First Try Using TrainerRoad With My Computrainer

With Computrainer (Racermate) software being dated and my trying unsuccessfully to use ctANT+ software, I decided to take a recommendation from  Gear Fisher, Co-Founder of TrainingPeaks, and I signed up for, download and tried TrainerRoad.com.  The software didn't crash my computer, like ctANT+ often did.  Actually, TrainerRoad worked incredible well.  The software works seamlessly with my Computrainer, Garmin Ant+ USB Stick, and I can play a movie on my computer while the software is running.  I don't need that 2nd laptop laying around anymore.


There's snow on the ground and cold temperatures here in Denver this week, but I needed to get my work in, especially with a training goal to significantly increase my FTP by mid-March 2013.  I started with what TrainerRoad.com calls the Smith workout.  I only did 5 of the 6 10minute z4 intervals, but it went well over all.  Here is a link to my result. 

Here are some of TrainerRoad features (per the review on JohnStoneFitness.com)

• Live graphs while you train, with instant feedback and wattage-based targets.
• Accurate power readings without an expensive power meter.
• Focused, goal-based workouts that are automatically adjusted to your fitness level.
• Structured training plans designed by a USA Cycling certified level II coach.
• A huge library of workouts, including race simulations and more (300+ workouts and growing).
• Workouts are automatically synced to the cloud and include comprehensive post-ride analytics.
• A “Career” page that tracks all your progress and stats.
• Social media integration.
• Compatible with the entire line of SufferFest videos: drop a video in the player and it syncs to the TrainerRoad workout, giving you wattage-based targets.
• Much more! Check out the full tour here.

You can read a review of TrainerRoad.com here.  It's not my review, but it's good one.

Hiking the Colorado Trail Segments 10 and 11: Day 4

Day 4
Waking to reasonable temps was a welcome treat.  It was chilly, but nothing like the night before. The sunrise was a welcome sight and warmed us up as we ate our breakfast.  In the morning light, we saw a lot of the old beer/soda can pull tabs in the camp sight.  Neither Karl nor I have seen a pull tab in like 30 years.  You can read about the history of the beverage can here. 
 
My feet weren’t happy.  I had blisters on my little toes since day 2, but we only had one more day hiking.  Next time I’m going to take John Vanhof’s advice and taped my toes before I start hiking on day 1.

Our overnight was little further east than we originally thought, so that added about 1.5 miles to our plan for the day.  No a big deal overall.  We had more than enough food and water.  About 4 miles into the day, the route got unclear and we pulled out the GPS unit for the first time and figured we just need to stay our course.  We were right and saw one of the trusty CT placards within about a ¼ mile.

We finally saw wild life – a couple elk, but they ran off pretty quickly.  The day went pretty quickly overall.  I think we were both a little anxious to get back to the car, drop our packs and eat.  The views coming over the final climb of the day and descending toward Clear Creek were spectacular and seemed to get better with each switchback.

With temps in the lower 60’s and the sun beating down on us the descent was quite warm and Karl and I got pretty sunburned over the last 2 days.  We both thought we wouldn’t need our wide-brimmed hiking hats. 

Seeing the car in the distance and seeing it get closer was a welcome sight.  It meant clean clothes, comfortable shoes and dinner would come soon.  As soon as we got in the car, I made the mistake of turning on my phone.  It buzzed and beeped for a while, but finally went silent.  After driving north to our start point, we headed back to Denver, but of course stopped for dinner at Beau Jo’s Pizza.

Hiking the Colorado Trail Segments 10 and 11: Day 3

Day 3
Surviving the night, we reluctantly got out of our bags and started doing our morning prep.  Guessing, but it was probably 24 degrees.  Our Camelbak mouth pieces and hoses were frozen despite our efforts.  I went down to the creek and filled our water filter bag and it took about 2 minutes before the hose froze and ice started to form inside the bag.  Karl boiled some water and we added it to the quickly freezing water in the filter bag and that did the trick.  After a couple of minutes it was flowing and we had clean water with which to cook.

Planning for Day 3 to be our highest mileage, we got cooking, eating and cleaning as fast as we could.  I stuffed the day’s snacks inside my shirt to defrost and we got on the trail by about 9:30 AM …  Camelbaks still frozen.  It didn’t take long for the hoses to thaw as the temps rose and we got exposed to more and more sunlight. 
Being a Sunday, we saw a couple groups of about 6 hikers on the trail.  They were all in good spirits and one group had been on the trail since the previous Tuesday, with several more days to go.  We also ran into a guy hiking solo who had started on around September 9 in Durango and was planning to hike the rest of the trail to Denver.

Before dropping down to Twin Lakes, we came across a HUGE grove of Aspen trees near Beaver Ponds.  The views were amazing.  Kinda wish we had been there about 2 weeks prior to experience the Aspens in full fall color, but ya get what ya get.
After a few more miles, we hit the NW corner of Twin Lakes.  We could still see plenty of snow on the N side of the mountains towering above us.  As we hiked into the sun light, it not only got a lot warmer, but the views from the lake toward the mountains were spectacular.

It took a while, but we hiked around the East side of the lakes, across the dam and found a great camp site for the night.  It was protected from the sun and the winds that might come across the lakes, but it was getting chilly.  So, we ate a late lunch and chilled on log in the sun, happy to be off our feet.

We really hadn’t been comfortable having one at the earlier camps, but being the last night I started a small fire.  It’s been years since I started a fire.  We had plenty of water on hand to keep it controlled and the drift wood was REALLY dry and went up like straw.  It was nice switch and we used the fire to boil water for dinner and keep us toasty until a whopping 8 PM.  Tired from the day’s activities we retired.

Hiking the Colorado Trail Segments 10 and 11: Day 2

Day 2

Camp Stove

The first night for me is always a little weird.  I hear every little sound and my dreams are filled with being chased and eaten by large animals.  Having gone to bed so early we were up at the crack of dawn.  The bags kept us both really toasty despite the cold overnight temps.  Getting up, dressed and fed on wicked cold mornings, knowing you have to dip your hands into a wicked cold creek to get water, always takes a little extra internal motivation.  But we did it and we were on the trail by about 9 AM.

Breakfast

Most of the trail was tree covered and feeling good we hiked until almost 1PM before stopping on the trail for a warm lunch.  Somewhere along the way we passed by the path to Mt Massive and saw about 8 backpacks in a pile behind a boulder.  Guess they were summiting the 14er.  That wasn’t in our game plan. 

Camp Night 2

By about 3PM we’d found our camping spot for the night near Mill Creek (see map).  While exploring the area around our site, we found a really big site just up the hill from us.  Karl, always with a cell phone, turned it on and PRESTO … 4bars and 4G via Verizon.  We did a quick check of the weather and determined night 2 would be the coldest, with a low (for the town about 1500 feet below us) of 22 deg.  That was a little intimidating, but we had plenty of gear to keep us warm.

Map

After an early dinner, we could feel the temp start to drop and we were decided to hunker down in the tent and playing cards. We both did what we could to insulate the water in our CamelBak and we were climbed in to our bags at like 6:30PM. 

Keeping warm playing cards

Keeping warm playing cards

Hiking the Colorado Trail Segments 10 and 11: Day 1

October 5 - 8, 2012: Segments 10 and 11

Day 1

Our schedules are always packed so we set our trip date for the first weekend in October months in advance.  Being the first weekend of October and Colorado, the weather can be a bit unpredictable.  The forecast was showing overnight temps in the low 20’s in the Leadville, CO and TwinLakes, CO area. With the weather not looking to promising and since our sleeping bags are both old and not built to handle such low temps, I went to REI (after doing a little research online) and bought us the Sierra Designs Zissou DriDown Sleeping Bag.

We got all of our packing done the night of the 4^th and chilled out the morning of the 5^th before starting the drive to Buena Vista, CO.  US285 South is (so far) my favorite road in Colorado.  Of course when we got to Buena Vista we stopped for a quick stretch and a double moka at Bongo Billy’s Café before heading 17 miles north to what will be our hike finish, the Clear Creek Reservoir.  The plan was to drop a car at the end of Segment 11 and then drive North to the start of Segment 10.

We got to the Segment 10 start West of Leadville, CO, on the West side of Turquoise Lake, around 12:30pm and hit the trail.  The trail is well marked with these little placards.  And it’s surprisingly reassuring to see them when you are in doubt.

Our first campsite was about 6 miles in (see map) amongst a bunch of large boulders and near a small stream.  After checking out the area, getting water, and chilling a bit, we made dinner.  With the light fading, the temp started to drop, so up went the bear bag and we headed indoor to play cards for a while.  Feeling like old men, we were asleep by 8:30 P.M.