Night Climbs

Finally got some off-road action with my mountain bike... It has been over three weeks since I have been off-road with the Alma or any bike and with just three weeks to the Vision Quest I needed all the time I could get. I met up with Ryan and the crew for a night ride up Blackstar to Beeks place and then we would drop down the backside to Corona and back. Nice group of about 10 guys and warm night.


As we climbed up Bstar I had a real hard time keeping up and feeling good about it. For some reason I just felt heavy and couldn't catch my breath. I realized that this was the first time on the Alma up Bstart too so it is now officially broken in. I have been riding so much on the road lately that spinning feels great but climbing is a whole new world. Once Ryan and I got into conversation I forgot about the heavy breathing and all was well with the wheels again. Ryan has had issues with his ride and was on his single speed (along with about half the group) and I still dont see how they were pushing through the climb. Maybe someday I will give it a go on my SS but for now I was just stoked to get to the top without blowing up... I still ended up standing a ton on the ride and my back got a pretty good workout.


Am I ready for VQ? Not sure but at the pace that I am planning on I will be fine. I have more plans for Italy and work on the mind now anyways and a long season that may end with an Ironman so it is all about slow and steady at this point. They may open the course up for a ride this weekend so I may be back for a ride then? Not sure...



On the way back Ryan took a little digger... Well, it keeps you on your toes and Ryan took it like a champ. There were sooo many more ruts and it felt like they were deeper but maybe it was the night light? The course has a few nasty sink holes and at one point the road is all but gone except for about six inches road and a single track that rides up the mountain. Hopefully that is fixed by race day.