Saturday, April 10, 2010

Snow Hanging '10 (April 2010) and Cold Lingering!

It started out at nearly 50° in summer biking shoes (thin socks), and one long-sleeved shirt near Summit Lake. And, it ended with riding on snow to the top of Rock Candy Mountain, below freezing temps, a second winter long-sleeved shirt added, a jacket added, numb feet, a total of 20.96 miles and 2,180 feet in elevation gain.
Today’s ride was electronically monitored for keeping the heart rate within the “fat burning” range. (Ha! There was no frigging way that was going to be consistent!) Some of the headwall hills (steep 1.2 to 2.7 mile lengths) spiked the heart rate to 175 BPMs. Mtn-Biking Man “hit the wall” and felt flat-lined near the 10 mile mark to Rock Candy Mt. It had been all uphill to that point and he had to seek resurrection with some HammerGel. The head started to experience some lightness and sort of “stairway to heaven” delusions climbing the last 500-800’. Then . . . it was all downhill.

After returning to the Summit Lake start point, Mtn-Biking Man sought sanctuary with coffee and a Turbo Cookie at Blue Huron Bakery. $3.96 -- not quite priceless but worth the workout!