Push Through It

I was watching a Duzer video the other day and he mentioned something that really hit me about sometimes putting yourself into situations that may really push you mentally, physically or both so you can be ready for when those things happen. I think this isn’t a bad idea although sometimes you can be “gifted” with one of these situations when you aren’t expecting it.

First, what’s a Duzer or more specifically, who is Duzer. Ryan Van Duzer, is a guy that creates You Tube videos about running and bicycle riding. He does a lot of bicycle touring and his main theme is to “Get out there”. A good theme indeed!

On one of the episodes he did on his Colorado Trail ride, he talked about pushing through hard things, actually putting yourself into situations that will push you mentally and physically. I’m not sure how much he was expecting to get pushed on that ride but it appeared the trail gave him more than he had bargained for. Trails can do that…

While I’m not at his level, I have done a few bicycle rides that have tested me. I agree with Ryan that tough situations, tough rides, can help a person to grow and develop both patience and endurance with life’s unexpected challenges. With that said, here is one of my tougher rides and learning experiences.

Indian Creek. This mountain bike ride began as a normal ride that I had done many times, usually with one or two of my friends. On this day, we started early with a typical sunny Colorado morning and no rain in the forecast.

We started from the parking lot on Colorado Highway 67 which is basically the upper parking lot for this area. Upper being a term that should be applied loosely as this 18 plus mile ride has over 2800 feet of elevation gain with the first few hundred feet coming right at the start. The trail ascends through a mixture of pine and aspen forest until it reaches a little pass where it intersects a couple of other roads and paths. The ride we were doing was a “lollipop” ride meaning we had just rode up the “stem” and we were now starting the “pop” / loop portion of the ride.

We decided to take the fire road on the left which meant we would be riding the loop “clockwise”. The fire road twists and turns as it slowly descends and comes to an end by one of those large, steel, power line towers.

From here we turned right and caught the single track that descends through a forest that gets thicker the farther we go. The path can get technical here and there with rocks, roots and loose soil. It can also get pretty overgrown in spots which means those rocks and roots can get hidden. This section of the trail ends at a double track. For whatever reason this is probably my least favorite part of the trail.

We turn right and continue to descend through a meadow finally meeting up with another fire road. This road is in better shape as there are a few buildings along the road that folks access. We turn left at this road and quickly come to a short but steep climb and then descend down the final hill that leaves us at the base of the front range. Going down this last hill is where all the fun begins for me.

I noticed as I started the decent that the fire road had a lot of washed out sections, sections where water runoff had created deep, mostly narrow gullies. These gullies follow the road vs. cross it which makes them hard to avoid. At least it made one of them hard to avoid.

Here’s the thing, I remember looking at the gullies and thinking I need to stay to the right as I didn’t want to get my wheel caught in one of them. The next thing I remember is pain and my friend Howie calling back to me and asking if I was ok. The only thing I could say was “Give me a minute”. I had and have no memory between wanting to avoid the gullies and laying on the ground.

I lay there, on the fire road, slowly taking an assessment of what hurt and trying to determine if anything was broken. After a bit, I slowly sat up. I had road rash on my arms, knees and shoulders and there was something seriously wrong with my right shoulder as it hurt to the point of having my full attention.

I finally turned around and saw my bike a few feet away, the front wheel bent in a shape that was anything but round. I hurt. My bike hurt.

By now Howie had come back up the hill and was checking me over and looking at my bike. I slowly got up and walked around trying to get some of the soreness walked out.

We were around mile 8 when I crashed and had just about reached the turn around point of the ride meaning we had a nine plus miles back to the parking lot and at least seven of those miles were uphill.

Before we could worry about that, I had to get my bike rideable again. We decided to see if we could get my front wheel straightened out enough to ride so I removed the wheel and we both smacked it against the ground until it was round enough to ride (and yes it hurt to do that). Now the next part, could I actually ride.

Since we still had some downhill left, and our other friend Tom was waiting at the bottom of the hill, I decided to get on the bike and give it a try as I could just coast, slowly down the hill. Needless to say, I stayed very far away from the remaining gullies as I made my way down the hill.

We met up with Tom at the bottom where we would get back on single track. We all discussed if I should try to make it out to the a main road that was a couple of miles away in another direction or try to make the return trip to our starting point. I finally decided to try the return trip as the trail was initially fairly flat. This would be the test to see if I thought I could make the climb or not.

I was able to ride the bike, very slowly. The only time it really hurt was when I stopped and had to start peddling again. That first pedal, mixed with getting on the seat, would hurt so much I would almost pass out. The next mile or two, after the flat part of the trail, contains the steepest ascent of the ride so it was trial by fire right from the start.

There is an abandoned cabin about halfway back where we always stopped and would rest for bit and have a snack. When I rolled up to the cabin, my one friend Tom gave me a look I’d never seen him give me before. A look that “said” I was not looking very good. A look of worry. By now I could feel there was something very wrong with my right shoulder. I just wasn’t sure what.

After the cabin the trail continues uphill but at a much slower rate. There are some flat and small downhill sections mixed in with the climbing which helped. For the most part the trail is dirt however there are a few rocky sections which tended to hurt as my shoulder felt each and every bump. There is a final small downhill at which point we had returned to the start of the lollipop loop.

To be at the start of the loop again was a huge goal as the ride back had so far proven to be one of the hardest rides I’ve ever done. Heck, one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. It was a great relief to know that we were almost done and it was mainly downhill from here. I will say that any downhill was still making me nervous due to my injuries and the bike’s injuries.

My friends, being my riding buddies, decided to take the single track back down but I didn’t think I had the strength to do that so I decided on the fire road which was shorter. To be fair, they did ask if I wanted them to take the road as well. My last challenge was to lift my bike over a gate across the fire road at the parking lot. I almost didn’t get that done. Thanks guys for the help! I still don’t let them live this one down!

As I rolled up to the car, they were there waiting with my wife who had come with me that morning to do a hike and get caught up on some studying while we were on our ride. We had joked on the ride back (humor always helps to ease pain) that she would never let me ride with them again. Needless to say she was worried once she saw me.

We said our goodbyes, packed up the bikes and headed towards home. On the way I decided I should probably go to the doctor. We ended up at the after hours office and the first thing the doctor said when he saw me was, “Mountain biking, right?”. I had a grade 3 separated shoulder that he recommended not be operated on and would take months to heal. It still bothers me now and then.

That ride back pushed me, it pushed me hard. I was nervous as heck at every downhill and could barely pedal the uphills. I was scared every time I had to start pedaling because I knew it was going to hurt really bad. At times I wanted to give up but I just kept going, taking it a section of the trail at a time, always following the rear wheels of my friends who lead me home.

That ride taught me that no matter what happens, I can get through it, especially with the help of friends and family, even when all they can give at the time to help is moral support, humor or a look I’ve never seen.