Not a bad sight to wake up to when you crawl out of the tent at 5:30 in the morning!This day, though short, turned out to be one of the most significant days of the race for Toby and I. This stage saw us starting with a couple miles on a dirt road, then over 3,000ft elevation gain over the next few! Once we reached the pass, we descended 3,000ft to the town of Twin Lakes.
We busted out the tow (a long bungee cord with a couple of caribeaners on the ends) early on and I pulled, or more rather assisted, Toby up over Hope Pass. We had a blast hooting and hollering and listening to our echos. This was a short day, but with this much elevation gain we were gasping for air the whole way up.
Because there was so much downhill, I wanted to go with a shoe with a bit more cushioning and support. The Avi-Stoltz was the perfect fit! (www.avia.com) Co-designed by my buddy Conrad (http://www.conradstoltz.com/), these shoes can really motor! They were light weight considering the traction and support they offer. On the descents, I had plenty of grip. I totally dig the colors too!
While descending, actually I'd call it flying, off of Hope Pass, Toby took a nasty spill. He went down hard on his right side bruising several ribs, rolling his right ankle, and scraping up his arm pretty good. He jumped right back up and we kept cruising down the hill, but once we reached the stream crossings at the bottom, we knew we were in trouble.
We finished 9th for the day, moving us into 8th position in the Open Men's division, but we were far more concerned about Toby's ankle and what it would mean for the days to come.
We were loaded onto shuttles at the finish line to take us to Leadville for the evening. Camp was set up on the high school fields, and after the previous nights uncomfortably hard ground, I was pumped about the soft grass. We spent the afternoon meandering around Leadville, eating and hanging out in a coffee shop. The brief glimpse of civilization was a good reminder that I was having fun being away from it. I had really been enjoying the fact that there was no email, no internet, no cell phones.
Day 2 down and I was in great spirits as usual! Can't wait for the next day, it will be the longest run (time and distance) that I have ever done.
