Sunday morning was damp from overnight rains, so the patchy sunlight from mid-morning through the early afternoon cooked up a thick humidity that sat and stewed because of the lack of wind. Chris arrived soon after I did, being anxious to ride. I was a bit surprised to see Paul show up with Jeff, Sara, and Danny, considering this was the loop that had broken him once. With Ckucke rolling in, the group was complete and we geared up for the grueling ride. I got laid out with a cold the week after out last Luana ride, so I was operating with some lingering chest issues, and legs that hadn’t been on a bike for nearly three weeks. With restricted oxygen uptake, my body gave up quickly on the climbs. Once we left the pavement, I was pretty much off the back. As much as I wanted to stay on the bike and just spin a low gear on the climb from the mud bog up to the big tree, I just didn’t have it in me. I was considering turning back, but I figured if I could make it to the top of Government road, I could probably make the rest of the ride. Although I had to stop numerous times along the climb, I made the top.
After a puff of albuterol, calmed my bronchial spasms for the remainder of the ride. Since the overall pace on the singletrack was a little slower and more broken up, I was managing a little better. The climbs nonetheless were still a pain. Paul did start cramping on the first endless climb, but he seemed to be doing better than the first time. He was attempting and clearing more obstacles than before. Near the end of the ride, I was either doing better, or everyone was falling down to my level. On the last climb up the road to the park, my legs felt no worse than the last Luana circuit, but my butt was feeling the length of time in the saddle.
Pictures here
D = 16.32 km (10.14-miles), Vavr = 10.9 km/h (6.8-mph), Vmax = 39.4 km/h (24.5-mph), T = 1-hour, 29-minutes (actual trail time about 3-hours)
I can always tell it’s a good ride by the amount of butt hair in my chamois. 🙂
Man, that’s a visual I could do without!