Yay for me

Wednesday night BJ and I decided to get in an after work ride. We got a little worried as it started to pour at work, and I mean like monsoon rain. It was nuts! Thankfully it didn't last that long and although the beginning of the spring we had a ton of rain it's really slacked off lately so the ground just sucked it up. That little bit of rain may have even helped as sometimes it can get a little sandy out there. Lucky as we were with the ground we didn't get so lucky with the air. The humidity came back with a vengeance and it was super thick in the woods. Although I do hate me some humidity I figured this would be a good test of my form. Last ride it was low humidity and a beautiful day, today it was nice but super thick. So I had a control and now for the test.


We started as per normal at the church at seminary road. As soon as we made the first climb and entered the woods you could just FEEL the air. It was so thick it did take me a few minutes to adjust but it wasn't too bad. We were flying, we made it through the coast singletrack down crossed back up to mid without much trouble. I was feeling good. Down the switchbacks pass Sam's and then on to the first test. Hit the steep opener to the long climb, then I slowed up a bit to build up some strength before hitting my nemesis. Not only was this a confirmation ride to see if I was actually riding stronger I now had an audience. I made the hard right and took off. Scratch that. I made the turn and took my first burst, right into a downed log. It appears that a piece of log had fallen into the trail and I had to adjust right quick not to hit it. I was leaning way forward pushing hard and if I would have hit that damn thing I most likely would have gone over the bars and face first into the climb. Thinking back on it, that would have been expected from my nemesis but Nay! This time I made a quick adjustment and though it did slow me down I was still upright. I pushed harder and shot up the hill, then I stalled. Thankfully I still had enough to slowly push ahead. HAH! It threw something new at me and I still beat it! See that dirt hill! You can't hang with me!

Bj and I pushed on up the rest of the climb and stopped at the intersection. We were on a super quick pace. It was way humid but I appeared to be riding well and was getting confident. We took off and didn't stop until we got to Providence Road. This is our usual BS point so we sat there for a few minutes just chilling and talking. After the typical guy discussion was over we hit the speed loop that's really not so fast anymore, someone has built up some rather large log piles and placed them really close together along the second half of the trail. It now requires some thought to get around that little section. Which normally is cool but on the speed loop it just slows you down and this little loop is supposed to be the reward for having climbed up to Prov Road in the first place!

We came out of the speed loop and crossed Prov Road and then dropped right back in. We didn't stop again to we got back to Seminary Road. We had a very quick pace though our longest loop. I felt good and it was nice to know that my performance has actually increased. Makes not drinking soda all day almost worth it. 8)