Rio Stampede

Late last Thursday evening I decided to sign up for the Rio Stampede on Saturday. No tapering, no big fuss, I just wanted some good hours over the weekend and to escape the heat on the Front Range, so I settled on the 6 hour version and drove up Friday evening.

Overall, the course is pretty bland, with 11 mile laps with around 2.1K of climbing per lap. The route is pretty simple; climb ski area roads and some singletrack for the first 45-50 min of each lap, then, ride over the top and bomb down some SWEET singletrack for 20-25 min, through the pit and back up the climb again. At the start, I kept things pretty chill and still managed to be in the top 5 up the climb. I kept things light and consistent and rolled my first lap in 1:12. It was pretty cool at the start and I didn't drink much on the first lap so without even stopping for a refill, I was out on another lap. I focused on keeping things consistent and continued to roll laps in the neighborhood of 1:15-1:20. I ended up with 5 laps in something like 6:27 (Results aren't up yet so I'm going from my so-so memory). I finished in 4th overall and a hair over a minute behind 3rd....wish I would of known things were that close during the race, but I'm still happy with how I rode considering I trained hard all week and just wanted to get some hours in. After the race I hung with the Yeti crew for awhile and they hooked me up with some post-ride refreshments....hit the spot!

About 30 minutes after I finished, all hell broke loose. A huge storm rolled through bringing hail and 50 mph winds. The 12 hr race got called off, people were stranded on the mountain, tents were blown away, all kinds of mayhem....I was glad I chose the 6 hr! After all the craziness, I hung around, chilled, took a nap, went to the awards, won some shwag, and got home at 1 am. Good times.

Today, I got in a 3+ hr road ride and managed to get stung on the ear by a bee or some other sort of stinging creature. However, that's not even the interesting part. The rain gods decided that since I missed the rain on Saturday, I should get dumped on today. I rode the last hour or so in an DOUNPOUR! Flash flooding across the pavement, ditches running full, raindrops as big as I've ever seen them, real fun stuff I tell ya! I made it back home and headed straight for the HOT shower! Another good weekend in the books.