Beuna Vista Bike Fest: head-winds, freezing rain and a tail wind! Buena Vista, CO. 98 + miles, 6 hours and 50 minutes, maximum speed of 40mph, total climbing elevation of over 5500', cold head wind at 15-20mph for the first 35 miles, freezing rain and cold wind for 15 minutes, and finally, a great tail wind on return... That summarizes today's century ride. The day didn't start very well. I had a terrible night of sleeping. Woke up several times during the night. Breakfast was meagre because there wasn't enough time to get a proper one, I thought. But I was wrong, because there was no mass start. Anyway, started riding around 7:00 AM. Immediately, two things became clear: I wasn't feeling good and there was a bad headwind, at about 15-20mph. For whatever reason, I felt very weak and sick. Since the first 30 miles is a steady climb, although at a very small grade, the two factors would turn out to be crucial. So I decided to ride defensively. Shifted to middle ring, and kept a low gear so that I could spin. Right from the beginning, I was looking forward to the rest stop! I was passed by a lot of people, some of them clearly no better than I am, but I decided to keep going at my own pace.  For a short while, I tried to pace-line with one guy; he was riding a Look frame and when I passed him, he said 'nice bike!' I was riding the Look 361 (it turned out to be a great choice, as I will explain later). So chatted with him for a short while and then we decided to work together. But on climbs, he was far slower than I was and couldn't keep up with me (not that I was fast by any standards!). It took me about one hour and 37 minutes to reach the first rest stop, 20 miles from the start. Although it was a fairly steady climb, the gradient wasn't all that bad to make it that slow. It was the head-wind, combined with my miserable state that made it so hard. The next ten miles, to the next rest stop, repeated the same story. Except for a brief while when I caught up with two girls and pace-lined with them for a while. After doing that for a few miles, I realized that I couldn't maintain that pace and dropped out. It took me about 50 minutes to the 10 miles. Around 9:30 AM, I crawled into the second rest stop. By now, I was having second thoughts about continuing. I was feeling so weak and miserable. Clouds were also gathering over the mountains. It was pretty clear that if I choose to continue, it could turn out to be really bad. But then, I got to thinking: I drove 160 miles and spent over a $100 for this trip so far. It would be a crying shame if I didn't even attempt it... So decided to take it very easy, meaning no adventurous sprints or chases, and to continue. In the mean time, I was also trying to enjoy the scenery. Needless to say, it was nothing short of spectacular. HW-24 runs parallel to Arkansas River and the beauty of the surroundings need to be seen to be believed. However, with the kind of misery I was in, beauty of the nature took a back seat. From rest stop number two  to lunch stop was the most difficult part of the ride. There were three or four significant climbs. The last one was particularly difficult. Although these were not extremely steep, the lack of familiarity with the terrain made them look more difficult than they really are. I ground the granny for most part, trying to keep an even rhythm. Surprisingly, it was during this period, without too much wind, I began to feel better and stronger. Perhaps all the food that I ate at the rest stops also started feeding the muscles. Whatever the reason, I did all the climbs pretty well, in fact passed several people on the way. I was glad that I brought the 361 which has 52-39-30 gears instead of the 555, which has only 50-34! There was a funny incident during the first climb. Near the top of it, I passed a slightly overweight woman, apparently doing her first century. She was all hunched over, looking at the front wheel and grinding it out. As I passed her, as many have had the kindness to do it to me in my early rides, I said to her: 'Look up, you are almost there!' She looked up and smiled and then said 'You are lying!' I wasn't, not entirely at least, because we were near the top. But I was so happy to see her sit up and try to be smiling:) Ride to the lunch stop after the hills was mostly a descent. I rode pretty fast during this section, reaching a top speed of around 40 mph. At the lunch stop in Leadville, I ran into Larry with whom I rode the first RMCC Populaire last month. During that ride, I caught up with him at a red light and we rode the rest of the ride, nearly 60 miles, together. Both of us were surprised to see each other. We chatted for a few minutes and then hoped to meet at the after ride party. Lunch was a cold burrito, but it tasted very good. I was probably starving anyway. During lunch, clouds started moving in, with wind picking up speed and temperature plummeting. It was clear that everyone was concerned. Leadville is at 10,000 feet above sea level. As a result, the weather could change very rapidly. But, fortunately, I also saw that the it was clearing up over the mountains. So, even if rains/snows, I estimated, it couldn't last very long. After lunch, the route traversed the so called Mineral belt bike-path. Looking at the weather, a lot of people skipped this section because it climbs further high, about 600 feet in elevation, and is also about 12.5 miles through the mountains and forest, without any SAG support. Again, my 'ego' came in to play. After riding so much, I could not let it go. So I decided to do the Mineral belt. That was a mistake. The trail (bike-path) started climbing almost immediately. About 20 minutes into the ride, it started raining. But the drops were freezing before it touched ground. I was not dressed for this cold. The weather prediction was for 78F and partly cloudy. But as it often happens in the higher elevations, it defied all predictions. I was wearing only an arm warmer and a light sleeveless jacket over the jersey. And I was cold. It felt like my knees were freezing. There was no place to climb under. The only way to keep warmth was to ride. So on I went, through the freezing rain and up a significant climb. I wasn't the only one, though:) At the top of the hill, I found myself riding with about five or six people; including a few women. Well, to be honest, and to be a little naughty, I have to admit that going downhill behind a behind-that-wasn't-entirely-unattractive wasn't unpleasant:) Fortunately, the rain  didn't last long, and while we were descending sun came out. What a relief! The warmth that the sun brought was so welcome that I almost said if there is a God it must be the Sun:) From then on, it was all mostly downhill. I stopped at the second rest-stop and ate some more. The next ten-miles were probably the best. There was a light tail-wind, although in no way comparable to the head-wind in the morning, and general downhill pattern made it a breeze. I did the 10 miles in just under 30 minutes, averaging around 22mph. But it was to get better. The last 20 miles were done in 50 minutes! There was a really fascinating experience during the last 20 miles. I saw someone riding an old cruiser bike. I had seen him at the rest stops. So it amazed me that he was riding this old bike. It turned out that he rode the entire 100 miles on this 40 year old Schwinn cruiser! It had only five gears and had a shifter that looked more like the one in automobiles! It seems he has been riding this bike for the last nine years and has done the triple bypass, Ride the Rockies and many other centuries! Truly inspiring. He was also, indirectly, putting all of us to shame, riding those ultra-light technological marvels that are the modern day bicycles. I reached the finish around 3:30 PM. It has been a long day. All through that experience, I re-learned one important thing, not that there was ever any doubt about it, that I can do anything, well almost, if I put my mind into it. After the ride I went to the party and met with Larry and his wife. We spent some time together and around 5:00 PM, that's about an hour ago, got back to the hotel room.