I made one more step in the right direction. I was able to complete all 8 passes at the Alta Alpina Challenge. The good news is that I finished. The bad news is that I didn't feel like I was riding my best that day. Last year I had the dreaded DNF at the actual Alta Alpina event, but ended up finishing all 8 passes on a solo ride two weeks later (more details here) in 14 hours and 14 minutes. This year I finished about an hour slower (Strava links 1 and 2).
I felt good early, then started to fade a little bit on Carson and Blue Lakes. However, I managed to get a second wind at lunch time without really taking too long of a break. As usual, my plan was to take it easy on Ebbetts to save some energy for Monitor. I was able to do that, especially on the west side of Ebbetts. However, when I got to the top of Ebbetts I was having breathing issues. This has become a pattern for me, unfortunately. It's happened to me twice at DMD and twice now at the AAC. I get short of breath when I stop to fill up my bottles. I'm not sure how to describe it. I don't think it's exercise-induced asthma because I don't feel any tightness in my chest or anything like that. I feel like I'm breathing hard like I would if I were actually pedaling. You might expect this after a tough climb, but only for a matter of seconds, not minutes. I can just sit there for a long time and I'll still be breathing hard for no reason. That makes it difficult to eat/drink, and more importantly I think I let my mind run away with it a little too much. I've quit rides because of it before and quitting seems like the only option. But maybe this AAC was a breakthrough. I sat at the top of Ebbetts for about 30 minutes, thinking I'd just muster up enough energy to ride straight back to the start. If I wasn't going to finish the ride, why not sit there for as long as I wanted? Well, it turns out that my breathing eventually got back to normal and I was able to finish the ride. If this happens again (hopefully it won't), I'll have more confidence that it will pass.
I may have finished the ride, but I wasn't exactly setting the roads on fire. I was in my easiest gear, struggling. Part of it was because my legs were dead and part of it was because I was afraid to push too hard and suffer another breathing problem. I took longer than normal rest stops on the Monitor climbs, but nothing too unreasonable. Once the final Monitor descent was over and I knew I was going to finish, I decided to make a little effort on that last little hill before the finish. It actually felt pretty good.
You may have noticed that I didn't mention my hip at all. It wasn't really an issue. I feel like I underperformed, but the hip was no excuse. I did 10 repeats of Geiger Grade 2 weeks ago (more on that later), and after that ride I decided that I am no longer defined as a guy with a bad hip. I'm just a rider like everybody else out there. It may sound small, but that was a big breakthrough for me. I was being too much of a drama queen about it. We all have our issues, right? I'm no different.
Again, this happened for me sooner on the bike than it did off the bike. A week later I went camping with my wife and we were playing in a river with our dog. I didn't feel much like playing in the river. My balance isn't what it used to be and what if I fell down on my bad side? Well, my wife called me out on that. I thought about it and realized she was right. I was letting my hip hold me back. I was using it as an excuse. I got in the river and guess what? Everything was fine.
What's the next goal? Everesting. I did Geiger x 10 (Strava 1 and 2) 2 weeks ago. I managed to do that in just under 12 hours. I'd need to do a total of 14 repeats to hit the magical 29,029 mark. In total it would be 221 miles and ~30,000 feet. I was pretty happy with my performance on the 10 repeats, but I know adding 4 more is a whole new ballgame. Nevertheless, I want to give it a try. I don't have a specific date in mind. My original plan was to do the AAC and then try Everesting two weeks later. I'm going to be a wimp and look at the wind forecasts, though. If we're having one of those 15-25mph wind days, I'm going to change my plans. I'm all about accepting the mental challenge of a windy day, but not for a ride like that.
First things first, though. I need to make sure I recover well from the AAC. My hip was a little bit sore afterwards, to be completely honest. But hey, so was the rest of my body. Today is my 2nd day completely off the bike, then I'll do a super easy 10 miles or so tomorrow and see how I feel on Wednesday. I don't have any plans for this weekend. It all depends on how I'm feeling.
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