Stanley Gap, Flat Creek

Went on a fun ride this weekend. We rode the Stanley Gap and Flat Creek trails. This was my first time on either trail. The trails were tough but fun. The climbs were long and sustained. A couple of the climbs had some good technical sections. The descents were brutal though. I did my best to try and keep up with the other riders, but they were too fast.

I ended up taking a pretty good header on really steep downhill with a log crossing. Tweaked my knee and shoulder. Broke my rear shifter. Had to do three quarters of the ride with only my front derailleur. Luckily the chain was in the 26 tooth rear cog when my shifter broke, and the chain stayed there for the rest of the ride. I had just enough gear for the climbs and the downhills were so steep I didn't really need to pedal anyway.

The ride was organized by a local bike goddess named mama. She is famous for taking regular joe schmoes like me on these long epic rides. She rushes ahead with her super human strength, gets out her camera, takes pictures of you suffering, gets back on her bike, and catches back up to you in a blink of the eye. Later she writes up these really funny ride reports for everyone to enjoy. Here is her report from this weekend. I really like this picture.



It really shows the steepness of the trail.

The ride was little longer and much more difficult than my training plan called for but I am so glad I went. Mama and her husband raja are awesome people. They have a huge group of friends and it is always fun and to meet and hang out with their group.

Since Saturday was so tough, I knocked a couple hours off my Sunday ride to try and get my total TSS for the weekend to what the training plan called for originally. Other than my weekend deviations the rest of the training for my week went really well.

My girlfriend let me put her stereo in the basement where I do my trainer rides. I downloaded some new music from itunes, and I have been rocking out while I ride. The music really helps me get pumped and angry. My intervals are so much easier when I am in this state of mind. I can't wait for tomorrow to do my last three day block of tempo rides.