Thin air.  That’s a big part of the Bridger challenge.  20 miles is hard enough.  Add in 6K of elevation gains and 9K in downhills, and it’s a huge challenge.   Finally, to make it epic, have the Ridge Run take place at a starting elevation of more than 5,000 feet.  

And so, on our 4th of July trip to Cody, Wyoming to visit Heather’s cousin, I made sure to carve out some time for a couple of climbs into the hills around Cody.  It was more difficult than I thought it would be to find a good trail.  People seem to like going to the rodeo, shopping for cowboy boots, eating good food, and driving big honkin’ pick up trucks, but no one in Cody know of, or have maps of good hiking/running trails.  

But Heather’s cousin and her husband are in the radio business (owning most of the local stations), and while not hill climbers, they know that hills serve a very valuable purpose from their perspective, as the site for cell phone towers.  So they directed me to a beat up gravel road, an endless series of switchbacks, that climbed 2200 feet in about 4 miles, darn good training for the Bridger.   

And Cody sits in a valley around 5,000 feet, so this was a great opportunity for slow, thin air climbs.  I did it twice, and learned what my body could and couldn’t do at that altitude.   Fast walks often as efficient as slow runs on the uphill climb, and I was able to couple 16 minute uphills with 8 minute downhills for a sustainable 12 minute pace over close to nine miles.  Progress!