A Tale of Two Permanents

On a bright spring day when three of our local riders (Tammie, Irene, and Dick) were greeting saguaro cactuses (cacti?) on Susan Plonsky's Arivaca 400k in Arizona...

... a few of us were in for some social encounters on local 200k's.

Here are Tim "Foon" Feldman and "Corsica" Bob Barday discussing the aerodynamic aspects of Carradice bags as their paths crossed on common segments of the James Canyon Jaunt 200k and the Platteville Poke-Along 200k, respectively:

You know spring is here when you can actually flap your gums during a roadside pause without freezing them off! Bob by the way is sporting the "Nelson" model, roomy but not quite as capacious as Sheldon Brown's Carrababy product.

-jle

Snowmelt and Sun on the Lyons-Berthoud Populaire!

A mere two days after a big snow dump, bright sun and clear roads welcomed a good crowd - 29 finishers - to our first randonnée of the season! Here's nordic skier Patricia Heller at Ski Haystack only a half mile off the populaire course the day before:

What's a Populaire? A Populaire is a shorter distance "fun ride" randonnée, 103km in this case. The spring Populaires are chances for newbies to find out how randonnées work and get tips from rando veterans, who are stretching their legs and meeting old acquaintances.

Steve Le Goff was gracious enough to lead this one. Here's Steve providing a rider a control card, resplendent in his RUSA Super-Randonneur jersey.

Steve is clearly raising the bar for being well-organized with ride materials!

Michelle Grainger acted as co-leader on the Populaire, with a surprise treat of Shot-Blocks for the riders:

Mike Prendergast shot great video footage of the event, which he's produced into a short feature and posted for our enjoyment. This is HD, by the way, so try it on full screen. Thanks, Mike! Here is Mike's camera setup (Tom Foss photo):

A splendid day to be out, with views like this one of freshly-coated Longs and Meeker Peaks (Tom Foss photo).

Temps were in the chilly-to-mild range - perfect for an early-season jaunt:

A light jacket and no chemical foot-warmers - spring must be here!

Colorado Last Chance 1200 veteran Bob Bruce did more than his share of pulling on this pel0ton-friendly course:

Thanks to everyone for coming out to ride, and a special thanks to Steve and Michelle for a nice event!

Remember, April brings you two more Populaires and the first 200km Brevet of the season, the new Drake Doubleback!

-john lee

"So just what the hell is this?" (Brent on the mend!)

So if you hadn't heard yet...I've had on of those little setbacks. No injury like Tom K. No new little sore knees. It's hard to be able to say this but Friday March 5th I woke up having a heart attack. Thought it was the flu (briefly) then took an aspirin and asked Beth to take me to the ER. Poor girl, I scared the crap out of her. Don't blame her though, this time she had cause. Damn fast in the ER when they put the EKG on you. Straight to the Cath Lab for roto rooter. Sorry docs but you all take yourself very seriously (and you deserve it) and thanks for your skills. Above is one of the pics. This is one of the ones that didn't clear out like he wanted. Doc tried real hard.

So here is the story. I was in the 2% risk category. LDL/HDL great but high normal. Non smoker, no diabetics. OK so my mom died at 63 of heart disease but was a smoker with no exercise to speak of other than walking the dog. I had a plaque close to my heart that ruptured with clots and whatever getting into places it shouldn't be. Doc said I had the largest arteries he had seen and the deposit of plaque may have just been due to the blood flow being slow. Some of you may now know my secret to being able to hurt you.

So I wait patiently. I can get up, walk the dog, have a glass of wine,normal stuff. Except for all the drugs. I'm on the normal cocktail of stuff for heart patients. Doesn't exactly make one feel normal but they apparently work. So I take them. And my body is black and blue from the good and bad phlebotomists that tried to drain my body of fluids. I have to wait to get the final word about what function the pump still has. I'm betting at 98 % I can still go out and ride hard. That's what I have to believe right now as I get some calls that imply that I am now in the land of normal. (Not you guys) Just by their calls there is this inference that I might cash in tommorrow or my life as a athlete is over. Not yet bucko. That's old school thought right. We all know how much riding enhances our lives both mentally and physically.

And I know of some of your stories of how you have conquered your fears and overcome odds. I can just add to that journal as I plan to be back in measures this year.

So you may be seeing Bethy on her Bethy bike a little more this spring. Have fun and don't remind her. I've scared her enough. And you'll soon see the tandem back out. Just on windy days the little sprite gets blown around so let her tuck in.

Brent Myers

Last Chance 08

Last Chance 09

Last Chance Registration is Open!

Colorado Last Chance 1200k registration is now open!

• You may apply either online or by mailing a paper form and check.


• Riders will be accepted in the order the application + payment was sent (postmark, or online transaction date).


• Please review the qualification and refund policies.

Interested? Happy qualifying!

-jle

Signs of Spring!

The encore riding of the Drake Doubleback 200k was graced by the image of fresh snow on the crags of the Big Thompson Canyon Narrows, with the luxury of dry pavement to ride on. (Yes, that brown tint on the shoulders is ample winter grit, replacing the glaze of ice only a couple weeks before.)

Time to break out that sunscreen!

-jle