On Thursday, May 31st, I bought a new scale and weighed myself. The reading: 269.5. I relcalibrated it and weighed myself two more times with the same result. That same night, I began an intensive exercise program and cut back on all soft drinks and most fast food. Over the next six months, I watch my weight fall an average of 8.5 pounds per month. On Friday October 19th, I weighed myself again. The result: 218.0. WOW! I’d lost 51.5 pounds!!

Or so I thought….

Back on May 2nd, I went in to see the doctor about another flare up of my acute insomnia. As a normal part of the check-in process, I was weighed but I knew I was the heaviest in my life so didn’t even look at the scale. I went back in today (for the insomnia again) and was weighed. Though I knew I’d gained about 1 1/2 pounds in the past couple of weeks, I was anxious to see how much I’d blew the old reading out of the water. The numbers showed 228.9. Hmm, about 5 pounds more than I expected but I still must have crushed it. I asked the nurse what I weighed the first time I came in. She said 218.2. Surely she was mistaken. I asked to see the chart. I told her their must be some error, the first reading was wrong. She checked and said no, that the scale they use is extremely accurate and is re-calibrated every single morning. She casually said that I’d gained 11.7 pounds in the past 6 months. I sank in my chair.

In the past 6 months, I’d averaged 1,038 miles on the bike per month (approximately 280,000 calories alone), walked several hundred miles with Amy and the dogs, cut out all soda, watched what I ate and GAINED 11.7 pounds. IN THE SUMMER. Before starting to exercise, I was working on the road, completely sedentary and eating fast food for every meal.

Amy thought that there must have been some mistake. Either their scale was wrong the first time or it was today. I called their office back and was assured by a different person that the scale is in fact calibrated every day and that it was a $8,000 scale and extremely accurate. How is that possible? How could I have gained all that weight with all that activity? Was the (rather expensive) $130 scale I purchased in May lying to me the whole time? I don’t know what it is but it has certainly destroyed my motivation.

I guess I’ll have to double everything. A 2 hour ride on the trainer will now have to be a 4 hour ride and 4 days off a month becomes 2. I’ll also have to pick up running. Crap.

A man with autism sings the national anthem at a Red Sox baseball game and has a giggle attack. The fans help him out and it’s one of the best videos I’ve seen in a while.

In addition to being incredibly sore, and I mean INCREDIBLY sore, I’m frustrated because the pictures of the climb yesterday just don’t do it justice.  It’s a hellish hardcore hike.   Though my back and butt are pretty tender, my quads are nearly crippled.  Not from the climb, but from the 3.6 mile descent down the Barr Trail which I ran in about 21 minutes.  I’m so sore that I couldn’t do the 100 mile ride I had planned for today.  Still, I can’t wait to do it again… 

I finally got around to posting the pictures on Flickr.

In March of 1906, the city of Colorado Springs completed construction of a one mile cog railway to whisk tourists up to the top of Rocky Mountain (many people mistake Rocky for Mount Manitou which is the next peak to the northwest of Rocky) and it continued to operate until September of 1990.  After the last car descended from 8,600 feet, the owner of the land, Pike’s Peak Cog Railway, elected to keep the land and allow the scar to heal.  That didn’t happen.

The trail can easily be seen when traveling westbound on route 24 and it is unbelievable to think that people or even a machine could scale such a grade.  In numbers, it doesn’t sound so bad; the climb starts at a little over 6,500 feet elevation and ends at 8,644.  According to the US Geological Survey, the average gradient is 41% with the maximum being 68% and is 1.02 miles long.

Despite the land being privately owned with warning signs all over the place, people climb it everyday and today was my turn.  Since I spotted it the very first day I arrived here, the thing has been taunting me every time I pass it, begging me to climb.  No more procrastination. 

Midway through an incredibly lame conference call, I decided on a whim that the time was now.  I left the phone on the hook so they couldn’t hear me drop and busted out to the car where I changed out of my jeans into my running shorts.  30 minutes later (it took me 20 just to find a damn parking spot), I was ready to go.  Whatever you do, DO NOT park in the lots owned by the Cog Railway, these people take parking very seriously and have several guards with binoculars watching the precious few spaces. Park at the Barr trail or drive back down to Downtown Manitou Springs and park on the street.  It’s not that bad of a walk.

Once in the lot, you’ll see the famous Barr Trail sign but you don’t want the Barr Trail (which will take you all the way to the top of Pike’s Peak), you want pain and suffering.   Go to to your right and the back of the lot and you should spot a faint trail.  Take the obvious path until you come to the railroad ties.  This is it.  Before you start, look up, take a deep breath and notice that you’re breathing is fairly relaxed.  Say goodbye to that.

Immediately upon hitting the ties, it kicks up quickly, but not too bad. Unless you’re a freak, resist the urge to jog this part, I wish I had.   It doesn’t really look that bad from here.  About 5 minutes of climbing later, you’ll come across the last warning sign (see above) and though it looks like it’s all fun and games, you are trespassing on private property and breaking the law of you continue.  Whatever…

From here on out, it’s just one foot in front of the other, one step at a time.  I had my Garmin 305 GPS/HRM with me and almost immediately, my heart rate was in the mid 170’s.  My goal was to make it to the top in under 30 minutes. 

Every now and then, the path levels out to 40-50% grade and you can stop, turn around and enjoy the scenery.  Here is a shot of downtown Colorado Springs from the midway point.

Right after this point, the climb gets seriously steep and you must lean forward (sometimes on all fours) to keep from falling back.  There were two instances where I actually had to crawl. Not for people afraid of heights.  Each of the 2,809 ties is an extreme effort at this altitude and grade.  It seemed like every time I looked at my heart rate monitor, I was at 180+ beats per minute.  I stopped twice, once to tie my right shoe, the other to keep from going totally anaerobic. 

Cruelly, there are two “false” summits along the climb and it is humbling even though I knew they were coming.  This post is already far too long but I completed the climb in 36 minutes and 14 seconds which isn’t bad considering my 218 pound frame.  I was passed by three people, one a young girl who was jogging up.  Yes, jogging.  But I easily weighed twice as much as she did and I’m a cyclist dammit, not a runner.  Getting to the summit was a little anticlimactic honestly but I was glad to see it.  The cement car holder can still be seen but I was sucking too much wind to snap a picture.  After the climb, I ran the 3.5 miles down the Barr Trail back to the trailhead which topped me off by killing my legs.  Don’t even think about walking back down the climb, you WILL get hurt.  Here are some images from the top:

And the obligatory Google Earth Images:

You can see more in the Manitou Incline set on Flickr.