The Cripple Creek Crippler

Part Three of the Triple Crown challenge!  Started at 4am in Cripple Creek. Had gone to bed early and was feeling pretty good!  There were a few more people than in the previous race in he series - we had 207 miles ahead of us with 17000 + feet of climbing!!  The route went immediately uphill at the start and I didn't last too long at all this time  with the serious, fast guys - instead i broke off and was happy to set my own pace!   After a couple of hours riding in the dark the sun came up and the scenery was just amazing!   The road was never flat - uphill/downhill with a bit of a headwind.  There were a lot less towns to ride through - we were pretty much out in the wild!   Then the scenery started to change - the trees disappeared and it became a lot more rocky.  The route was really rolling - then the hills became much steeper as we went towards the Creek.  Finally I reached the half way point feeling pretty good - i hadnt stopped as much - been on my bike a lot longer!! I had eaten well and was generally feeling good!    However at the half way mark we were turned around because a sink hole had suddenly opened up in the road. It should basically have been a loop, then straight down, then another loop and a straight bit back up. It was about half way round that loop that we were turned around!!  One good thing I thought at this point was that the strong headwind would turn into a strong tailwind going back!  Not really - it was for a little bit and every now and then. But generally back in the valley the wind had changed and once again we had a strong headwind!   At least there was a lot more downhilll going back this way! And i was feeling really good - even got pretty excited for a while about how quickly i might be able to finish!!!  Obviously I got more and more tired towards the end. At about 180 mile we turned and started going towards the river - I thought to myself"  This is the Platte River - no way!  cant just be the last 30 miles downhill - that would be way too easy!" then i remembered someone telling me that the last climb was a killer!!   It was a bumpy road down to the river - and then suddenly turned and went steeply uphill!  I now just wanted to finish - I knew that once i got to the top of this hill there must be a good downhill!   I was starting to feel a bit hungry but had run out of food and was low on water.  So i decided the best thing to do was to push hard to get it finished and then i could eat!    So I pushed really hard up that hill - I caught up with another rider - the first I had seen for hours - he too was struggling as he had run out of food.  Luckily a support van came past and at the top of the hill I got some water and a banana.  made me feel a lot better along with knowing it was basically all downhill from this point!   The downhill was indeed really good - i just flew down for about 15 miles - then right at the end there were a few small ups - but they were SO hard at this point!! But there i was at the Finish in a time of about 14hours 38 minutes (or so)  - it was a pretty good time and i was super happy!!  It was so good to be finished and i am looking forward to receiving my Colorado Triple Crown kit!! Pretty cool!  It was a very hard series - about 630 miles in 3 days of riding and over 48000  feet of climbing - nearly up Everest twice!!  A pretty damn good series!!  Loved it!