I love ski towns. I had never been to Steamboat Springs and had an opportunity to go and run the marathon there with my friend Terry. Unfortunately he got hurt and was only able to run the half marathon.
Sunday I laced up my sneaks and caught a bus ride up to ~8500 feet above sea level to the start line 26.2 miles from town. Temp was 39 degrees up there but after the frigid MI winter it did not feel too bad.
I got more than a couple "are you crazy?" looks thrown my way when I told people I came from Detroit to run this. The hills and elevation are tough to replicate back home.
And so the journey began with a shout from the race director. The steepest climb was between miles 3 & 4. It was a steep grind but I passed a lot of runners and was only passed by two. Then began a long downhill. The miles ticked by quickly. The scenery was magnificent but the spectators were sparse.
When I hit mile 20 I wanted to just hold the status quo. Unfortunately the status quo at that point was similar to a house on fire. My legs were hammered from all the downhill running. Mile 21 I walked down a downhill. I was still able to run hills and flats. And so it began - my battle to the finish.
3-4 runners would pass me on the downhills, I would catch em on the climbs or flats. The race finished on main street in Steamboat where there was a slight incline and elevation was only ~6400 feet. The temp creeped up to 80 degrees. But I was able to finish reasonably strong and placed 46/357 finishers. 3hrs 36mins from start to end.
The next day we hit the Moots Factory Tour. Titanium bikes everywhere - it was like a bikers dream. They produce roughly 1400 bikes a year. They had a bike in their showroom they built up for a handbuilt bike convention. Called the "Rigormootis", the thing looked a bit like a tank on wheels. I asked our tourguide after seeing a couple of dogs on the factory tour how many dogs are typically onsite? She said today was four, but some days the number could balloon up to eight. My buddy and I decided that was a good indicator of how good a place is to work at - do they allow dogs? If the answer is "YES", probably a good gig.
After standing in awe of Moots we headed over to the other Ti bike builder in Steamboat. This guy is Kent Eriksen. He is the founder of Moots, he sold the biz after he got tired of not being able to design at Moots. This place is much smaller, they build approximately 150 bikes a year. When we walked up to the factory's door, a sign said "often riding over lunch". I can tell this is a solid place to work, they have their priorities straight. Upon opening the door we were greeted by Chris the Welder. He was working on three Eriksen "Sweetposts" which are simply the coolest seatposts period. We inquired about a factory tour, dude was all too happy to stop work and talk shop with us. Really a great experience, I think he may have ridden his singlespeed with us if we had our bikes. He said the trails in this area are great for singlespeeding. I will have to come back with a bike next time.
When it comes to custom Ti bikes, there is nothing rational about purchasing one as my friend Jay said. They are so much more than the sum of their parts, I want one ;)
All in all Steamboat Springs did not disappoint, highly recommend a stop here should you be in the neighborhood. If nothing else, come to check out the factory bike tours. Plus the bike shop next to Eriksen Cycles is fabulous. Terry's son got his first ride on a full suspension rig in their parking lot. They have a ton of inventory and rent bikes.
Pics - click here.
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