Where a man can walk a mile high

Every Friday afternoon at 5 p.m., a radio station in Colorado Springs would play the "Colorado" song.* It's been getting stuck in my head a lot as I ride, but I replace the lyrics with "If I had a bicycle, I would bike to the place where a man can walk a mile high. . ." [please note that when I say "high" in this context, I do not intend to call up any reference to illicit drugs. Nor do I think that the Colorado song is in the category of "rock and roll."]

In every mile there are 5280 feet. Yesterday, the Wildflower Century had 4,300 feet of climbing. If we had just been climbing straight up, we would have climbed over 80% of a mile. It wasn't all straight up, but parts of it felt like it was. Hilly Humboldt Road Hilly Honey Run, and Hilly Table Mountain. When I pictured Table Mountain, I imagined a table top - up on both sides, and flat on the top. Here, for example, is my dining room table (it's pretty, huh?):















But, no -- when they say "table" this is what they mean:



















Here's a photo of the hill -- see how little those bikes are? It's because they're 80% of a mile into the air.
















Weather report for Chico, CA -Sunday April 27, 2008:
High: 91 degrees
Feels like: 127 degrees.

There are a few more things to say about the ride --

• my bike wasn't working on the first hill. Emily helped me with that. She (the bike, not Emily) is going to the bike shop tomorrow. A bike that wants to stay in high gears while climbing big hills is not a bike that helps my sour mood.
  
• I finally found an 18 mph stride and suddenly a man appeared with a hand-held stop sign. I looked for children crossing or maybe some sort of rural emergency (something important enough to makes us stop in the middle of nowhere). Apparently it was a little of both:

• Emily has a freezing cold pool that we sat in after the ride. It was thinking about this pool that made me continue to pedal the last 10 miserable miles.
• I've heard so much about the food on this ride, and it was not that great - or not that great for cycling -- I probably would have liked to sit around and drink water (sometimes they ran out), and eat pastries in another setting. But while cycling a gagillion miles, I want salty foods, high-energy foods, some protein if possible, and lots of cold water -- and, okay some gatorade or recharge or something, even though I think they taste like sugary chalk.
• Emily made some dinner after the ride (and after the pool) called "Heather-safe pad thai." Not to be confused with "Anaphylactic pad thai" (the kind that has peanuts).
• There are some really patronizing tandem-riders out there. One would think they have better things to do than to teach me how to ride up a hill when I'm in a bad mood. This photo accomplishes two things: 1) a photo of the bathrooms (I don't know why I always take photos of the bathrooms) and 2) a photo of one of the tandem bikes, but, at least to my knowledge, this one did not have patronizing riders.

As of this coming Thursday, only TWO weeks to the big ride! Not be confused with this piddly century this weekend with 4300 feet of climbing.

---

*Colorado
Up With People (ca. 1960)
[highly edited lyrics]
If I had a wagon, I would go to Colorado,
Go to Colorado,
If I had a wagon, I would.....
If I had a wagon, I would go to the state,
Where a man can walk a mile high.

If I had a Chevy, I would drive to Colorado
Drive to Colorado,
If I had a Chevy, I would.....
If I had a Chevy, I would drive to the state,
Where a man can walk a mile high.

If I had an Airplane, I would fly to Colorado
Fly to Colorado,
If I had a Airplane, I would.....
If I had a Airplane, I would fly to the state,
Where a man can walk a mile high.

If I had an Spaceship, I would land in Colorado
Land in Colorado,
If I had a Spaceship, I would.....
If I had a Spaceship, I would land in the state,
Where a man can walk a mile high.

Refrain:
Well I don't have a wagon
And I don't have a Chevy
And I don't have an Airplane
And I'll never have a Spaceship
But I've got two feet to climb with and it's
Pikes Peak or Bust
Where Americans can learn again just like
Colorado men how to hold you head up high…….
Where a man can walk a mile high…………..