Before dawn even kissed the eastern horizon, we were racing like fast sleek hounds through the night as 35 mountain bikers settled into a fast paceline heading toward the western mountains. “This is way too fast!” my legs shouted, thinking of the 80 miles of trail before us. Then my caffeine-deprived brain shut off again and I pedaled on, my heart rate climbing into the dark sky.

It was the annual 4th of July ride in Salida, Colorado, an unofficial gathering of masochists who like to pedal a long hard loop around the valley above town. The ride starts with more than 4,000 feet of climbing on dirt roads and trails before settling into 50 miles of continuous singletrack. This “88 miles of pain” has silently been testing cyclists in Salida every year for more than a decade.

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