The Official Website of Ultra Distance Cyclist Mark Metcalfe
Colorado High Country 1200K
by Crew Chief Linda
July, 2011
This was the inaugural running of the Colorado High Country 1200K. The scenery was beyond gorgeous, and although there will need to be some kinks worked out of the organization of this ride, it went pretty smoothly. The biggest factor was by far the weather. Colorado has a habit of having afternoon monsoonal thunderstorms, but these usually occur in August and September. The northern portion of Colorado near the Wyoming border had just finished up with one of the harshest winters on record. They were contending with massive snow melt, and now early rains. Some of the roads to be used on the High Country 1200 had only been open a few weeks!
48 riders started on a wet Monday morning at 4 am. The clouds cleared and the sun came out making for a very pretty, yet somewhat warm day. Mark and our friends Steve and Peggy Petty moved along and were making good time to the first two controls. After turning west from Fort Collins, they started a 60 mile climb along the Poudre River. No that is not a typo, it was a climb 60 miles long and punctuated by a steep grade over the Cameron Pass. From there it was a descent in to Waldon, CO and up in to Saratoga WY for the first overnight control. Mark had started riding with a rider from Florida, Art Fuoco , and they arrived in Saratoga around 9 pm and left at 4 am together to begin the next leg of the ride. Steve and Peggy rode in with another recumbent rider, Sara Kay Carroll who was having a bit of a struggle. The next portion of the ride was by far the most difficult. It was the hardest leg with three passes to climb. At the summit of Medicine Bow (12,000 ft) there was still plenty of snow to be seen, along with many elk. At this point, Peggy decided it was no longer a fun ride and chose to keep me company for the next couple of days. Peggy came to Colorado after coming to grips with the death of her brother. She had just returned from a week in Florida for his funeral and had to turn around and get ready for this 1200k. To say she was not in Colorado mentally was an understatement. Nevertheless, I was happy for the company.
Steve continued on and gallantly stayed with Sara Kay. He was not about to leave her out in the Wyoming wilderness to fend for herself. By the time the two of them made it in to the Laramie WY control, they were behind time and were risking being late in to the Steamboat Springs overnight control. Clouds were looming off to the south also. Peggy and I continued on in the car to the next control in Walden, CO to await our riders. When we arrived we were surprised to see only one control worker and just a smattering of supplies there for the numerous hungry riders that were still coming down the road in to Walden. Peggy sprang in to action and we both started preparing anything we could find that the riders could eat. Peggy's salami and cream cheese rolls were a hit! She was so great at convincing the local convenience store worker to give us a discount rate on water and soda for the riders. No one left that control hungry! Mark made it to the Walden control and went on to Steamboat springs for the overnight stop. The clouds were getting thicker and darker. After checking the radar we were concerned about the riders still out there on the road coming in to Walden. Two of them were Steve and Sara Kay. Still no word from Steve as it started to sprinkle, then rain, then pour. All of a sudden it was as though the sky just let loose. The wind blew so hard we thought the buildings were going to be lifted off their foundations. Then came the hail. It hailed for five minutes straight and accumulated on the road in some places up to six inches! We could only hope that Steve and Sara Kay were somewhere out of the storm. We waited for any word. Then it came. Steve had called and said they both were headed to Walden in a good Samaritan's pick-up truck. They had had enough of the unpredictable weather. It was the best decision. 5 riders decided to call it quits there at Walden. The weather did not improve and continued to rain on in to the night. I now had two companions! Mark made it to Steamboat Springs, but not without his own rain soaked adventure. After climbing out of Walden, the rain storm hit him as he descended in to Steamboat Springs. A seven mile descent on wet roads was not fun according to Mark, who left permanent hand imprints on his brake levers!
So now I had two friends to sight see with as we awaited Mark at the final overnight control. Even though they were down in the dumps for not being able to complete the 1200k, Steve and Peggy never lost their good attitude and we had fun as we toured the town of Steamboat Springs.
Mark made it to the final overnight control and cruised in to the finish a little after 1pm on Thursday. As Steve, Peggy and I made our way back to the start hotel to see Mark finish, we manged to see a lot of elk, a bear, a lot of little critters crossing the road (one that I managed to run over, sorry) and of course some more thunderstorms.
Even though things didn't turn out like Steve and Peggy wished they had, they still say they will be back the next time the Colorado High Country 1200k is held. Mark enjoyed it and said he will definitely be back, and I hope next time I'll be on the bike and not in the car.
This was the inaugural running of the Colorado High Country 1200K. The scenery was beyond gorgeous, and although there will need to be some kinks worked out of the organization of this ride, it went pretty smoothly. The biggest factor was by far the weather. Colorado has a habit of having afternoon monsoonal thunderstorms, but these usually occur in August and September. The northern portion of Colorado near the Wyoming border had just finished up with one of the harshest winters on record. They were contending with massive snow melt, and now early rains. Some of the roads to be used on the High Country 1200 had only been open a few weeks!
48 riders started on a wet Monday morning at 4 am. The clouds cleared and the sun came out making for a very pretty, yet somewhat warm day. Mark and our friends Steve and Peggy Petty moved along and were making good time to the first two controls. After turning west from Fort Collins, they started a 60 mile climb along the Poudre River. No that is not a typo, it was a climb 60 miles long and punctuated by a steep grade over the Cameron Pass. From there it was a descent in to Waldon, CO and up in to Saratoga WY for the first overnight control. Mark had started riding with a rider from Florida, Art Fuoco , and they arrived in Saratoga around 9 pm and left at 4 am together to begin the next leg of the ride. Steve and Peggy rode in with another recumbent rider, Sara Kay Carroll who was having a bit of a struggle. The next portion of the ride was by far the most difficult. It was the hardest leg with three passes to climb. At the summit of Medicine Bow (12,000 ft) there was still plenty of snow to be seen, along with many elk. At this point, Peggy decided it was no longer a fun ride and chose to keep me company for the next couple of days. Peggy came to Colorado after coming to grips with the death of her brother. She had just returned from a week in Florida for his funeral and had to turn around and get ready for this 1200k. To say she was not in Colorado mentally was an understatement. Nevertheless, I was happy for the company.
Steve continued on and gallantly stayed with Sara Kay. He was not about to leave her out in the Wyoming wilderness to fend for herself. By the time the two of them made it in to the Laramie WY control, they were behind time and were risking being late in to the Steamboat Springs overnight control. Clouds were looming off to the south also. Peggy and I continued on in the car to the next control in Walden, CO to await our riders. When we arrived we were surprised to see only one control worker and just a smattering of supplies there for the numerous hungry riders that were still coming down the road in to Walden. Peggy sprang in to action and we both started preparing anything we could find that the riders could eat. Peggy's salami and cream cheese rolls were a hit! She was so great at convincing the local convenience store worker to give us a discount rate on water and soda for the riders. No one left that control hungry! Mark made it to the Walden control and went on to Steamboat springs for the overnight stop. The clouds were getting thicker and darker. After checking the radar we were concerned about the riders still out there on the road coming in to Walden. Two of them were Steve and Sara Kay. Still no word from Steve as it started to sprinkle, then rain, then pour. All of a sudden it was as though the sky just let loose. The wind blew so hard we thought the buildings were going to be lifted off their foundations. Then came the hail. It hailed for five minutes straight and accumulated on the road in some places up to six inches! We could only hope that Steve and Sara Kay were somewhere out of the storm. We waited for any word. Then it came. Steve had called and said they both were headed to Walden in a good Samaritan's pick-up truck. They had had enough of the unpredictable weather. It was the best decision. 5 riders decided to call it quits there at Walden. The weather did not improve and continued to rain on in to the night. I now had two companions! Mark made it to Steamboat Springs, but not without his own rain soaked adventure. After climbing out of Walden, the rain storm hit him as he descended in to Steamboat Springs. A seven mile descent on wet roads was not fun according to Mark, who left permanent hand imprints on his brake levers!
So now I had two friends to sight see with as we awaited Mark at the final overnight control. Even though they were down in the dumps for not being able to complete the 1200k, Steve and Peggy never lost their good attitude and we had fun as we toured the town of Steamboat Springs.
Mark made it to the final overnight control and cruised in to the finish a little after 1pm on Thursday. As Steve, Peggy and I made our way back to the start hotel to see Mark finish, we manged to see a lot of elk, a bear, a lot of little critters crossing the road (one that I managed to run over, sorry) and of course some more thunderstorms.
Even though things didn't turn out like Steve and Peggy wished they had, they still say they will be back the next time the Colorado High Country 1200k is held. Mark enjoyed it and said he will definitely be back, and I hope next time I'll be on the bike and not in the car.
The 4am start in Louisville, CO