Part 2: Three Sisters
In 1985 INXS released their album Listen Like Thieves to mixed reviews. I was 16 at the time and it quickly became my favorite. I pretty much wore out the cassette tape in the deck of my ’74 Corolla. While hits like the What You Need, Kiss the Dirt, and title track are best remembered, I recall a mellow but very cool instrumental track called Three Sisters.
On the second day of triathlon camp I had another encounter with three sisters. Unlike the Tim Farriss guitar licks, this was not a mellow experience.
We met a member of the local tri club at a KenTaconear our condo and were on our way after a few obligatory start-of-ride pictures.
Our initial ride took us along part of the Steamboat Olympic Triathlon until we took a couple more turns that put us on Routt County Road 33 headed westerly and upward. The initial foray was not too bad with a few short hills and then some down or flat stretches. Per my coach’s instructions, I tried to keep my power in Zone 3 and save the hard work for later.
Roughly half an hour later we hit our first big hill and I mashed for roughly ten minutes on a grade that averaged 3.8%. I was feeling the pain a little bit at this point, but overall, my legs were still feeling fresh. My coach was riding just ahead of me and I saw him go over the crest and he soon disappeared down the hill. I decided to follow suit.
Over the last few weeks, I’ve been dealing with multiple flat tires. On a couple of occasions, that problem was solved simply by using my CO2 cartridge. On a couple of other occasions, I had to call my wife for a rescue. I started riding down the hill and picking up speed. Soon after the tell-tale sign of shaky handle bars and lateral drift told me that I had flatted. Worse, I had actually flatted both tires.
We were fortunate to have SAG support on the ride—the other coach was driving the course—and a text to him had him at my side in just a few minutes. I had one spare tube, and fortunately, my brother had stashed another in the vehicle.
We managed to get both tires fixed and then we added considerably more pressure than I had been using recently. For some reason, I got it in my head that higher pressure and warmer temperatures would increase the likelihood of flatting. Turns out, the opposite was probably true. In any case, the delay took 32 minutes off my ride.
Fortunately, I got going again and had no more issues. The remainder of the time down Road 33 consisted of a few rollers and a few descents before I caught up again with my coach at the turn-off onto Road 27.
A series of three climbs with only short descents between have been dubbed the Three Sisters and it’s one of the more famous rides in the area. We settled into a slow, low-gear pace and I began my ascent. I’m not especially fast going up hills, but I generally can just put my head down (figuratively) and push through them without too much pain. It’s a skill that helped me survive last year’s Mountain Top Experience Ride.
The First Sister is only about a mile long but sports a 6% grade. It’s over fast and you could be lulled into a false sense of your own ability except that as you start the first descent, you can see the Second Sister in up ahead.
For me, that second one was the hardest. It’s only slight steeper and longer (about 6.2% and about 1.4 miles) but coming so soon after the first one, you really start to feel it in your legs and your lungs. Upon reaching the crest of this one, you’re just under 7500 feet.
The Third Sister is the longest but it’s not quite as steep. Nevertheless, the extra length starts to ware on you and you can’t see the end since the road curves a bit. I was feeling pretty gassed and my legs were complaining quite a bit by now. Fortunately, it’s followed by a very long descent into the small town of Oakville.
From there it’s mostly downhill with a few rollers until you reach what locals call Kill Hill. Honestly, I didn’t think it was that bad, but then I was not going at it particularly aggressively. Shortly after cresting it, we made a left turn back onto the triathlon course and a short while later, I was arriving in the parking lot where our SAG car was ready to take our bikes.
My brother and I headed out on a killer run that involves attempting to hit heart rate zone 5 in the first five minutes. That’s followed by a recovery and then some shorter intervals of the same. It was really grueling after the ride. Fortunately, the Yampa River was flowing gently near our finish point so we stood in the cold water for a few which no-doubt helped with the recovery.
After some lunch, a visit to Butcherknife Brewery and a nap, we had dinner and then proceeded with a very thorough race briefing from both coaches. We had a lot of questions about this race and doing an Ironman in general and the information they conveyed was invaluable.
Of course I would still have been ready for the big event had I not attended this camp, but doing so has done to boost not only my fitness, but also my confidence. The coming weeks will see the remainder of my hard workouts and then my taper. More posts are sure to come.
Thanks for reading
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