Did NOT want to get out the bed at the Marriott Suites this morning at 5:30…way too comfy….but bike ride we must. We were all pretty psyched for today we were to ride with Bruce Almighty. He and a couple of his associates from KRG, Dustin (who’s like a professional bike racer), Tom and Dave (who were more our speed). We all enjoyed a delicious breakfast provided by Chad Small’s parents out in front of the hotel before shoving off.To get out of the city Bruce took us on a really sweet bike trail along a waterway. Pops and I decided to sweep it up today which rocked because Bruce hung out with us in the back for the first part of the ride. Chatted about his company (which apparently competes for bids with a VC/Private Equity firm I was looking to work with: Summit Partners ….small world), about his kids, about his first ride….it was awesome…again just a really great guy. After getting out of town it was pretty smooth riding all the way into C-Springs…just a few ups and downs.
Coming into C-Springs was quite the site…Brendle pointed out the Air Force Academy and Pike’s Peak. We staged up toward the outskirts of town to get ready for our awesome arrival: riding into the Olympic Training Center with a group of Paralympic cyclists!! Kelly, Gretta, Barb, Mike, and Anthony were all amazing athletes…most just had one underdeveloped arm requiring special methods for holding the handlebars…their legs (especially Mike’s) were strong as can be. I got to ride up front with Kelly, who actually just took up cycling a year ago (before she was a Paralympic swimmer). She’s from San Fran and was here to train for a couple months…they were all gearing up for Beijing in ’08!We pacelined for something like 15 miles with some killer hills through town…I was doing my best to keep up with Kelly! Finally made it to the Olympic training center where some family and media watched us ride in. I got to snap a sweet pic with Bruce right outside of the center before we headed in. John Pierce, who sits on the Push America Board of Directors, is the Director of Research and Brand Marketing for the Olympic Committee, was there to greet us with free passes to eat at the training center cafeteria…all you can eat baby! We were lovin it: all the meals were portioned out with nutrition facts…the same stuff Olympians eat (the training center is for both Olympic and Paralympic athletes). I sat with Dustin and Tom from KRG and Anthony, who shared stories about training for upcoming world-championship races. Even met some world-class cyclists (who said “ride safe and use sunscreen” …sound advice) as we took our group pic and headed out.
Finally rolled over to lodging at the “Mullet House” (haha)…which was part of Colorado College. Not too bad digs…had a nice living room with TV….we all showered up and relaxed for a bit before heading to an early dinner at Meg’s house: the mother of a Pi Kapp and a daughter whose friend dates our very own Chad Snyder…small world. Had a great barbeque and got to talk with Tom…and air force guy and friend of the family. Brent was in heaven meeting Kate, a young teacher from London. Also got to meet Courtney, Snyder’s girlfriend and her friend Alli…both very nice. Couldn’t stay too long as we had to get on the road back to Denver to go see a Rockies game with the North Team!
Didn’t get very far though…it started pouring down rain….so much so that it was dangerous to drive; so we decided to turn around and head back to lodging…too bad (note: the Rockies ended up sweeping the Mets…sorry Schuey). Back at lodging a group of us decided to take the chance to go see “Transformers” so we headed on over to the theater. Cheesy plot and dialogue but all in all a pretty sweet flick with the special effects (and anything with robots is always cool…score: A-). Got back to lodging and hung out for a little before crashing…getting a good night’s sleep with a day off tomorrow!
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