Mt Morris. . .and more

Saturday we woke up bright and early and hopped in the old 4-wheel drive sleigh to arrive at Mt Morris by 9:00am for trail work, as promised.

As Don was gathering the tools for our trail work, we were, of course, playing with the rest of the tools and posing for photo opts.

Because really, what else would you expect from US?

This was the aftermath picture of my photo op. . . .where I laid across the hood of the WORS vehicle. For some reason I didn't look QUITE like those girls in the magazines. . . . . .

After about 90 minutes or so of trail work. . . .the Alterra crew arrived. I think it was at that point that we decided it would be a good idea to ride (just kidding. . . .they worked for a while too). :-)

The course was great. Don and his crew (mostly Don) have put a ton of work into this trail. It's clear to see the hours of "love" put into all the trails benched into the side of the ski hill. As I said in my last post. . . . .if you like climbing, THIS is the course for you. I'm a pretty good climber, but I had to take it down a notch, because there is SOOOO much climbing it was hard for me to control my heart rate. You just keep going with out much of a break. There are LOTS of twisty (and loose) turns both up hill and down hill, some which wrap themselves back around almost 320 degrees.

There's also plenty of nice, fun, flowy single track, much of which seems up-hill. . . . .but I realize some HAS to be downhill too. After doing one lap our group consensus (among the girls) was it felt like the course was about 80% climbing. Of course that's just how it felt. There's also a couple nice "resting" sections of flat (but bumpy) trail through the fields.

It sounds as if we start right off the bat climbing, which will be a good separator. The first section Don hadn't quite completed, having just purchased about $500 in lumber to construct a bridge over a deep ravine. I sure hope he puts sides on that bridge, or it's going to scare the CRAP out of me and I'll end up walking it.

There's also another section on the course where they took the time to build a great bridge over a fallen tree (I guess it's not really a bridge, it's more of a "ramp"). It looks rather intimidating, but as long as you remember it doesn't go straight over, it takes a bit of a turn to the left. . . .you'll be fine. I did it. There's also an opt-out section. It's not as "daring", but much safer if you have trouble riding a straight line.

After about 2:15 in the saddle, we decided to call it quits and have ourselves some FOOD. Ty grabbed the lawn mower and cut us a nice little "patio" area in the shade. We pulled out the grill, had some hamburgers & Italian sausage, and watched the rain clouds slowly move in. Secretly we had all been doing the rain dance, because this course NEEDS some rain. Hopefully the downpour we created will do the trick.

Sunday, while CK opted for a charity ride in Racine with his dad. . . . .Captain and I saddled up and headed out for a nice, easy, endurance ride ourselves. I didn't feel too bad until about 1:45 in. At that time I decided I was REALLY drained. I had woken with a stomach ache, and it was setting back in. I'm not sure I've ever ridden 52 miles while fearing I would throw up for most of the ride. . . .but that's what I did today. I gave Captain permission to cut me loose after 2:11 and I set out on the last leg of the ride on my own.

Ride time: Approximately 3 hours 10 minutes

Average speed: SLOW (16.3 or something like that)

AHR: Didn't look yet, but it felt much higher than it was

Mileage: 52

Tanks = OFFICIALLY EMPTY

Replenished with about a gallon of Gatorade this evening while enjoying Ricky Carmichael's last motocross race, watching a family get a new house, and learning about Alaska (not all at the same time).

Wow. What a weekend. I think I'll turn in now. I hope my legs let me sleep.