Recap - Group Ride for the 28th

What a great ride we had! An excellent group of riders and nice weather makes for a good time. We really kept a good pace going for most of the ride - until the 470 trail where we slowed it down a bit to make way for all of the people walking in the 3 Day Walk for the Cure. We even stopped to help a couple struggling with their tire change; now they know how to do it for the next time!

Ride stats: 29.23 miles in 2hr 2mins - A pretty darn good pace considering miles 19-25 were hindered by all the pedestrian traffic :)

See you all next week!

This Saturday's Group Ride - August 28th

This week's group ride will be a nice loop around the area. We'll leave the shop at 9:30am, and head through "the hole in the fence" to the Bear Creek Trail, go east to the Mary Carter Greenway/South Platte Trail, south to the 470 trail, and follow that around and up to Belleview. This ride is just shy of 29 miles. Check out the route and elevation profile below.

This ride is classified as "recreational" in nature which means:
* A great workout if you want to push yourself a little bit
* You try to ride once or twice a week
* Just getting back into the sport after sometime off
* Your commute to work is too short...you want more!
* Feel the distance/speed of the Int. group is too much
Avg MPH: 10-15mph
Avg Distance: 25-35 miles
Suggested Bike: Beginner Road, Hybrid

Saturday is looking to be another warm day with temps pushing 90. Make sure you hydrate in the morning on the way to the ride, and bring lots to drink with you. We'll stop to refill on the ride if we need to. Cycling is a lot more enjoyable if you're comfortable and safe - please alert one of the group ride leaders if we're going too fast for you, you need a little break, or you start to feel overheated. We've all been there before!!! Nothing ruins your love of the sport like a bad ride, so talk to us, and let us know what we can do to make it fun for you :)
See you all Saturday!

Deer Creek Challenge - this Sunday, August 29th!!

Get off the fence and into the saddle!


Bicycle Village is sponsoring the Deer Creek Challenge, this Sunday, August 29th. It's got the hardest century ride in the US, plus 62-mile and 33-mile courses. There are still a few spots left to register!!


*Fully loaded aid stations every 7.4 to 16 miles
*15% of the course is newly paved - like butter!
*Limited traffic for safety
*Courses will be freshly swept
*Post-ride barbecue - free massages and free beer
*Guaranteed registration for 2011

Group Ride for Saturday, August 21st

This Saturday we'll head out the South Platte trail to REI. This is an out and back recreational ride of 31 miles, and we'll take it at a moderate pace. It should take us about 2 1/2 hours total with approximately 2 hrs of ride time. We'll stop at REI for a break and a latte before turning around and heading back. Always a fun ride!
As usual, we'll leave the shop at 9:30am, so arrive early to check in, fill up your water bottles, and stock up on any tubes or energy bars.

See you Saturday!

Advance Ride #3 Summary - Golden Gate Canyon

What a beautiful Sunday morning for a ride. We all met in the parking lot of BV Southwest for a bagel breakfast and free samples of GU products including their new endurance product Roctane. Once our carbs kicked in, the gang of 12 led by our fearless leaders, John and Anaka, all departed BV Southwest for Golden Gate Canyon. Sunny skies, a slight breeze and beautiful scenery escorted our entire ride. A quick pit stop was made in Golden to refuel and replenish our water supplies for the climb up the canyon. Light chatter between riders could be heard despite the long climb to the top. Once at the top, everyone was more than ready for the 14% downgrade back down the canyon. Some rolling hills were all that was left between us and home. All riders made it back to the store just in time for lunch.

Rides for this weekend - August 14th & 15th

This weekend we have a ride for everyone! Come on down and join us for one (or both!) of the following rides:

Saturday will be our usual No Drop Group Ride up Dinosaur Ridge and down through Red Rocks. We'll roll at 9:30am so arrive early to check in.



On Sunday, Advanced Group Ride #3 will leave from the shop at 7am with a meeting time of 6:30am. Arrive early to enjoy some bagels, as you will need to fuel up for this 65 mile training ride up to Golden Gate Canyon!!! GU Energy is the nutrition support for Sunday. Don't forget to register for this FREE ride at www.ezregister.com/events/1704

Recap: Sunday, August 8th - Advanced Group Ride

Despite a slight last minute change in our route plans, we had a great ride leaving the BV Littleton store this morning. The second of three advanced training rides (for any upcoming century that riders may choose) took us up and over a variety of challenging climbs. The nine in our group were a strong bunch which kept Dave, Jacquette and myself spinning our wheels and up out of our saddles to keep up and take our turns in the lead. Fueled with great Hammer nutrition products and bagels, we set out on Belleview. We were convinced to add a little extra elevation gain to our route by going up through the Willow Springs neighborhood. Exerting a little extra juice to make it up the steep climb, rider Damien actually broke a spoke which "handy wrench" Dave was able to remove, loosen up the opposite spokes, and keep the wheel true so Damien could complete the entire ride safely and without any other issues. Avid hill climber (I'd say hill specialist) Ray pushed the pace for the group down through Morrison and up West Colfax past Red Rocks and Matthew Winters Park. Good thing we had Michelle up from CO Springs to give Ray a run for his money up the Frontage Road on the backside of Lookout Mtn. The group made great time and celebrated with refreshing drinks at the top of Lookout.

The quick descent down the front-side switchbacks dropped us down into Golden. Taking Jackson Road out again to West Colfax, half of the group really felt like they hadn't had enough pain for one day and added a few "stoplight" sprints to keep everyone on their toes. Catching some speed back past the beauty of Red Rocks, took us back through Willow Springs, with one final climb back onto Belleview and finished with some pace-lining to take us back to the shop.

Total ride time was a little over three hours for 43 miles covering over 3200' in elevation!! You can check out our route here: http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/co/-littleton/467128130289616996

Thanks for the great ride and I hope everyone used some of the Hammer Recoverite to speed their recovery and we look forward to everyone joining us again next week.
-Malia, Jacquette and Dave

Ride route for August 14th

Here is the route for this Saturday. It's got some nice climbs up Dinosaur Ridge and Red Rocks, before we head down into Morrison and back.

We will have an alternate route looping through Bear Creek for beginners wishing to avoid the bigger climbs.

See you all on Saturday!!

Group Ride Summary for August 7th

Another great turnout today (Welcome back, Dan!). It was a good ride, and everyone enjoyed themselves. A big shout out to Jason for bringing Mike to ride with us while out visiting.

Stats for today: 31.12 miles covered in 2hr 25mins (now, my GPS doesn't shut off when we stop, so if someone has an "actual ride time", please let us know).

If you're looking for something to do tomorrow, come join us for our Advanced Group Ride Series to leave the shop at 7:30am, or attend the Mountain Biking 101 Clinic at 9:30am (we'll meet in the parking lot of the Home Depot at Quincy/C470).

As always, great to see everyone! Have a safe week riding, and we'll see you next Saturday!

Group Rides for Saturday, August 7th

With such great turnouts the last couple weeks, we'll run two rides on Saturday.

Here is the route for the Recreational/Intermediate ride - a nice 31+ loop through Deer Creek, and over Chatfield before looping back via the Mary Carter and Bear Creek.



For the Social Group, we'll do a nice 23 mile loop down to Chatfield. We can adjust this route as needed. The only thing that matters is that we ride and have fun! And anytime on a bike is "fun" :) So come join us - bring your hybrid, comfort or mountain bike, and let's ride!!



Lastly, don't forget our Sunday events - Training Ride #2 for Deer Creek Challenge will meet at 8500 Deer Creek Canyon Rd. and Mountain Bike 101 Clinic will meet at the Home Depot Parking lot near Quincy/470.

Hope to see you this weekend!

Saturday Group Ride

What a turnout we had on Saturday! 13 riders in all, and lots of new faces. It was great to see so many of you out there. It was a hot and long ride up to Golden, a bit too much for some, and apparently not enough for those of you who continued up Lookout Mountain!!! In order to keep our rides safe and fun for everyone, we'll plan both a beginner/social ride of 15-25 miles AND a longer intermediate ride. This way, everyone can ride with us! We'll keep posting routes on the blog and Facebook in advance so you can check them out to decide which group you want to ride with depending on how you're feeling on any particular Saturday.

Thanks again to everyone who came out. I look forward to riding with you guys on Saturdays, and love it when we get some new faces out there who become regular weekly attendees! See ya Saturday!

Deer Creek Challenge Training Ride #1 Summary

This past Sunday Bicycle Village (Littleton) had 15 riders attended our first Training Ride for the upcoming August 29th Deer Creek Challenge. The 44-miler was every bit a climb as promised! After reaching the top of Deer Creek we shot down to Turkey Creek, heading left till we reached Hillsdale Pines. While most consider the climb up Highgrade more difficult...there's nothing "easy" about the short, steep pitches of 14% grade encountered on Hillsdale and City View! Either way the rest stop at Pleasant Park is always a welcome relief.

Bicycle Village's mechanic Kevin Flynn was a saving grace to those struggling to access their lowest climbing gears or stop annoying chattering and pinging sounds. Great company was had with rider Matt and many learned some tried and trued nutrition points by Power Bar rep Tim Hola. Thanks for the freebie product Tim!
Some notable quotes from our riders on the Power Bar Products:
“I found the Powerbar Perform drink to be a lot lighter than Gatorade and better tasting.”
“The Gel Blasts were great and they don’t stick in my teeth.”
“I like the Powerbar Gels because of the 200mg of Sodium. This eliminated the need to carry salt tablets.”
“I was happy to see that Powerbar makes Energy Bites. Sometimes on long rides like this it’s nice to have something different than a bar.”
“The Powerbar Tangerine Gel with 50 mg of caffeine and 200mg of Sodium was perfect for a ride like today! Thanks Tim for the samples you rock!”

BV manager Brian Nelson was a sport to open early for us riders and provide the yummy bagels. The group was balanced enough to split into two and all finished safe with proud smiles having bitten off a big chunk of the Deer Creek Challenge ride.

Although the early cloud cover deterred some of the heat, one rider thought he was in over his head and another was struck with painful quad cramps during the climb. We may have lagged a bit behind the last group but together we pulled each other in and the three of us managed to rehydrate and finish the ride strong. Our motto: "Never leave your wing-man!" ;)

A brief run down on cramping: "Heat" Cramps are caused by an imbalance of electrolytes in the bloodstream, (necessary for muscle function) and are primarily lost through sweating of sodium. Once this balance is off, the muscles may start to contract involuntarily, and that's a cramp. Heat Cramps can be stretched, but until the electrolyte imbalance is corrected, they won't disappear. And here's the real kicker - if one muscle group is cramping because your system is low in sodium, it's quite likely that other muscle groups are not far behind. Stay aware and ahead of sodium loss through nutrition intake and hydration!

"Fatigue" Cramps would be less related to your electrolyte balance and more related to overworking your muscles, especially keeping the muscle in one position. Fatigue Cramps can usually be alleviated by stretching the offending muscle.

I hope you will return to join us for Training Ride #2 on Sunday, August 8th, and maybe meet some new riders too! Please register at www.ezregister.com/events/1703 and be sure to check the blog this week for a map of the 54-miler and start time.

Jacquette Tara
Bicycle Village - Aurora