The Other Side of the Rainbow
Like most cyclists, I am very familiar with the Rainbow Trail - at least one small chunk of it. The Western (Northern?) Terminus at Otto Mears Toll Road after Silver Creek to HW 285 just north of Poncha Pass. It's the end of the full Monarch Crest Ride and part of the Vapor Trail 125. I've also ridden a few other sections of the Rainbow Trail south of Salida in the Methodist Mountain area - from Bear Creek west. But down at the Southern Terminus? That was a mystery. We'd heard rumors of horrible trails - chunky, babyheaded chunder that wasn't much fun for any mode of transportation. And given the short ride we'd done out of Kerr Gulch a few years ago, that seemed like a pretty safe bet. So my first instinct when I saw the ads on Facebook for the Sangre de Cristo Ultras was to take a pass. Combine what I thought I knew about the area and the fact that adding another 50k to a busy running schedule that already had two 50ks in place seemed kinda silly.
But I kept seeing the ads! And the photos on the Human Potential Running website looked nothing like what I anticipated after Kerr Gulch. It was ATV double track and the photos at least showed nothing but smooth trails and awesome views. Huh. Maybe I was wrong about the other end of the Rainbow. That just left the matter of timing. Between the Pikes Peak Ultra 50k on July 28th and the upcoming Dead Horse Ultra 50k in the middle of November, I didn't really see how I could add another 50k into the mix. I felt like I was already pushing it since I hadn't been able to run much in 2017 due to my eye. Then I started playing with my long runs a little in Training Peaks. After the issues at the end of PPU, I wanted more and longer long runs prior to Dead Horse. Sangre de Cristo fell on the last Saturday of my three week block, with a recovery week already planned afterwards. Huh. And I was planning on running 25-26 miles that day as well. Same day as the race. Double Huh. What's another 5 miles at the end of a long run? Now I was interested. Facebook must have known - the ads kept popping up on my feed. I went and looked at the entrants on Ultrasignup.com - not a lot of people so far. 25 in the 50k and 20 in each the 50 mile and 100k. It was the first year for the race though, so I didn't expect a huge turnout.
I broached the subject with Nick - hitting on all the highlights. It was a new area to explore where neither of us had been. He would have two days of riding to explore - the day before the race and the day of the race. I wouldn't need help during the race since 50k runners weren't supposed to to have crew. And there was camping right at the race start! We could drive up Friday, claim a parking spot, he could ride and I could chill out. Then Saturday would be super easy. Just roll out of the van before the start, wander over and start running! The van wouldn't have to move at all during the weekend. We talked about it a few times, him hemming and hawing about it. But I could tell he was interested. It was also the perfect time to get out of town for a little bit. Finally, we decided to go for it. I signed up, ordered a new map of the area and made the adjustments in Training Peaks. And as the weekend grew closer, I started getting more and more excited. Sure, it was only a training race - a supported long run, but still. Any race that required a new map? How could I not be excited?
But I kept seeing the ads! And the photos on the Human Potential Running website looked nothing like what I anticipated after Kerr Gulch. It was ATV double track and the photos at least showed nothing but smooth trails and awesome views. Huh. Maybe I was wrong about the other end of the Rainbow. That just left the matter of timing. Between the Pikes Peak Ultra 50k on July 28th and the upcoming Dead Horse Ultra 50k in the middle of November, I didn't really see how I could add another 50k into the mix. I felt like I was already pushing it since I hadn't been able to run much in 2017 due to my eye. Then I started playing with my long runs a little in Training Peaks. After the issues at the end of PPU, I wanted more and longer long runs prior to Dead Horse. Sangre de Cristo fell on the last Saturday of my three week block, with a recovery week already planned afterwards. Huh. And I was planning on running 25-26 miles that day as well. Same day as the race. Double Huh. What's another 5 miles at the end of a long run? Now I was interested. Facebook must have known - the ads kept popping up on my feed. I went and looked at the entrants on Ultrasignup.com - not a lot of people so far. 25 in the 50k and 20 in each the 50 mile and 100k. It was the first year for the race though, so I didn't expect a huge turnout.
I broached the subject with Nick - hitting on all the highlights. It was a new area to explore where neither of us had been. He would have two days of riding to explore - the day before the race and the day of the race. I wouldn't need help during the race since 50k runners weren't supposed to to have crew. And there was camping right at the race start! We could drive up Friday, claim a parking spot, he could ride and I could chill out. Then Saturday would be super easy. Just roll out of the van before the start, wander over and start running! The van wouldn't have to move at all during the weekend. We talked about it a few times, him hemming and hawing about it. But I could tell he was interested. It was also the perfect time to get out of town for a little bit. Finally, we decided to go for it. I signed up, ordered a new map of the area and made the adjustments in Training Peaks. And as the weekend grew closer, I started getting more and more excited. Sure, it was only a training race - a supported long run, but still. Any race that required a new map? How could I not be excited?
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