I met Jay in Wilson, WY, at the foot of Teton Pass, and we began the ride with the big climb right out the gate. I knew I was in for a long day when I asked Jay what his heart rate was about 1/2 way up the pass and it was 25 bpm lower than mine.I believe that if you want to improve at something it helps to train/compete with people who are better than you. Jay is on a far different level than I am so riding with Jay yesterday definitely forced me to "raise my game" and put out a big effort over the entire length of the ride. This was exactly what I was hoping for. From a training standpoint, I am sure I benefitted more from the ride than Jay did and I really appreciate him riding with me when he might have benefitted more from riding solo.
Ride Note: How is it that while doing a giant loop we had a freakin' headwind the entire ride? We laughed about this once we finished but it wasn't so funny at mile 100 when I was killing myself to go 14 mph!
The gear conversations are always a highlight of our rides. We talked about ultralight bike camping strategies, next year's snow bike races in AK, his Great Divide Race this year, and outfitting the ultimate 29er.
Thanks for a great ride Jay!
That's a really impressive ride and time. That you can keep up with JayP also is impressive. And Teton Pass? Ug. Nice work.
ReplyDeleteI'll never understand how roadies ride so fast. I have a road bike too, sort of, and ride on the road also, sort of, but it doesn't make me any faster.
Hi Jill, the reality is that JayP did way more than his share of pulling and was not in his "go fast" mode.
ReplyDeleteI definitely think road biking has helped my mtn biking because I can control the effort on a given day. So many of our trails here go straight up, then straight down so it is hard to regulate your effort on the mtn bike.
Dave-
ReplyDeleteCame across your blog while browsing for rides in Jackson. I'm in town next weekend, and hoping to do one or two hard ones. Your loop sounds perfect. Mind keying me in to the route?
Jeff, the route is a big loop that starts and finishes in Jackson. Teton Pass is a big climb and then Hwy 26 has many rollers. Have fun!
ReplyDelete-Take Broadway to Hwy 22 towards Wilson, WY
-Stay on Hwy 22 over Teton Pass into Victor, ID
-Turn left on Hwy 31 in Victor (to Swan Valley)
-Turn left on Hwy 26 in Swan Valley
-Turn left on 26/89 in Apline (to Jackson)
-Roll into Jackson 110 miles later
just did that ride myself on thursday starting from victor and going clockwise. that is a nifty elevation/and other stuff chart you have. i definately wasn't expecting teton pass to be so steep. (i'm from illinois, we have rolling hills, sometimes, but i've see very few "grades" let alone 10%) going down the pass was the first time i have broken 50mph, it was incredible; made the brutal climb worth it. the rest was cake, except for some poopy road construction that left my bike filthy and caused a flat.(it was a good time to take a break anyway, so i didn't mind getting out of the saddle and changing the tube) around miles 98 to 100 i was hurting; the long day made that little pass between swanvalley and victor almost as hard as the first one of the day. finished averaging 16.3mph. backing up i had breakfast at the virginian, food was good and service was excellent. the first and probobly only century i am going to do this year. a good thing about finishing in victor was that i could stop in and sample some brews at grand teton brewing.
ReplyDeletegreat graph!
ReplyDeleteWhat do you use to create something like that? Is it a combo HRM and cycle computer? Or an all-in-one deal?
Thanks!
John