Got Colorado Cycling on My Mind

Not that it's easy to ride a bike in Chicago, but here the challenge comes more from the planning around traffic than the terrain itself. Our hills are nonexistent unless we drive out to the suburbs or Wisconsin, and even there you're talking about climbing rollers and the coasting you do on a downhill will work to power you up the next one. I'm certainly not crabbing about our flatlands, I love them for riding and keeping the same cadence and speed. But move me out of the city and I'm a scaredy cat on a bike. Not good if I ever want to explore elsewhere, race an Ironman on an unseen and unpracticed course before race day (trainers don't count), or get faster on my bike, something I'm sure we all struggle with time and again. I think I may have found the answer to my problems: a cycling camp in one of my favorite places on Earth.

Four days on a bike? Awesome. Challenging climbs and descents coupled with flat vistas? I'm scared but up for the challenge. Riding with Carmichael Training Systems and Chris Carmichael who's probably most famous for coaching Lance Armstrong and knows his bike schtick? Even better and totally worth whatever fears I have. Recovering after a day of riding in the comfort of the Vail Mountain Lodge & Spa? Just look at that website and you'd be dreaming of Colorado cycling, too.

But you'll have to read more about it here at buzz.snow.com. It's my latest summer installment and makes me want to beg and plead with my poor injured leg (as if you haven't heard that enough already this month) to get back on my bike and graduate off the stationary number.


Photo courtesy of Vail's summer newsroom.