TR - Day 2 Vicksburg to Twin Lakes

Hi all,

Well Stu and I have made it through Day 2. We now have only 4 days to go!
This one was tough. We were bused to the start from Arrowhead Camp ground to Vicksburg. The start was at 9600 ft. We had a couple of miles to warm up to get to 10000ft and then we really went up!!! The next 2.5 miles were really tough. No real switch backs just straight into thin air at 12500 ft at the top (Hope Pass).

What wonderful scenery! We have photos that we'll download later. Tonight we have only battery power.

From there we had 3.5 miles straight downhill. We relished that as we now could use some differnt muscles! Once at the bottom we had a river crossing to navigate which at one point was mid thigh depth. Let me tell you, that cold water on the legs felt awesome. From there it was only a couple of miles to the finish at Twin Lakes. From there we were shuttled to Leadville where race village is set up. Dinner was at a local high school - pretty good but the Klondike bar back at the RV was the real treat. It's been quiet weatherwise today. No storms. And yes we SAW the thunder and HEARD the lightening Jeff : )

Once again Art did a terrific job of support. He had the RV waiting for us and had sandwiches in the fridge - what a guy! He got in a 4 hr mountain bike ride as well, exploring the local trails around Leadville.

Tomorrow is the first really long day - 24 miles. We have a couple of peaks that top out again at 12500 ft ish but much less severe gradients. Stu is feelling the better of the two of us at the moment and he's been doing a good job of keeping me going. Today I felt a little altitude sickness fo the first time ever. Dizziness and nausea which has improved as the day wore on but had me worried for a time while we were out there. Today I bought a pair of trekking poles. Can't think why I didn't think of it before but there you go. I'll let you know how they work out.
Not sure if I'll be updating tomorrow as we are back at a camp ground and may have limited access.

That's it for today. We're in 11th place overall for our category (out of 19 teams).
C'ya