The Triple Bypass Ride (TBP) ended up a little different from what I had expected this last weekend. As many of you know, there have been a lot of fires in Summit County here in Colorado, and so on Thursday afternoon, the Triple Bypass Ride was cancelled due to air quality and concerns about rider safety. This was absolutely the right thing to do under the circumstances, but it definitely messed up my plans. My buddy was on a plane from California to ride the TBP with me and I knew he wouldn’t let me get away with a day off. We had been planning this for a year, we were trained and carbo-loaded, and we were going to ride! So after talking through our options, we decided to ride the TBP route anyway, and my wonderful wife volunteered to be support (like she always does). I carbo-loaded just as I had planned, and my weight finished up 6 pounds heavier and so I was pretty sure that my stores were as full as they could be. I woke up, ate a big breakfast and was in the car at 5 Am on the road to Evergreen, where we parked and were riding by 6 AM.
The TBP consists of three passes, the first one being Squaw (or Juniper Pass). I took it slow making sure that I had enough gas for the whole day. I ended up getting up the first pass with the third fastest time I had ever had for that segment. So far so good, but there was still a long way to go. I regrouped and refueled in Idaho Springs, still feeling pretty good. My refueling during the ride was mostly refined carbs and sugar to raise my blood sugar and conserve my glycogen for as long as possible.
The next pass was Loveland Pass, which is the hardest, tallest pass of the ride. It starts in Georgetown, and continues 16 miles with 3,437 feet of elevation gain; it is very steep. I ended up going up this part faster than I ever had before. This is the segment I was worried about the most, and this is where my fasting/carbo-loading experiment would be most tested. If I had insufficient stores then I would bonk here since there is no real way to eat enough to fuel this part of the ride. After Loveland Pass, 60% of the distance and 80% of the climbing is done. All that is left is Vail Pass.
During the usual route of the TBP you do a “little” hill called Swan Mountain Road between Loveland and Vail Passes. We decided to skip that part because the fires were supposedly at the end of Swan Mountain Road and the trail we would take from there was closed. I had a little mechanical problem with my brakes on the descent from Loveland Pass, so the decision was made to end the ride on the top of Vail Pass, and skip the descent for safety reasons. The final pass, Vail Pass, started in Frisco and was 11 miles long with 1,311 feet of elevation gain. I finished strong on that pass, going up it faster than I ever had before. Even better was that my family was waiting on the top with ice cream and Coke, what a great finish!!
All things considered, my carbo-loading experiment was a resounding success. I was able to do a daily fast the week before the ride, start loading on Wednesday night, and load all day Thursday and Friday for my Saturday event. By loading and eating steadily, I had plenty of energy during my ride, and never felt like I was close to bonking. I also tend to get leg cramps on longer rides, and I did not have any issues with that during the ride. I had 48 segments that I got a top 3 time on, including my fastest time up two of the three passes. It was a beautiful, long day on the bike and a successful experiment, followed by and fun and relaxing night in Vail, what more can you ask for?
Definitely an awesome day!!