I sit here hanging out at Matt's place with my lovely wife and my feet up, content and tired. The numbers don't tell the story but I spent the last week according to my GPS climbing 61,500 feet of Colorado mountains over some 550 miles. My legs and feet are swollen and although I have no scale, I am sure I lost a lot of weight. And yet, sitting on the ground at the Junction Creek trailhead, my bike and gear in a pile, a couple of 2-Epic's old teammates asked me if I'd do it again.I said "yes" without hesitation.
The Colorado Trail is extremely beautiful. It's high, it's rugged and it's filled with flowers. There were beautiful sunsets and thunderstorms that pounded me with hail. I slept (a little) under the stars. I rode (a lot) under the stars. I spent a great deal of time alone and some with great friends, new and old. The sun baked me and clear skies at night left me shivering. The experience was amazing and it was just what I needed.
In March of 2007, I raced Fred's Rim Ride in Moab. Coming off a DNF at 24 Hours in the Old Pueblo, what I felt I needed most was to finish. Last Monday I felt very similarly about this year's CTR. On Saturday at 6:31pm, I realized I was right.
A huge thanks to all my family and friends for the support, you were all with me out there in so many ways. There are hundreds of pictures to post and a much more detailed story to relay if I can figure out how.
But for now I think I need another nap and then some dinner.
