Team ZIP Rides the Rockies!

Above (from left): Amy Becker, Daren Williams and Patty Kravitz show off their Team ZIP cycling jerseys. Below: Show me the beef!!

Three members of Team ZIP completed Ride the Rockies 2008, a six-day, 435-mile bicycle tour of the Rocky Mountains on June 15-21, 2008. The epic ride traveled from Durango to Breckenridge, Colorado, featuring climbs over Lizard Head Pass (elev. 10,222 ft.), Dallas Divide (elev. 8,970 ft.), Cerro Summit (elev. 7,950 ft.), Blue Mesa Summit (elev. 9,288 ft.), Trout Creek Pass (elev. 9,346 ft.), Cottonwood Pass (elev. 12,126 ft.), and Hoosier Pass (elev. 11,542 ft.).

According to Team ZIP captain Daren Williams, the 2008 ride was the toughest of the four he has completed, averaging 72.5 miles per day. Williams recorded the entire ride using his Garmin Edge 705 cycling computer and says he totaled 30:01:43 hrs/mins/secs in the "saddle" and burned 21,668 calories (3,611/day average) during the ride.

Above: Williams at the start of Cottonwood Pass, a 39-mile long, 4,000+ foot climb (from 8,018 ft. to 12,126 ft. above sea level). Due to heavy spring snowfall, the pass opened on June 12, just three days before the start of the ride!

Above: Williams does his best Vanna White impersonation, displaying his makeshift "Beef It's What's for Dinner" ad in a seven-foot tall snowbank near the summit of Cottonwood Pass.

Above: Williams is interviewed for the evening news on the ABC affiliate in Grand Junction, Colorado, discussing the importance of beef protein in helping repair and rebuild muscle tissue during the week-long ride. Click on the following link to watch the entire segment...

Ride the Rockies Rolls into Montrose

Beef. It's what's for dinner on Ride the Rockies!