Off to Colorado!

Ever since the age of 14 or so, I've been drooling over magazines and videos that featured riders pedaling through dusty singletrack over the red rock and between cactus in the mountain biking mecca known as Colorado. By this time tomorrow, I will be one of those riders. As cheesy as this sounds: it is a dream come true. I'll be spending two full days riding. One day will be devoted to the famous trails of Fruita, Colorado, where I'll zip down famous trails such as Zippity-Doo-Dah, Chutes & Ladders, Joe's Ridge & Flight of Icarus. The other day will be spent on some local, epic Denver area trails that my buddy Hoffman has in store.

Last week I shipped my cannondale out to Hoffman's bike shop: Wheat Ridge Cyclery in Denver. He received it Tuesday and dialed it in for me. Now I sit in my cube at work, trying to focus on quality assurance documents but my mind keeps wandering towards the Rocky Mountains. My flight leaves from JFK Airport at 8:30 tonight... that's about 10.5 hours from now (if you're counting).

My only concern on this trip is altitude sickness. I live at sea level. Denver, known as The Mile High city sits at exactly 5,280 feet above sea level. In the past year, the highest I have been is 4,180 feet above sea level when I summited Slide Mountain in the Catskills this past summer. I felt fine. I'm just a little concerned. From what I have read, if I do my best to stay thoroughly hydrated, I should have no problems. We shall see!