Two Wheel Blogs

Good to be home again. I'm just back from a stage race in Denver Colorado. The race is known as the Tour d'Hotel. It's a 6 day stage race held in the fitness center of the Adams Mark hotel in downtown Denver. I'm putting this one high on my list of races to be avoided in the future.

I will say this in favor of the race: If you subscribe to the theory that what doesn't kill you will make you stronger, this is one you should try.

To begin with, I left my A bike in San Francisco. For all I know that one's still down for repairs. The bike I chose for the Tour d'Hotel had to be a couple of generations older than the one in San Francisco. No LCD display. No cheesy route maps. No cable TV. Just some blinking LEDs and numeric readouts to mark progress.

I will say this for it though. The bike was reliable. It took all I could give and just sat there waiting for more. Unfortunately I didn't have more. I didn't even have the regular amount. Altitude does that. Altitude saps power in a big way.

I have no way to know by how much my wattages were reduced going from near sea level to 5200 ft. but it was noticeable. Heart and breathing rates both skyrocketed very shortly after increasing power output. I think it will be fun to see how I feel out there now that I'm home. My legs should be fresh from not having to work so hard.

It's good to be home where I can ride a real bike again.