Riding with Banesto

As many of you know, I had the incredible opportunity to spend the past two
weeks in Colorado hanging out with Miguel Indurain, Andy Hampsten and 3 of
their Banesto teammates (Prudencio Indurain, Santiago Blanco and Jose
Jimenez) as well as the support staff.

I wore many hats from ride leader (well, I was not necessarily the leader
on the steep climbs!!!), tour guide, mapmaker, translator, media liason (I
was the voice of Miguel Indurain during TV interviews), race announcer (AKA
"el speaker"), shopping consultant, etc., etc.

There are a lot of great stories to tell and when I finally get grounded
back in reality I will chronicle a few of the more notable ones.

Still pinching myself,

Bruce Hildenbrand


So begineth the tale:

The plan for day 1 with Team Banesto was simple. The day before my arrival,
the boys were planning on riding from Boulder to Breckenridge on a
circuitous route that would take them 120 miles and 10,000+ feet of
climbing. Realizing that it would be nice to have semi-fresh legs, my ride
the day before the big meeting was planned to be only 100 miles with about
7500 feet of climbing. Enter Mother Nature!

On day before my arrival we are both greeted by high winds, rain and hail
and it was sooo cold. Showing some sense, the Banesto Boys packed it in
after only 60 miles and hopped in the team van for the rest of their trip
to Summit County. Showing no sense whatsoever, I am on a different route in
the mountains and slug it out in bad conditions for over 5 hours. So much
for fresh legs and a slight advantage over Big Mig and company. Something
tells me it would not have mattered anyway!

The big day arrives and it is announced to the team that Miguel would like
to ride from Breckenridge (altitude 9600') over to Fairplay (altitude
10,000') and return, a distance of about 50 miles with only Hoosier Pass
(altitude 11,500') standing in our way. Clearly, these guys are taking this
acclimitization thing seriously since they have been doing 100+ mile rides
in the mountains around Boulder climbing up to as high as 9300'.

Switch to present tense:

Six of us roll out of the hotel parking lot at 10am on a bright and
beautiful Colorado morning. Miguel Indurain takes the lead with Andy
Hampsten at his side. Never one to pass up a good wheel, I drop in behind
Miguel with his brother Prudencio on my right. Santiago Blanco and Jimmy
Jimenez round out the happy group. The team doctor Sabino Padilla and his
wife Joli follow us in the rented 15 passenger van, loaded with warm
clothes, water bottles and food.

We climb slowly then the quickly past Blue River (altitude 10,000') where
the road levels a bit and the pace picks up to 20 mph.

When the road turns up, the pace only drops to around 17mph signifying
that: 1) these guys can ride their bikes; 2) Bruce may shortly be in
serious trouble. Luckily, both my lungs are staying put as we get our first
glimpse of 14,200' Quandry Peak and I mention to Pruden that Andy and I had
climbed that peak together one September day in 1988.

We've gained about 1200' in altitude when at the 10,700 foot level the road
steepens to around 6% for the final 800' of climbing to the pass. The pace
drops a bit to about 15mph, but I have an attack of the "mere mortals" and
move to the back to hope for the best. The ever playful Miguel surges one
direction and I surge in the opposite direction. I watch as the now 5-man
group moves away from me up the road. Sabino brings the team car alongside
and asks me if I want a tow up to the top of the pass, but I am training
for some big rides of my own later in the year and motion him up to the big
boys.

I tell him I am OK and to go on without me, but I am a bit too blown to
realize that I have already developed a friendship with this kind man and
that there is no way he will leave me out there on my own. Yes, the Banesto
guys are his primary responsibility, but I somehow also count.

The boys put several minutes on me at the summit but they are kind enough
to wait and out come the cameras as we all mug it up on a pass that is
almost 2500' higher than the highest continuous paved road in Western
Europe. I make no excuses and explain that it is no problem for me to be
dropped after all, they are the best team in the world and I am only a
cyclo-tourist. I think they really appreciate my attitude. So many times
they meet people who try to pretend that they are almost as good as the
pros when the gap is in reality the size of the Grand Canyon. Giving these
remarkable athletes their due credit has always put me on firmer footing, I
am not angling for anything but just to have a lot of fun! We all chuckle
at my truthful remarks and put on clothes for the high speed descent to
Fairplay.

Andy leads us down the almost dead straight 5-6%, 4-mile drop off the pass
and amazes me when at 40mph, he sprints ahead, takes both hands off the
bars, thrusts his camera over his head, points it back at us and snaps a
rolling group photo!

Near the town of Alma, the road levels off a bit and it is Andy's turn to
take a pull at the front. The team does not ride in a rotating paceline,
they take 6-12 mile turns at the front and today it looks like 12 mile
pulls as Andy leads us at 28mph into Fairplay. Big Mig comes to the front
and I figure I have just enough strength left in my puny girlie man legs to
get back over Hoosier Pass to Breckenridge. However, instead of turning
around Miguel turns right and heads down highway 285 towards Buena Vista.

Of course, it is all my fault! In attempting to maximize Team Banesto's
high country riding, I had drawn up a bunch of maps of projected routes
with passes and towns marked in meters, etc., etc. Sure enough, Miguel has
one in his hand and is scoping out the territory ahead and the big Spaniard
assumes his position at the front of the group.

We are only 25 miles into the ride but since this is an out and back, every
mile gained in the wrong direction is in actuality, 2 miles!!!!

We are now in the South Park plateau of Colorado characterized by gently
rolling terrain and wide open spaces and the pace picks up to a manageable,
but interesting 26-28mph. The order in the line is now Miguel, Santi,
Pruden, Jimmy, Bruce, and Andy and as Miguel pulls off, we pick up a
crosswind.

These guys are consummate pros and we quickly form an echelon.
Unfortunately, there is only room for four people and I am forced with a
moral dilemma. I would like to pull my own weight in the group, but I
harbor no illusions as to my abilities compared to these guys! If I squeeze
into the last seat on the train, Miguel and Andy will have to be out in the
wind by themselves and as my mind starts to go fuzzy, I decide that would
not be fair to the others! I am not just here to hang on until I get
dropped; it is important to be "value added" which means I feel obliged to
do some work. So, I pull out and form a second echelon with Andy on my
wheel and Miguel on Andy's wheel. We motor like this at 26-28mph for 12
miles, Bruce with his nose in the wind and two of the world's great
cyclists on his wheel because I didn't want to make these guys work!!!!

We hit a set of particularly nasty rollers and we go over the first one at
26mph. I think to myself that we cannot keep this pace up, but we hammer
over the second one at 27mph. I start to let a gap open over the first
echelon and Andy, in a most courteous tone, asks me to please close the
gap. I am starting to fry a bit and about the only thing I can close at
this point is my eyes, but I get the job done and we settle back into a
steady rhythm.

At the 40 mile mark, Miguel comes and announces that we will be turning
around and heading back in about a mile. Not fully realizing the
consequences of my actions, I try to play tour guide and point way down the
road showing Miguel where the top of Trout Creek Pass is. He asks me how
far it is to the summit and I tell him 5 miles. Bad move, Bruce! Big Mig
gets a big grin on his face and I know immediately that my fate is sealed,
we are heading over Trout Creek Pass!

The road steepens about a mile from the summit and I become mortal again as
the Banesto train heads south, leaving me at the station. Sabino comes up
in the motor couch and asks if I am tired. Realizing that he would never
leave me out there to suffer by myself and knowing that his real job is to
look after the Banesto boys, I tell him to wait for me on top of the pass
and I will ride back in the team car. At the top we have done 45 miles with
2500' of climbing in a little under 2 hours and as the pros turn and head
for home, we put my bike on the roof van and I climb in.

I am not disappointed in not finishing the ride, rather elated that I
haven't embarrassed myself and have been able to do some work when it was
necessary. I harbor no illusions as to how I stack up with the pros, they
are remarkable athletes and I am just happy to be part of the whole
experience.

On the way back, my Spainsh improving, I give Sabino and Joli history
lessons about Colorado in the 1800's and point out the more interesting
geographical sights. On the descent back down Hoosier pass, the boys
demonstrate once again their incredible bike handling skills putting on
their jackets and vests while traveling down a twisty mountain road at
40mph steering through the turns by pressing their top tubes with their
knees and leaning a bit!

We get back to the hotel and the mechanic, Alfonso, comes out and takes all
our bikes, including mine, back into the ski, now bike, room to be checked.
Vicente, the masseur brings us food to eat and we retire to our rooms to
rest. The Banesto riders have ridden 90 miles and climbed 5500' in under 4
hours on a day they will later categorize as "tranquilo" or easy; now they
shower, put on the pajamas and crawl into bed at 3pm for a nap.

So endeth the first day. Coming up is day two when Bruce tries the infamous
Bernie Hinault climbing tactic. If Miguel can ride me off his wheel, I will
go to the front and set the pace with Miguel on my wheel and maybe I can
bluff my way up the climbs! Stay tuned for the results (hint: I am keeping
my day job).