Today I headed out on my first solo trip with my mountain bike. Matt is out of town for work, and I am determined to keep on a good routine of riding, so that’s that! I decided to just do a short bit at Happy Jack on some of the trails I haven’t been on before. I am thinking about racing in the Laramie Mountain Bike Series race this coming Tuesday, and figured I should familiarize myself with some of the trails that are often used for the beginner category.
I felt like crap! Couldn’t catch my breath, and it was oh so hot out. I immediately started thinking about how bad I would probably do at the race, especially if it is mostly uphill (which seems to be the case). It wasn’t my legs burning or anything, just my lungs and that sort of fitness thing. But I kept on going… I took Meadow up to Ridge, then on Blackjack Loop, to Adler, then back up Adler to Meadow to the Campground Bypass. Whoa, why did I now just discover the bypass?! It is so much better than riding the campground roads, which have been horrible since they did whatever the hell they did to them a few weeks back to make them all sandy and loose. I briefly stopped at my car for a drink and some Shot Bloks, and went back through the campground to the bypass again, just because I liked it that much!
I almost T-boned a squirrel while flying down Adler 
I saw the little critter on the side of the trail, and of course he decided to run right in front of my tire when I got closer… I’m pretty sure I ran over the tip of his tail! I was doing about 16 mph, so the last thing I wanted to do was slam on my brakes and tear myself up. I hope he escaped without harm, though the damn thing shouldn’t have ran out like that! I do think this is my first wildlife close encounter, haha!
Overall, 4.38 miles in a total time of 42 minutes, 9 second (I didn’t pause it when I stopped to take the above photo and answer some texts, however… either way, yes, it was slow!). I did have a good high average speed of 6.24mph, which is nearly double than what I’ve seen on other rides. So overall it wasn’t bad and I familiarized myself with some trails that I had been missing out on. I know my fitness has improved A LOT since I first started riding, but I still get so out of breath and sluggish. I really do want to enter a race, mostly for fun, but I don’t want to be the painfully slow person everyone has to waste time passing. So we’ll see… I know I could’ve stayed out longer today, as I finally had started to feel okay by the end of my ride, but still called it a day.
Tomorrow I am riding Happy Jack again with a friend of mine. It should be a good mental push for me, as I am not apt to whine nearly as much as when I go with Matt, and I’ll be wanting to impress!
Sunday Matt and I are planning to hike in the Snowies. I kinda wanted to bike, but then I figured that a day off to rest might be good in case the miles rack up tomorrow. Tuesday night is the race, so I’ll be debating about that for the next few days. Just pretty hesitant…
Heidi Rides Bikes 