We went out to ride our normal loop last week, but forgot the bike lock. After a trip home and back it was nearly dark when we started. I haven't done a night ride in a very long time. My eyes have been pretty blurry during the day lately, but I thought maybe eye fatigue/staring at the computer wasn't helping... I just plain couldn't see street signs really well on the trip back to the trailhead. By the time we started out on the trail I could hardly see anything. My night vision isn't my strong suit to begin with, and I couldn't see contrasts in the trail at all. I was SLOW.
Made an eye appt. the next day.
Weekend "epic" take 2! It was great to get out on the bike again for a long day in the mountains. It was a lot less painful than the weekend before; 6" of FS travel will do that for you. Felt great to be back out on the bigger bike, despite the extra weight. I filled my Camelbak with food (though I forgot my sandwich, d'oh!), pills (nearly ran out of Endurolytes, though), and Kyle Strait knee pads. Luckily my husband carried around my elbow pads! I couldn't fit anything else in the pak.
We started out around 9, and began climbing up the trail. I got off and hiked about where I normally do, and tried not to waste a ton of energy trying the rocks that I may never be able to climb up and over.
Felt pretty good, and tried to keep the bike moving at a decent pace to keep up with the faster guys on the ride. I wanted a good intensity throughout the day, and figured I'd pop when I'd pop.
There were a few unexpected breaks (mechanicals), but I wound up climbing up a few of the singletrack sections a lot faster than I'm used to climbing. I gained a bit of confidence descending, especially on a bike that felt awkward the last time I rode it (in June).
I was climbing really strong, which was nice for a change. We got back down to a pretty flat section of the ride and finally I felt just out of it and spent. I had had Luke carry my Cytomax cause I forgot to have Justin put a bottle cage on the bike frame before we left. So, I wasn't drinking anything but water for most of the day. Legs just wanted to give out. I stopped for an Endurolyte and some gel, and slowly trotted back up to the group. Once at the back another guy started to cramp up pretty bad, so I slowed to ride with him and stopped while he took an Endurolyte and had a break. We caught back up to the other two and hung out at a trail intersection for a bit chatting with others before we headed out.
I stopped to pad up at the "top" and off we went. I followed pretty close to Justin and Luke for awhile, and eventually fell back due to dust and lack of visibility. There was a guy standing at the switchbacks on his cell phone, so Justin stopped to chat with him and find out if he was okay, and I went by. Kept Luke in my sights for a bit, but I stopped at the log jump and he kept riding. I waited for a bit for Justin, and on we continued. There was a group of helmet-less riders on the rock section, so I had to slow and walk there (was really hoping to hit it). Justin was getting a flat, so we changed the tire and another group passed us up as well. We took off toward the looser rock stuff, and I stopped again briefly at the playground. From there we kept going until the last creek crossing where we all met up again. A bit more climbing, I missed the last nasty rock section, and we took the bailout to the road. Justin had effed his rear der. on a rocky climb, so had no gears.
Wound up with just over 4 hours of ride time, and about 6.5 total (I think). We got some fab mex food down the hill and headed home.
3 Muskateers along the trail
Trees are turning...
Sunday we woke up late, Justin fixed his bike, and we headed south for some fire road climbing.
The legs were pretty packed up and sore when we started off, and I wasn't sure how the day would go. I felt really hot, and there's no shade out there.Eventually got into a groove, warmed up, and the legs were good to go. I pushed myself pretty hard. We wound up at the bottom of the first really steep long hill. The last time we'd been out there I'd cleaned it. Figured it was due to the steeps at the local loop. I followed Justin's line (until he went up and over a big rock, and I tried my luck going around it - if you can make it past the rock usually you have made it past 95% of the difficulty), rode through the powder and over the small rocks, through the crazy ruts, and there I was. I cleaned the tough section for the second time ever. Woohoo!
I even gained time on Justin coming in just after he reached the top. We got to the next steep section. I'd made this once, probably over a year ago. Never even got close since. He offered to have me go first, but I wasn't confident, and wanted to follow his line. I pulled out of the way and off he went. It was tough, but I cleaned it! Felt good, and off we continued.
I was a bit slower on the descents due to losing 2" of suspension in the front and 5 in the back, and also losing about 1/2" of tire, but no matter… Felt like I was running on cross tires!
We'd purchased Bonty Jones XR tires in 1.8. They are SKINNY. Being new, though, they gripped really well. I felt it was a bit more harsh of a ride due to having less volume, but they rolled really fast, and I didn't feel any less confident than normal. They also managed to fit in the tire ruts better than say a 2.2.
Sunday we got home, visited a friend's family and their new baby, and sat around for a bit. I had some chores to do, Justin packed up some wares he was shipping out, and eventually we got dinner together. I'd been kind of craving taco's. Friday at the store I got some lean turkey, whole wheat tortillas and yellow corn tortillas, shredded cheese, taco rice, black beans, and we got a bunch of peppers and onions to sautee. We spent a bit of time getting it all together, and surprisingly it turned out really well. They were amazing. We finished the leftovers last night. Super calorie dense, especially when you eat 2-4… :\ But, great stuff.
Are these real tires??
Dinner on the stove.
Hopped on the trainer for an agonizing 50 minutes last night during MNF. Mostly stayed in zone 1, but did a fair bit in zone 2, and jumped up to z3 for awhile as well. I can usually manage if I'm watching a video, but just watching the clock is tough. Maybe I need to set up workouts instead so I have something to shoot for, look forward to, and a set workout to finish. We'll see.
Lunch ride today (not sure if we'll be doing small hill repeats/laps, or heading up one of the hills). Gonna try to get the intensity up with a nice warm-up and cool down.Planning on taking Friday off again.
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