15 Mile Day

Tuesday was a real power day: 15.1 miles, 2100 feet of elevation climbed, a top speed of 20 MPH and one potential speeding ticket - WOO!

Well, the sign says "15 MPH" as we approach a blind curve in the road.
I did not check the GPS for our exact speed, but I do know that whenever Max & Zorro are
in an "airborne sprint" (as above) then we are going well over 15 MPH and in the 20 MPH
range. Oops - good thing cops do not patrol the trails in the winter!!  :-)

Tuesday morning was a beautiful day at the Vail Pass Recreation Area. Blue skies all around and fast, packed trails for miles and miles. Vail Pass is popular with snowmobilers, so the trails were packed for speed and went as far as we wanted to go. We opted for an exhilarating 15 mile run through a range of elevations as follows:

1) Out Direction (just over 7.5 miles): 900 feet up, 600 feet down, 300 feet up, 300 feet down, 300 feet up - take a quick 3-5 minute break.
2) Back Direction: 300 feet down, 300 feet up, 300 feet down, 600 feet up (rest the human for a quick 3 minutes) and 900 feet sprint back down to the trailhead.

Sprinting along Lime Creek Rd, approaching the "15 MPH" sign at speeds
well over 15 MPH :-)
[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Most of the day was spent cruising around the trails in perfect form. Yet, every once in a while an "instigator" starts something on the trails. I refer to the source of the instigation as either the "z-stigator" (Zorro started it) or the "red-stigator" (Max started it). Typically the z-stigator starts 90% of the instigations; but now & then silly big Max will get all giddy and declare, "I'm going to mess with my brother!" - as shown below, the red-stigator:

I can just hear Max... Poke, jab with his right arm, "Hey little bro, look at this fast track,
what do you got? I'll race ya!" instigates Max with "no-back-down" Zorro who will try
to meet any challenge (even though tall Max can out sprint him on any terrain :-)

"Really? That's all you got? Catch me if you can!" toys Max with Zorro as he lunges ahead
and looks back to continue messing with his little brother...

Naturally, the instigations never last very long as the "will to go" overrides the "will to instigate" within seconds or minutes - it is just hilarious to watch the red-stigator or z-stigator start something and let it play out... But, back to professional skijoring shots:

"Hey bro - wide open fast conditions! What do you say we uncork it for some real speed!"
Max & Zorro say to one another as we crest from our initial 900 foot climb onto a fast and
flat track before hitting the upcoming sprint down a 600 foot decline.

At our midpoint break, 7.5 miles out from the Vail Pass trailhead. As you can see, the
Siberians were not sold on needing a break or deciding to turn around, "Look at the
beautiful trail continuing in front of us, why stop? Why turn around? Woo!"

Beautiful views, far reaching blue skies, wide open & packed trails as far as they eye can see!
Wow, what a perfect day for a 15 mile run!

This was our longest single run at Vail Pass - maybe next time we'll try for 16+ miles! Tally for the day: 15.1 miles, 2100 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 20 MPH.