Round Valley
Lately I've been hitting up RV, the hillz are tough but its a good way to get into shape. I'm trying to focus on some kind of training without doing interval type rides, basically trying to keep it fun. The climbing at RV blows but its still better then getting on a road bike and doing intervals. Cathedral Pines is in November, the goal is to not suck for this race. This is the second year I'm doing it as a team, my days of 6+hour races are over. I used to be into the endurance thing but these days I enjoy the shorter races more and have no desire to put in long training rides and race for more then 2 hours. Jamie C is my partner this year, we are both doing the SS thing. Jamie is a solid SSer and raced the H2H Single, I'm doing single to mix it up, in fact I'm doing SS rigid this year baby.
Round Valley North West Passage
So I made it all the way out to the end of the Eagle trail tonight at RV. The Eagle section is cleaned up after the last TM a few weeks ago and Norm went back and cleaned all the way to where it dead ends last week. This section of trail is a nice break from the torture climbs in the park, and offers some flow with occasional rock croppings to add some tech. Also it offers a nice vantage point of the Reservoir from the shoreline.
For now this is an out and back deal which means all the climbs you suffered up you now get to bomb down and vice versa. One of the things I like about RV is that its somewhat remote, It feels like you are in some wilderness when you go there, plus there is the water which adds to the magic. A place like CR has better trails then RV but the latter has a better aura...know what I mean?
As I was hustling to get back to the lot I was bombing down puke hill when I heard a nasty metal on metal sound which I knew in an instant can't be good. I hit the brakes and looked down and saw my lower derailleur cage bent into my spokes, yikes. I tried to bend it back but we know how that goes, you can b
end metal bike parts 1x only. So my derailleur is shot but its mostly downhill back to the lot. I tried to remove my chain but did not have a wrench to use my chain tool, so I just let it dangle and limped back. I was paranoid that they were gonna lock the gate in the main lot because it was getting late and the park was closing. I called Norm to see if he could call the ranger hut but he talked me down and told me I'd be fine, still I got a good work out in running up those last switch backs with my bike as I headed toward the lot. I rolled down to the lot and saw a few other cars so I knew I'd be ok but I threw my bike on the rack and drove out and changed in the boat lot so as not to be that last guy in the lot.
