Day VI: My 1st full day in Colorado.  I decided to jump head first into the altitude and set out to climb up Pike's Peak on my Mt Bike.  That morning I woke up early @ 6ish and as I was packing up my gear I met a guy that had just climbed up the Incline Trail.  He was very nice and we hiked down the Barr Trail together back to the parking lot.  Along the way I came to discover that he was trained in the art of spiritual healing and was actually a Reiki Master, which is similar to being a Jedi and using the Force to help fight off disease and illness.  I halfway joke but seriously I truly believe that we do in no way fully utilize the power of the mind for healing.  Prime example: people with optimistic attitudes can greatly increase their immune system's number of NK Cells which help to fight off cancer.  On the flip side, being stressed out hinders the immune system and predisposes people to illness and disease.  So using the mind and the body's energy as a form of healing seems to make perfectly logical sense and this notion appears to be a bit ahead of its time.  I've already noticed in my limited medical training that very many highly educated, intellectual people are interested in complementary modes of medical treatment.  When we got down to the trailhead, I noticed people running around everywhere; turns out they were preparing for the Barr Trail 1/2 Marathon.  I hung out and watched and ate a big breakfast before heading up the mountain on my bike.  To get from the trailhead to the summit of Pike's Peak via the Barr Trail you start at 7,000 ft elevation and climb up to the peak at 14,110 ft elevation over the course of 13.5 hardcore miles.  The 1st 7.5 miles went really well and only took me a bit over 2 hrs.  I was very pleased with myself and was able to clean about 98% of the trail up to the Barr Camp, which serves as a 1/2 point for weary hikers.  I hung out at the Barr Camp for about an hour and ate some food, talked to some cool people from Denver, and handfed a cute little chipmunk.  After leaving the Barr Camp the trail became quite a bit more difficult and the hike a bike stretches became more and more frequent.  The last 4 miles of the trail were largely unridable for me due to tired legs, a sandy singletrack base where spinning out was unavoidable, and constant killer rock gardens.  These last four miles took me about 4 hrs to complete.  I started bonking pretty hard and was completely out of food & H2O with about 2 miles to go, but luckily this really nice girl named Leslie, whom I had met on the way up, gave me a bottle of H2O and a bag of chocolate covered almonds.  As I pushed my bike above the tree line and got over 12,000 ft elevation my breath really started to elude me.  That last mile of climbing was so steep and I could not catch my breath; I got really light headed and had to start chanting to myself to make it up to the summit.  Finally after 8 1/2 hrs and over 7,000 ft of climbing I triumphantly reached the summit of Pike's Peak (my 1st 14er).  I had planned on riding back down but it was only 2 hrs till dark and I wasn't able to think very clearly nevertheless ride over very technical rock gardens.  Luckily a very nice gentleman known as Pike's Peak Tim gave me a ride all the way back to my car.  He said, "That's just what people do for each other out here, it's expected to help out a person in need."  I was very grateful and had no trouble sleeping that night.

Day VII:  I woke up early and headed down to the 24 hr Mate' Factor Cafe and devoured a bowl of homemade granola with fresh blueberries and milk.  It was delicious and the company at the cafe was excellent.  Dayag and I discussed a broad range of philosophical topics varying from human psychology to theology.  The kind folks that run the Mate' Factor Cafe all live communally in two large houses up the hill.  They take turns working and sharing chores and also share all their earthly possessions.  At first I thought they were living in a hippy commune, but upon talking to them I realized that they were basing their lifestyles after the communal living arrangements of the early Christian Church.  These gentle people belong to a community known as the 12 Tribes.  They abstain from alcohol, drugs, and even made delicious cookies using a chocolate substitute.  If anyone goes on vacation to the Colorado Springs area I highly recommend that you skip right through Colorado Springs and stay in the wonderful little Bohemian town of Manitou Springs, which was originally founded as an artist colony.  While in Manitou Springs definitely go by the Mate' Factor and enjoy their delicious fresh foods and be sure to drink from the 7 natural springs around town that dispense fresh cold soda water.  It tastes like fancy carbonated water and it comes right out of the Earth (crazy).  I little too carbonated for me, but it is still awesome.  Each of the 7 springs has a little different taste.  After leaving Manitou Springs I headed West for about an hour and a half and landed in the little town of Buena Vista, CO which is nestled right down beside the Arkansas River Headwaters.  I stopped by the local bike shop and got the beta on the best local trails from the guy who wrote the local trail guidebook.  Then I headed to Frontier Ranch to go rip an awesome 8 mile stretch of the Colorado Trail that weaved down to South Cottonwood Creek.  The trail was silky sweet and had some lively rock gardens and lots of awesome creek crossings coming off the side of the mountain.  I finished the 16 mile out and back with my headlight on and found the nightriding along the side of Mt. Princeton to be exhilarating.  After the ride I drove the Element for an hour up an old fireroad that leads towards the summit of the mountain.  At about 11,000 ft elevation I found a sweep little camp spot and set up my tent.  I don't think there was another person for 10 miles around in any direction. 

Day VIII:  Climbing up to the summit of Mt. Princeton took me 4 1/2 hrs.  From a distance it looked like a little hike up an oversized hill, but up close I realized that I would be bouldering up and over rocks for hours on end.  The hike from the campsite began with a nice little stroll up the fireroad towards the peak for a few miles.  Then I came to the climbing section of the day's adventure.  When I got over 12,000 ft the air started becoming thinner and thinner.  The higher I climbed the more breaks I felt entitled to take.  After what seemed like an eternity I pulled myself to the summit; only to learn that I had just summitted the 13,000+ ft Mt. Tigger.  The beast of a mountain known as Mt. Princeton still loomed in the distance.  I was already exhausted but I had no intentions of quitting before I climbed up my 2nd 14er.  Even as thunderclouds crept accross the sky I pressed on past the marmots and strange colored fungi that grew erratically on the sides of the many rocks that wildly littered the trail.  Exhausted and hypoxic I finally reached the summit of Mt. Princeton @ 14,197 ft elevation.  The view from the peak was absolutely incredible.  I felt like I was on top of the world and mountains surrounded me in every direction.  Storms looked close and I was on the tip of the "Electric Mountains" as the locals call them, so I cut my celebration short and quickly started descending rock after rock after rock.  Fortunately the storm broke and all I got was a little rain but no lightning strikes as I hiked back down to the car.  Finally after 6 1/2 hrs I was back at the Element where I was able to replenish on much needed food and water.  After my adventure at Mt. Princeton and 2nd 14er in 3 days, I headed South towards the little town of Poncha Springs (home of the Monarch Crest Trail).  I pulled through town after dark and headed right for a campsite on Poncha Creek where I pitched my tent next to 2 cool guys from Texas who were out riding 4 wheelers through the San Isabel National Forest on an adventure of their own.  After sitting around the campfire and talking about the pros and cons of the current healthcare system and the meaning of life we all retreated to own tents and crashed out for the night.

Day X:  I don't think I've ever had as much fun on a bike as I had screaming down the steep and rocky downhills of the Rainbow Trail on the 6" of travel compliments of the Yeti 575.  The best rides always occur when one can become part of the trail and even the Earth itself, and the bike magically transforms from a hunk of metal into an extension of the body.  When the ultimate flow is on, nothing else in the world exists.  You can completely lose yourself in the experience; I believe this is the ultimate appeal of mountain biking.  Somewhere between pain & glory, between the Earth and the beta-endorphins exists an almost spiritual realm where life becomes fluid and everything in the world gels into one.  Many experiences transcend life for us, it is something different for everyone.  Some love to hike, read, fish, ride horses, or countless other activities that seem to reconnect us to ourselves in inexplainable ways, even if they last only briefly these moments define life for us.  Very rarely can we explain these experiences to those around us.  These experiences are unquantifiable much like many of the other most important things in life that are only thought about and felt, but rarely spoken of.  In the end, this is when we are truly alive; when the essence of humanity culminates to connect us to something greater than ourselves.  When we forget about who, what, and where we are.  To be completely free and fully engaged in the human experience.  These experiences define the beauty of humanity, like paint on a canvas we are the artist who holds the ability to weave the tapestry of our own lives.  Everything we see, taste, smell, and feel will be defined by our own perceptions.  This is no different when applied to the way we view each other, ourselves, and the world around us.  We create and live in our own filtered reality based on our own perceptions.  This type of existential thinking inspired me to take several pictures of the sky on the road to Leadville.  As I watched the clouds devour the mountains and the Sun I could not help but ponder "Where I end and you begin."

Day XI:  @ 3 am I hear a wild howl coming from the South of my tent.  And another howl again and another and another; really more like a sharp high pitched growling.  I quickly arose from my sleep and reached for my knife.  At first I thought it might be a hawk or an eagle shrieking, but then the shrieks began to circle the tent from ground level; from my South to my West and then to my North.  As my senses became more acute I realized that I had a mountain lion circling my tent.  My best judgement put the giant predator at about 20 yards out as he made his semicircle around my campsite.  Every time the mountain lion let out his shrieking growl I retaliated with a fierce yell of, "Go away mountain lion, get away from here."  Over the course of several minutes he slowly ducked back deeper into the forest (much to my relief), but to ensure that the Vision Quest would continue I decided it would be a good idea to sleep in the Element for the remainder of the night.  As I walked towards the car with headlight on and knife unsheathed I saw no trace of the mountain lion and thought myself lucky to be getting only a good story out of the situation.  Don't get me wrong I love animals (all animals), and I would love to see a mountain lion or see some bears during the daylight hours.  However, that being said I have absolutely no desire of having a mountain lion or bear come visit me in my tent in the middle of the night.  Especially after receiving an email from the Jeffers showing a gigantic mountain lion that was accidentally run over by a car in AR.  The beast had paws the size of my face, stretched out 5-6' ft in length, and weighed at least as much as myself.  If this wild animal attacked I figured I would have a 50-50 chance at best of fending the predator off with my 8" knife.  While that along with my Gross Anatomy knowledge of potential arteries to severe in the wild beast gives me some comfort, I still prefer to keep my life at better odds when possible.  Once I was wrapped up in my sleeping bag in the car with the windows rolled up I drifted off to sleep again.  That next morning I made breakfast with a watchful eye and prepared to take my new bike out on its maiden voyage.  The day before I had been riding a demo bike and enjoyed the experience so much that I felt compelled to buy a similar model on the spot.  Normally I try not to change anything on my bike the day before a big race, but I really had no choice here.  I had one ride to take a brand new Yeti 575 with factory settings and fine tune it to match my riding style.  Fortunately, Anton and the other guys @ Absolute Bikes helped me dial in the suspension to my weight so I only had to do some fine tuning with the shock and fork air pressures and the suspension rebounds.  If you ever find yourself in Salida, Colorado definitely make a stop by Absolute Bikes and then step in next door for some great food at Bongo Billy's (they even serve fresh Thai food on Wed nights).  Anyways, back to the ride at Leadville:  The maiden voyage began at the top of Tennessee Pass and proceeded with a long descent down the Colorado Trail which led me to Camp Hale.  Camp Hale was an old WWII Special Forces Army Base that trained soldiers in winter survival and skiing combat.  I know that sounds crazy but apparantly these soldiers were highly decorated WWII heros that played instrumental roles in the invasion of Normandy and the liberation of Northern Italy.  The barrocks that the soldiers lived in were little more than a 5' by 5' room inside of a concrete block.  I have a sneaking suspicion that these rooms are now frequented by hibernating bears during the winter months.  Anyways, the Yeti's 1st ride was a solid 18 miles long and I was able to dial in the bike pretty well to my liking.  Now the Breckenridge 100 Mt Bike Race loomed less than a day away, but was I ready???