07_18_to_20_2014 Courage Classic 2014

Dave and I had such a great time riding in the Courage Classic last year (see: http://daveandcallie.blogspot.com/2013/08/07202013-courage-classic-copper-colorado.html) that we were psyched to ride it again this year.

Even better this year is we were riding with a particular child who has benefited (and continues benefiting) from  Children's Hospital: Maya McQuade. Maya is my colleague Angela Gover's daughter. She has been dealing with the awfulness that is nephrotic syndrome - a kidney disease. Read more about it here: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000490.htm

Anyway, how cool to participate in this great cause and do so with a photo of Maya on our backs?

A monkey wrench was thrown in our plans however - as the last post noted, Pente ended up getting terribly sick days before we were to leave for Copper to do this ride. What to do? We ultimately decided that I'd head up alone and ride and Dave would stay behind with Pente. We were all disappointed, but it was the right thing to do.

So up I got on the first day of riding - the Copper Triangle. It's about 80 miles and summits Fremont Pass, Tennessee Pass, Battle Mountain and finally Vail Pass. It's a fantastic ride. The weather was as perfect as any riding weather ever! No wind (unreal!!!) and cool temps...well until Vail Pass...it's always hot on Vail Pass it seems.

Anyway, as the first photo shows, I got a photo of Maya and me at the top of Fremont Pass (elevation 11, 318).

Next stop was the summit of Tennessee Pass (elevation 10,424).  I was able to talk to Dave at the top of Battle Mountain to find out how he and Pente were. He was worried about her and she was still not eating and looking sick. But she's been released from the hospital!

Dave ultimately decided to load her into the pop-up and head to Copper so we could all be together. We would ride the next day, though go the shorter 50 mile ride so we could get Pente fed and her temp monitored.

I continued my ride. At a stop in Minturn, I got an email from Angela my colleague. Turns out she, her husband Ronnie and Maya were camped that weekend by our next rest stop! Very cool!  So, just as I headed up Vail Pass, I made a left turn to Gore campground and hung out with them for a little while.

I got to get a photo of Maya while there. Thanks for the great hospitality (and amazing fruit) while there!

Oddly, the top of Vail Pass has no sign, so not photo was taken. The elevation of this final pass is 10,662'.  I hit the summit and zoomed back down into Copper. 

I looked forward to Dave and Pente arriving a few hours later.

Dave got there and we enjoyed a nice dinner in the camper. He has been battling a nasty cough for weeks and wasn't 100% percent himself.  Fun for all of us to be together even if he and the cat were feeling crappy.

The next morning, I got the crud. Long story short, Dave rode day two and I stayed in the camper with the cat. The cat and I entered into comas or something...lots of needed sleep. I managed to feed her and it was clear Dave was far better at that than I was. She got a lot of food on her when I tried. :/

Dave was able to get some nice photos of him as he rode day two: Copper – Frisco – Dillon – Keystone – Swan Mountain – Frisco – Copper.  He was able to grab some nice photos of him time on the bike. 
 

It was nice to be together and even better...the cat started eating the evening of our team dinner in Breckenridge. We road the bus back to Copper, got in the camper, and the cat hopped down and ate a few bites.

It was the perfect end to a fun weekend! Next year we will try to do this again but hopefully we will have no monkey wrenches and no cruds among us all!