Day 4 & 5- Golden, Mt. Evans & Manitou Springs (Day 1- Assent race of Pike's Peak)

The day began early in Golden. We were up to grab breakfast and hit the road to Idaho Springs by 7:30. Since we needed to get to Manitou Springs by mid-afternoon, Mike decided to only ride the last 14 miles of Mt. Evans instead of all 24 miles. For those that done know, Mt. Evans is a 14,000 footer. It is also the highest road in America.

Once a year, there is a bike race up Mt. Evans. The pros do all 24 miles in about 2 hours. Mike expected the whole thing would have taken him about 4-5 hours. We drove up to the start of the park and paid our entry fee (elevation about 9,000 feet). It was about 58 degrees. Mike put on his gear and we got situated in the car. He started the ride at about 8:15. We pulled over and waited for Mike about every 4 miles, however he didn’t always stop. We also spent most of the time waiting in the car since it was so cold and windy!

Mike made it to the top in about 2 hours and 15 minutes. We took a few photos and then headed down. The trip down took Mike about 30 minutes on the bike and us about 45 minutes in the car. Once we loaded up Mike and his bike, we stopped at the picnic table for lunch. We then headed out to Manitou Springs.

We arrived in Manitou Springs about 3:30 in the afternoon. We would have been here earlier, but there were bad thunderstorms that made traffic bad. We also had to spend about 15 minutes searching for Rolando a Starbucks so that he could get his caffeine fix.

In Manitou, we picked up our race packets and checked in the Eagle Motel. Our hotel is only about 2 blocks away from the start and finish lines of the race. After getting cleaned up, we went into town for dinner at the Adam’s café. It was so great that we’ve eaten every meal there since! Back to the room and early to bed on Friday night.

Saturday morning started early. Rolando got me up around 4:30 to have his breakfast in the room. Around 6:30, I walked down to the start line to watch him go out for the race. It was cool when we first got up and went outside, but quickly warmed up with the heat.

Shortly after the racers left, Mike decided to drive up Pike’s Peak. Karyn and I were smart enough to not ride with him. He was trying to break some land speed record going up the mountain. We decided to stay in the room and read books and take a nap.

Rolando finished the race in 3:26:00. His goal was 3:30:00. He said that it was very demanding and challenging, however he was able to maintain a heart rate at 156 average for the race. We’ll see how he feels on Sunday doing the full marathon.

Mike drove Rolando down the mountain and back into town. I met him at the park where he had a 30 minutes massage and then we went back to the Adam’s café for lunch (another great meal). After lunch, we cleaned up and rested in the room and then went to Garden of the Gods to tour around. It is a very beautiful park with Rock Formations. On the way back to the hotel, Mike & Karyn stopped at Wendy’s to pick up dinner and Rolando placed us a to go order from guess where… the Adam’s café! We are now getting our stuff together for the race tomorrow. Early to bed again tonight… I know that I’ll get woken up at 4:30 again tomorrow.