I got up early today because I had to acquire camping reservations at Zion National Park. There is a tight window to do this. They release campsites just two weeks ahead and they are filled shortly after 7:00. I had to select a site and complete the reservation before someone else grabbed it. My Internet access her is pretty spotty, so it got a little stressful as I created an account and selected my site. Eventually I got an email confirmation that I had a site reserved. So I have nearly every leg of my journey to Colorado identified.
Sarah called this morning on the last leg of her trip home from a very successful World Show in Guthrie, OK. I described Jack’s wreck from yesterday. Then I headed out for a run. Alexis has me doing 6 miles easy. I ran to Beaver Cove and then back to the Monument. It was a perfect distance. The wind had come up early so it was pretty breezy throughout the run. Jack and I had breakfast and lingered on the deck. It was 60 degrees, so a little brisk and the wind was only picking up. Around 11:30, we left for Northstar. We got two tickets and headed to the gondola. We decided to take “Easy Street” down, but I was surprised how challenging it was. We went back up and then took a chair lift up one more stage.
The route “Tryumph” was a really good one. Challenging still, but not significantly problematic. We rode that trail down twice and then stopped for a little lunch. We were looking for some different routes and so we graduated to “blue squares.” More single track and the hazards that exist on a trail like that. There is. no doubt that my skills improved throughout the day. Not sure if I am an “intermediate” rider but I did get down them. Jack had two small wrecks, but suffered no significant injuries. I was wreck-free until the end of the day. Jack was ahead and I noticed at one point the trail dropped and there was soft dirt. I tried to move over to take the straightest line, but the bike got sucked in by the dirt and over I went. I got some road-rash but that’s it. I caught up with Jack and we decided to call it a day. He was feeling it. Today was a lot of jarring. For two guys without lots of upper body strength, our arms, shoulders and hands took a beating. I went ahead to get a video of Jack. After that, I started down and ended up breaking my front wheel and went over the handle bars. We cruised down and both of us felt tired and beat up. Jack’s knee was particularly sore. We came back to the cabin and just chilled for a bit. The wind was still howling, so going to the dock would have been cold and uncomfortable. We had dinner of leftovers and then drove to get ice cream. We ate it in the car, out of the wind looking out at Donner Peak.
My body now is tired. My hands ache. I learned NOT to grip the handle bars in the rough parts, but that’s counter-intuitive. It was more comfortable to do so, but I didn’t always remember to do that. My shoulders are tight and my legs are tired. Sleep will be great tonight. It will be interesting to see how we feel tomorrow morning.
Pushing hard today ... 