A Fast 70-Mile Bike Ride from Fort Collins to Hygiene and Back
On this beautiful Saturday morning, I had the pleasure of joining my friend Kate and her daughter Becca for a challenging bike ride. Kate had sent me a message earlier in the week: “Becca and I will be doing a shorter but hardish ride on Sunday. Let me know if you’d like to join…” It turns out they were training for the Boulder 70.3 triathlon, which is just two weeks away.
Despite their age difference—Kate is 61 and Becca is 26—both are elite triathletes in their respective age groups. Becca had been working hard to earn her pro card over the past year. Knowing how strong they are from our rides in Greece last year, I anticipated a tough workout. Though I had shown reasonable fitness from recent century and double century rides, I knew keeping up with them would be a challenge.
We started our ride on the Long View trail from Fort Collins to Loveland, riding parallel to the Front Range of Colorado. The first hour was mercifully easy, keeping in Zone 2. I stayed 10-20 meters behind Kate and Becca to avoid drafting and to maintain a solo effort.
As we turned onto S. County Rd. 29 from Eisenhower Blvd., Kate exclaimed, “it now begins,” signaling the beginning of our race pace effort. We rode for 1 hour and 17 minutes at this intensity, with my heart rate staying a little above 150 beats per minute. Encouragingly, when the terrain allowed for coasting, my heart rate would drop below 130 within 30 seconds, showing my good recovery and overall fitness.
Kate managed to stay on Becca’s wheel until we hit a steeper climb past Hygiene. Becca surged ahead, and to avoid going completely into the red, I paced off Kate, maintaining a draft-free distance. I had recently swapped my Cannondale’s 11-34T cassette for an 11-36T cassette, allowing me to spin over the hill in the 46x36T low gear–the lowest gear I’ve ever had on a road bike. Meanwhile, Kate’s beautiful vintage Litespeed titanium bike, equipped with an old-school close-ratio “corncob” cassette, seemed under-geared for the climb. Nevertheless, she made it over without any signs of difficulty.
After the climb, we enjoyed a nice descent before stopping at Mary’s Gluten Free Bakery in Hygiene, a popular spot for cyclists. We saw many other riders on the road that morning, likely training for Boulder 70.3 as well.
Our race pace session covered 27.1 miles in 1 hour and 17 minutes, averaging 21.1 MPH. We then headed back to Kate’s house at a more relaxed pace, retracing our route through Loveland. We concluded the ride after 70.6 miles in 3 hours and 41 minutes (excluding 34 minutes of stops), averaging 19.2 MPH including warmup and cooldown. This was nearly three hours quicker than the slightly shorter Delta Metric Century I rode on a 33-pound mountain bike just three weeks earlier.
The exercise didn’t stop there. Becca and Kate wanted to do a tempo run immediately afterward. After I changed into running clothes in my car, we set out on a run. My heart rate quickly climbed into the low 150s, and my legs felt tired.
Having done my last triathlon in 2014, I forgot how tough it is to run after a hard bike ride. I followed Kate, averaging an 8:20/mile pace that normally wouldn’t feel too difficult. However, with 70 miles of cycling in my legs already, it felt like the last few miles of a full marathon. Meanwhile, Becca ran her own route at an incredible 6:24/mile pace.
After four miles, I turned off within a block of Kate’s house, content with 34 minutes of tempo running. Kate continued for an additional mile, reminding me that she was racing in two weeks.
Back at the house, I remarked to Becca, “Your mom is a beast.” She replied, “She is!”
This was one of the highest-quality workouts I have done in a while. It reminded me of the importance of tempo runs and “brick” workouts (multi-discipline sessions). It was also fantastic to bike and run with my friends again for the first time in a year, reminiscent of our mini-Greek cycling vacation reunion, but this time in Colorado.
Short Video
If you are interested in how the scenery looks like between Fort Collins and Hygiene, watch the video below.
Ride Data
Total distance: 70.6 miles (113.6 km)
Moving time: 3h41m (19.2 MPH average)
Race pace portion: 1h17m race pace @ 21.1 MPH average
Total ride time including stops: 4h13m
Run Data
Total distance: 4.1 miles
Time: 0h34m (8:20/mile)
