Debbie Fortenberry's 102 mile Colorado Ride - a Cumberland Cycles ride report

 Hi--I'm Deb Fortenberry, JT's girlfriend.   I now live in Colorado Springs, CO, (many years ago, I lived in Somerset, which is how I met JT, but we'll leave that to another day) and am looking forward to meeting all of you soon.   I am also planning to do a bit of racing next year--inspired by reading about many of you and all that you have accomplished this year.   I have never raced before and the thought of it makes me nervous.   I have done a few touring rides over the years.   Today, I accomplished my fitness goal for this summer: to ride the Stonewall Century. I wanted to share with you a bit about this experience.

The Stonewall Century is a  challenging road bike ride along one of Colorado’s most beautiful scenic highways called the Highway of Legends.   The most prominent features of this area of southern Colorado are two mountains, one 13000+ and one 12,000+ in elevation known as the Spanish Peaks.   The mountains are particularly dramatic because they are isolated from other ranges in the area and they have rock wall formations called dikes surrounding them.

I just learned what forms the dikes and have to share it from the ride website:

The stone "walls" are igneous dikes (shallow intrusions) which exploited structural trends in the country rock. The dikes radiate out from the West Spanish Peak like spokes on a wheel. Basically, molten igneous rock intruded into fractures below ground, then the surrounding rock was eroded away, leaving the dikes standing. I've read that there are more than 45 dikes, although I've not counted them myself. The most noticeable are the Devil's Stairstep (about 4 miles into the ride), the Notch (or Dakota Wall) about 9 miles into the ride, and, of course, the great wall in the town of Stonewall.

 So it is in this remarkable setting that the century takes place.

The ride starts in La Veta, Colorado, a quaint mountain town located in the lush Cuchara Valley.   This year, we have had consistent moisture through the summer so a great variety of wildflowers are still blooming.   I traveled to La Veta Fri evening to register and stayed nearby for the early start.   I started the ride at about 700am, a bit later than I intended because of a near catastrophe of locking myself out of the house where I was staying.   Luckily, crisis was avoided and I started relatively on time.   I understand that I'll have to pay attention to timeliness next year if I want to race...

It was cool enough that I started the ride in arm warmers and kept them on until the serious climbing started.   The elevation at the start is 7,013 ft in the La Veta Town Park.  From there, the road climbs to Cuchara village (8,500 ft), to the first feed station (1/2 mile before the ski area), to the top of Cuchara Pass (9,945 ft).   This side of the pass is relatively short and steep, but with fresh legs, it didn't seem too bad.   Not so on the way back!

From the top of the pass, the ride winds through some high lakes including Monument Lake, snuggled in among the peaks.   On that descent, my top speed was 53.1 mph--I heard a couple of guys say they hit 60 mph!

The route continues to descend to the beautiful town of Stonewall, with a massive dike just before entering the town that is the town's namesake.   Riding down that pass then seeing that ancient wall seemingly jut out of nowhere has given me a feeling of awe both times I have ridden this ride.  

The ride then follows the lush Cuchara River Valley, crossing the river several times to the turnaround lunch station at Segundo, which is not far from the New Mexico border.  I cannot fail to mention that the ride is fabulously supported by many local citizens who make homemade brownies, cookies, cupcakes for the feed stations together with all kinds of fruit and other yummy stuff (the eating was splendid!).   I'm hoping that the races have similar eating opportunities!?!    

The way back is a bit daunting.   One gentleman said it was "twice as far back".   It certainly seems harder.   First, the river valley back to Stonewall is a slow grind up.   With tired post-lunch legs, it drags a bit.   The thing that kept me occupied though, was the view of the Stonewall--like a magnet pulling me back, pictured below:

Climbing the pass the second time is truly difficult.   The pass tops out at 9945 in the 85th mile of the ride.   I recall the last time I rode it a couple of years ago, I really thought I would have to get offand walk the last steepest part.   This year it was tough, but my consistent climbs of Cheyenne Canyon paid off and I was even passing people on the pass!   Here is a link to the road profile: 

http://www.spcycling.org/RouteAndProfile2.pdf

While I was stopped at the last feed station at the top of the pass, listening to so many (men) groaning about the climb we had just finished, my sweetheart, JT, called---perfect timing--and we talked for a few minutes about how pleased I was to have the climbing and the ride nearly complete.  

From there it was a quick descent back to La Veta with a barbeque at the town park.   There were two massage therapists giving massages right in the park--and of course I needed that before my drive back to Colorado Springs.   I'm hoping this service is available after each race?   I arrived home, tired but happy, I had completed the 102 mile ride, 7500 feet of climbing, but most satisfying was the beauty of all that I had seen in this beautiful place I call my home.