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Published: July 22nd 2007
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Got up early again today, it gets cold here at night….in the morning you can still see your breath. Last night I watched Shooter on my laptop, I liked it. The cinematography was great, the special effects at the beginning were really good. I thought it was going to be a lame action movie, but it was a great action flick. What’s up with Danny Glover? He’s got a serious lisp going on, did he have a stroke or something? The previous night I watched Evan Almighty and I was might disappointed. Not that I thought it was going to be amazing or anything. I had downloaded them while sitting in Barnes and Nobles the other day. Tonight I’m going to watch The Hills Have Eyes 2.
I’m sitting in the AC of my truck right now, cooling off from a great bike ride. Instead of hiking down the creek, when I got to the trailhead I saw that there was a sign showing bikes were allowed. It’s been a while since I had a good ride so I got out my bike and took off, still hoping to find some nice pools along the creek to get some
dinner.
I’m a great hiker, but still a beginning mountain biker so this trail kicked my but! It was entirely uphill, with a couple of small exceptions. I just kept telling myself that it would be down hill on the way back. After a while I was pretty tired of riding and entered a relatively treeless meadow. I checked out the map I had. There was a nearby spring up the side of the valley that I was in and I thought it’d be fun to check it out. Up the valley I could hear something that sounded like rushing water, but it could have also been the wind. I wasn’t 100% sure I was in the right spot, so I continued on a bit, much to the displeasure of my lungs.
After a few hundred more yards I saw a small creek cross the trail and head toward the main creek, this must be it. I stashed my bike in a perfect little circle of trees and began the steep ascent up the valley wall. It was perhaps a thousand foot elevation gain in perhaps a few hundred yards. It began just a slight rise, but within
5 minutes it was steep! I had to keep stopping ever hundred feet or so. The elevation (about 9,000) was getting to me. It took me an hour to make the ascent and by the end my knee was hurting and my thighs were beginning to cramp a little. Luckily I found the spring and proceeded to enjoy the views and partake in my PB&J. (I have a waterproof container that once held a small first aid kit,but is now a water/smash proof sandwich holder). I have a packet of Gatorade and I mix it with fresh springwater, it was great after that grueling ascent.
After resting for a bit after my meal I head down, I knew it was going to be hard going down, but the sheerness was exacerbated by my cramping right thigh. It was getting pretty bad about halfway down, but I knew if I stopped it was going to hurt. I slipped a few times dangerously, but didn’t skid too far down the mountain.
Finally I reached the bottom, by this time my other thigh had begun cramping and I just wanted to find a nice shaded place by the creek to take a nap and let my body rest for a couple of hours. I was not to have my wish as there were few trees offering shade due to the time of the day (noon). I made the decision to get on my bike and head back to the really wooded part of the valley.
My legs were really protesting, but they made it to a nice cluster of trees with ample shade and a small place to lay down. I popped 4 advil to quell my aching muscles and knee and proceeded to pass out, only to awake every few minutes due to a bunch of ants, they weren’t biting, just crawling on me. So I just sat there rested and ate some fruit and gave my muscles a break.
Finally, not able to sit still any longer I zipped off the bottom of my convertibles and turned them into shorts, I put on my water shoes instead of my boots and headed down the trail. I was hauling ass at about 19KM/H (I couldn’t figure out how to change my bike computer to MPH), over twice as fast as going up. I almost spilled a couple times and really almost spilled once on a rock strewn down-slope, but managed to keep my balance. A spill was the last thing I need right now!
One thing that’s always on my mind are injuries. Back when I was a desk jockey I could still work if I had a broken arm or leg, but now my job depends on me being physically healthy. That being said, I’m not sure how much mountain biking has in my future. I’ve been lucky so far, but it’s a pretty injury laden sport.
I made it back to my truck and just sat and drank some cold water from my cooler and rested for a bit then made it back to camp, still fishless!
Tomorrow I head to Wyoming, it should be about a 7 hour drive….
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Rick
non-member comment
So...
When do you start? You mentioned it got out a week early, but did you work already? How was it? http://ramatheson.com