la Poudre.

Julia and Tirrel – all smiles.

The crew riding up the canyon.

Finally headed back to Fort Collins via Highway

That’s all for now. Hope you all had a great weekend!
-A

Another day of sunshine

Ah, sun and warm weather. What else could I ask for? Today 6 of us headed up the Poudre Canyon. The gang included Julia, Rachel, Tirrel, Chris (a.k.a. Fuzzy), and fellow mid-westerner Kurt Refsnider. We were able to maintain a decent speed up the first part of the climb. Then the inevitable wind kicked in, making things a bit slower. After the 40mi+ climb up highway 14, we headed north up “Pain in the Ass Pass”. I started the climb in my 39-25, and ended it in my 39-25. This climb is brutal no matter who you are. The warm temps had melted most of the snow off the dirt road, but there was some spots that were a bit sloppy. The wind was pretty strong , and on the way down it was a bit sketchy. Nothing like getting hit by a crosswind while descending at 40+mph. We all made it down safely, even with two flats. Stopped at the Livermore convenient store for some water refills. Then we headed back down towards FoCo. Definitely a good, solid ride. Ended up with 85+miles in just over 5hours. About 3500feet of climbing when the day was over. Tomorrow I get to rest…yay! Here’s some pictures.
Where’s Rachel??

Kurt (in the CU kit) and Chris with a shot of the Cache la Poudre.

Julia and Tirrel – all smiles.

The crew riding up the canyon.

Finally headed back to Fort Collins via Highway

That’s all for now. Hope you all had a great weekend!
-A

Hurray for warm weather!

We are having a mid-winter summer here in FoCo. Hopefully it continues to get warmer. Today it reached almost 50degrees. There was quite a bit a wind in and right around the foothills. The flatlands were pretty calm though. Given the circumstances, I did what any cyclist is going to do on a day like today. I rode my bike! I needed to get in a “hard group ride” for todays workout. I wasn’t sure if this would happen because people are still doing base miles. A few of my CSU teammates and I hit up the local Oval ride. This ride meets on campus at the CSU Oval at approximately 10:00am on Saturday’s. The number of riders that show up depends on the weather. Today roughly 30 people showed up. We rolled through town and headed east. Lots of flat land riding was done for the first part of the ride. Once out of town and heading south, things started to heat up. I looked down to see speeds hovering around 27mph. It stayed like this for a majority of the ride. I got dropped about 1:30 into the ride, just outside of Windsor. Before I got dropped, my computer said we were averaging almost 24mph. Finished out the ride with a few CSU teammates. We had just a hair under 70miles in under 3:30. Even with our slower speeds and hiller route, we maintained a 20mph average. Not too shabby. Mission accomplished!

I was definitely impressed with the number of cyclist I saw out on the road today. I bet I saw over 50 riders by the time I got done. Tomorrow a few of us are heading out for another big ride. Thinking about doing the route Jeff Kerkove and I did earlier last week and head up the Poudre Canyon. Got to take advantage of the weather while I can! Here’s some pictures. I wasn’t able to snap any during the group ride because of the speeds.

John and Chris on the ride back to town.

A shot of the reservoir.

That’s all for now. I’ll have more pictures from tomorrow (hopefully). Have a great rest of the weekend!
-A

Hurray for warm weather!

We are having a mid-winter summer here in FoCo. Hopefully it continues to get warmer. Today it reached almost 50degrees. There was quite a bit a wind in and right around the foothills. The flatlands were pretty calm though. Given the circumstances, I did what any cyclist is going to do on a day like today. I rode my bike! I needed to get in a “hard group ride” for todays workout. I wasn’t sure if this would happen because people are still doing base miles. A few of my CSU teammates and I hit up the local Oval ride. This ride meets on campus at the CSU Oval at approximately 10:00am on Saturday’s. The number of riders that show up depends on the weather. Today roughly 30 people showed up. We rolled through town and headed east. Lots of flat land riding was done for the first part of the ride. Once out of town and heading south, things started to heat up. I looked down to see speeds hovering around 27mph. It stayed like this for a majority of the ride. I got dropped about 1:30 into the ride, just outside of Windsor. Before I got dropped, my computer said we were averaging almost 24mph. Finished out the ride with a few CSU teammates. We had just a hair under 70miles in under 3:30. Even with our slower speeds and hiller route, we maintained a 20mph average. Not too shabby. Mission accomplished!

I was definitely impressed with the number of cyclist I saw out on the road today. I bet I saw over 50 riders by the time I got done. Tomorrow a few of us are heading out for another big ride. Thinking about doing the route Jeff Kerkove and I did earlier last week and head up the Poudre Canyon. Got to take advantage of the weather while I can! Here’s some pictures. I wasn’t able to snap any during the group ride because of the speeds.

John and Chris on the ride back to town.

A shot of the reservoir.

That’s all for now. I’ll have more pictures from tomorrow (hopefully). Have a great rest of the weekend!
-A

Lazy

The weather turned crappy on Wednesday, cold and windy. So I rode rollers Wednesday and Thursday. I went to go for a ride on Friday and my knee started bothering me. Great. Third time this has happened in the last month or so. I need to get this figured out. Looks like I’m going to get a bike fit on Tuesday. Until then, I’m off the bike. Ice and ibuprofen. Pretty bummed about not being able to ride. I was planning on going on the Rio ride this morning, but received an email from the coach telling me not to. Yesterday I soft pedaled around town on my mountain bike. Did some exploring of the paved trails. There’s a pretty nice trail just down the road from where I live that takes you almost to the east side of town (I live on the west side). Anyway, school starts Tuesday and work starts Monday. Let the craziness begin! I’m hoping to have weekends off so I can get in some rides. We will see though. Don’t expect a post for a few days because nothing eventful will be happening, other than me laying on the couch watching TV and eating food – like I’ve been doing the past week. Sigh, what a life. Take care!!
-A

Lazy

The weather turned crappy on Wednesday, cold and windy. So I rode rollers Wednesday and Thursday. I went to go for a ride on Friday and my knee started bothering me. Great. Third time this has happened in the last month or so. I need to get this figured out. Looks like I’m going to get a bike fit on Tuesday. Until then, I’m off the bike. Ice and ibuprofen. Pretty bummed about not being able to ride. I was planning on going on the Rio ride this morning, but received an email from the coach telling me not to. Yesterday I soft pedaled around town on my mountain bike. Did some exploring of the paved trails. There’s a pretty nice trail just down the road from where I live that takes you almost to the east side of town (I live on the west side). Anyway, school starts Tuesday and work starts Monday. Let the craziness begin! I’m hoping to have weekends off so I can get in some rides. We will see though. Don’t expect a post for a few days because nothing eventful will be happening, other than me laying on the couch watching TV and eating food – like I’ve been doing the past week. Sigh, what a life. Take care!!
-A

Back in the Saddle Again

Headed out again today for another long day on the bike. Ended up with over 80miles. Jeff Kerkove joined me again. We headed up the Poudre Canyon for about 40miles of gradual climbing. Then we took a turn up a gravel/dirt road (had no idea going into the ride it was gravel/dirt). Up until the turn, the climbing wasn’t that bad. This gravel road was steep. I was in my 39-25 going 4mph at a cadence of 35rpm. It hurt! To make the road even more epic, there was still some snow/ice on the road. We topped out at just over 8600feet. Descending on the gravel road was tricky for sure. Definitely glad I switched my Michelin Pro2 Race tires out for Specialized Armadillos. I was pretty impressed with those tires today. After quite a few miles went by, along with awesome scenery, we made it to Red Feathers Lake road. It was paved with some pretty fun and fast descents. The wind wasn’t too much of a factor on today’s ride, even though it was extremely windy. The temperatures never got too low and I stayed warm for the entire 5+hours. Tomorrow is a little easier day, thankfully! The legs are starting to feel it for sure. Here’s some pictures from today’s ride.

A tunnel while heading up Highway 14 (Poudre Canyon).

Came across these bighorn sheep (I think that’s what they are).

The epic gravel road.

Clouds rolling through the snow-caps.

Came across some wondering cows on the way back to FoCo. Check out JK’s site as I’m sure he got better pictures then me.

That’s all for now. Have a great evening!
-A

Back in the Saddle Again

Headed out again today for another long day on the bike. Ended up with over 80miles. Jeff Kerkove joined me again. We headed up the Poudre Canyon for about 40miles of gradual climbing. Then we took a turn up a gravel/dirt road (had no idea going into the ride it was gravel/dirt). Up until the turn, the climbing wasn’t that bad. This gravel road was steep. I was in my 39-25 going 4mph at a cadence of 35rpm. It hurt! To make the road even more epic, there was still some snow/ice on the road. We topped out at just over 8600feet. Descending on the gravel road was tricky for sure. Definitely glad I switched my Michelin Pro2 Race tires out for Specialized Armadillos. I was pretty impressed with those tires today. After quite a few miles went by, along with awesome scenery, we made it to Red Feathers Lake road. It was paved with some pretty fun and fast descents. The wind wasn’t too much of a factor on today’s ride, even though it was extremely windy. The temperatures never got too low and I stayed warm for the entire 5+hours. Tomorrow is a little easier day, thankfully! The legs are starting to feel it for sure. Here’s some pictures from today’s ride.

A tunnel while heading up Highway 14 (Poudre Canyon).

Came across these bighorn sheep (I think that’s what they are).

The epic gravel road.

Clouds rolling through the snow-caps.

Came across some wondering cows on the way back to FoCo. Check out JK’s site as I’m sure he got better pictures then me.

That’s all for now. Have a great evening!
-A

Carter Lake

Today I headed up towards Carter Lake with Jeff Kerkove. Awesome views and great weather. The temperatures were hovering around 40degrees with only a slight breeze. I can tell my legs are not used to the climbing any more. I haven’t done any substantial climbing for at least a month. Needless to say, the legs are feeling it. Ended up with over 70miles by the time we looped through Hygiene, CO (who names a town that??) and back to Fort Collins. Headed out tomorrow for a similar ride. Here’s some pictures:

Not sure what kind of face I’m making here, but this is the hill up to Carter Lake. Pretty steep! Pictures don’t really do justice.

A view of Carter Lake.

Jeff setting the pace along one of the dams by Carter Lake.

Longs Peak in Estes Park.

Well that’s all for now. Time to take a nap and get some food. Have a good evening!

-A

Carter Lake

Today I headed up towards Carter Lake with Jeff Kerkove. Awesome views and great weather. The temperatures were hovering around 40degrees with only a slight breeze. I can tell my legs are not used to the climbing any more. I haven’t done any substantial climbing for at least a month. Needless to say, the legs are feeling it. Ended up with over 70miles by the time we looped through Hygiene, CO (who names a town that??) and back to Fort Collins. Headed out tomorrow for a similar ride. Here’s some pictures:

Not sure what kind of face I’m making here, but this is the hill up to Carter Lake. Pretty steep! Pictures don’t really do justice.

A view of Carter Lake.

Jeff setting the pace along one of the dams by Carter Lake.

Longs Peak in Estes Park.

Well that’s all for now. Time to take a nap and get some food. Have a good evening!

-A