Day 2 started out early. We woke around 4 a.m. to use the restroom and in my typical fashion, I was unable to go back to sleep. I spent some time on my computer and catching up. At 6:30 the alarm went off. Go time. First order, take care of Chandra - breakfast and outdoor routine, we then headed to breakfast in the cafeteria. We returned to our dorm after breakfast, got ourselves ready to ride and headed over for a bit more trainer work before the ride commenced. We had good success on the trainer and the decision was made after a few laps around the parking lot for us to ride over to the training location with the rest of the group.
Our first adventure on open city streets was a success. We were able to start and stop at the traffic lights and started to establish a rhythm. We met up with the rest of the group and jumped into the training session. The morning session was held on the campus which houses the velodrome. We did skills work throughout the session practicing starting and stopping in the grassy area (which by the way is difficult to do when your tires are spinning out in mud!) We then moved onto the “retired” criterium course where we worked on turns and working together to keep the bike rolling. We started to get a pretty good feel for the bike and each other and found the words needed to communicate starting, stopping, turning, etc.
The coaches decided to add my stoker’s clip pedals onto the bike and had the mechanic assist with a much needed cock pit adjustment in my pilot area. I could reach much better after that. I still can’t say enough about the value of a bike fit! The transition to clips went great. We were able to start and stop on command and only fumbled a few times - most as a result of bad communication from the pilot (that would be me!). After the crit course in both directions, we moved onto working on turns. We did 180 turns first and then 90 degree turns. Taking a tandem into a turn like that requires a bit more planning than a single road bike but we gained confidence with each loop.
That ended the morning session at the park. We rode our bike back to campus, pulled right up on the basketball court and parked with the rest of the group. Major milestones in the morning session. https://www.relive.cc/view/1562619031
A couple hour break allowed time for a shower, a little outside time for Chandra and lunch followed by some quiet time in our room.
The afternoon ride was slated to be an easy road ride to assess and apply the skills that we learned in the morning in a less controlled environment. We rolled out of the USOC and headed west. We had lots of starting and stopping practice with changing lights and stop signs. For the most part we were pretty dialed into our routine and only had a few fumbles on the uphill starts. Next, our coach challenged us to change up our start routine from 3,2,1 GO to AND GO. We were pretty successful with that! Stopping requires a bit more anticipation than riding solo as it takes longer to get the weight of the bike and the two riders to come to a stop. Our coach described it as stopping a Mack truck and it definitely felt like it at times. We had some climbs early in the ride and learned that we really had to communicate to work together to get up them. Pressing harder on the pedals.
After about 9 miles we passed the Buffalo Lodge and arrived at the Garden of the Gods. This has been a bucket list ride and place in Colorado that I have wanted to visit for a very long time. I have been close to the park many times but never made it in so was excited for this moment.
The road through the park has a great bike lane. There are many cars but definitely room for everyone. I also noticed that cars in Colorado Springs are much more accommodating to bikers than I am used to. The park road introduced a fair amount of climbing. Communication became key as the road became steeper as the additional weight of the bike definitely provided gravity force to the back. We worked hard and reached the high point in the park rewarded after a few photos with a big downhill - and yes the bike goes faster downhill with two people too!
We arrived at the park exit and rode into Manitou Springs. Fun to see the passers by observe 12 tandem bikes passing through. Everyone stopped and waved! We stopped for a refuel break and my stoker decided to take a break. Many great accomplishments for her today - probably one of the longest, most challenging rides she has ever done, on top of learning clips, starting and stopping and many skills - we came a long, long way in one day. Here is the segment of the ride to Manitou - https://www.relive.cc/view/1563194158
I rode the rest of the way back - about 8 miles - with the rest of the group - solo on my tandem bike. I now had a very squirrelly passenger in back. The bike has a mind of its own! We were riding in a tight group. Two by two, as Coach Simon says “nice n tight.” I was grateful for the recent training with FRCC working on riding two by two especially cornering as the tandem is a bit wider turn than the road bike and holding your line is critical. It was fun and fast with lots of starts, stops and waves from passerbys. Many people asked to make sure that I knew I had lost my rider!! We arrived back at the OTC. Quick shower, dinner and team meeting followed by some connecting with coaches and other campers before lights out.
Another full day ahead, I will start in the bike room early - making some adjustments and changes to our bike and then we head to the Velodrome. Pucker factor is still really high for this event but I did learn that we will be on our bikes which means we have brakes although Coach told me we will not be using them…
Stay tuned...day 3 begins now!
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