It’s May 30. The San Juan Hut 200 is now less than a month away. I’ve been getting in some ok miles, but a crap ton of work the last few weeks has made cycling take a back seat to making good money to get caught up on bills and start paying down some debt. This past weekend I had a chance to get in a really good ride and wanted to share some photos with you. I rode from town all the way up to Bolam Pass, which will be the first checkpoint of the race. Of course, the race will start at Durango Mountain Resort 28 miles north of Durango and about 2500′ higher, but I needed a hard ride and got one at about 52 miles and 7,000′ of climbing. To top it all off, I got to come back down to a campsite next to upper Hermosa Creek, prepare a good meal, and fall asleep under the stars at 9,000 feet.

Old Shalona Climb towards DMR

First peek of Engineer Peak

Starting ascent towards Bolam on Hermosa Creek Road. Notice wildflowers on left.

First Creek Crossing

Cruising along some awesome Colorado scenery

Nice woodsy section

Cool waterfall, among many

Steep switchback, one of many.

Graysill Mine close to top

Celebration Lake at Colorado Trail intersection

Still some snow left at very top

View from Bolam Pass 11,433′

Back at campsite

getting ready for dinner, old dog warming up by the fire

I must say after finishing this ride that I was thoroughly destroyed. It’s only about a quarter of what I will attempt to complete in about a month. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t harboring a little doubt about the task at hand, but I remain confident my fitness will come up to where it needs to be and I will run a smart, efficient race and make it through. At first, I was thinking of riding straight through and not sleeping, but I might be changing my mind to throw in a 3-4 hour nap in the colder hours of the night for a recharge. We’ll see when the time comes. Also, mystery race #2 is right around the corner. It promises to be a fantastic training opportunity for San Juan. Of course, I will fill you in as the time comes.

Here is a bonus snippet of me racing at the local short track series recently. These little $5 races remind me of the dirt derby back in Austin, except the courses are usually a little more technical and the competition is way fiercer.

Yes, I was going that fast.