Good times and cold rides

    Went for a long Friday ride a few weeks ago with my buddies. Colorado is beautiful in the fall, except that it gets really, really, cold (like the past two weeks). So that outside ride was the last one up that road for the winter. Locally known as 'Oh My God' road, it's a fairly steep gravel road that ascends from 7200ft to 9000ft in 5 miles. It's awesome. A really great climb. After we hit that pass, we hit Golden Gate Canyon as well. It was a great five hour ride with over 11,000ft of climbing. The best part was the view! I'd forgotten what fall was like in the Colorado High Country. The leaves on the Aspen were gold and orange in the middle of an evergreen sea. It was great. The company was rather nice as well. It's rare I get to ride with my friends these days. Time, life and my training schedule has cramped our collective style lately, but I'm sure we'll knock out some trainer rides this winter. Maybe we'll venture outside. My friend Jeff and I tried last Friday, but it was 23 degrees at 7 when we had to start, so we endured five and half hours on trainers. I have an ironman coming up, so I was obligated to do it. Jeff wasn't, but he kept me company anyway. I think I'd be a drooling idiot without him. The conversation and mutual suffering kept me sane somehow. We went through two and half movies. Layercake, by the way is a really good British gangster film starring Daniel Craig, who is excellent. I'd advise watching it without fans blowing though. British slang is somewhat hard for me to understand as it is, and I had a hell of a time on the trainer. Anyway, averaged 197 watts on the trainer, and 184 outside. My power continues to go up, which is awesome. I also feel really strong right now, which is great. Hopefully the trend continues. 6 weeks till Ironman Arizona!