Ride, Hills, and Pain

We started out this morning about 6:45 am, and headed up Strawberry Canyon. It was cold and windy. Tracen was a good sport. He was really fast on the hills. We took off our jackets about 10-12 miles into to ride/climb. It was a really pretty morning. As it turns out the top of the canyon was about 3 miles further than where Heidie and I turned around last time. I was thinking to myself this morning "why am I doing this?"

So we dropped down the other side of Strawberry and went through Ovid and on to Montpieler. Tracen led the way and we made pretty good time. We stopped at Maverick for a pit stop and then headed for the Canyon (Geneva) as we started to head up we noticed the road closed signs. So we pulled up to talk to the flag girl. She told us that the canyon would be closed until tomorrow night. We had 2 options, 1- Ride back over Strawberry and home, or, 2- Head up to Soda Springs and then down to Grace. It was decided to ride back how we came. Tracen led the way again. Of course there was wind. The rollers heading back up to Strawberry were tough. My knee gave me total trouble, to the point I couldn't pedal. This passed after a minute. We stopped at Camp Bartlett and had a sandwich.

We then continued up the Canyon. It definitely had warmed up. It was HOT! We reached the top which was a good thing because I think that I might have got off my bike and pushed if we had to keep climbing. We started the descent. My bike decided to start making noises and the wind was strong enough that we had to pedal the whole way down. My knee still was giving me trouble. Heidie had foot pain. I need to figure out what the trouble is with my bike and fix the knee pain. I think that we can make the LOTOJA if our bodies will hold up to the aches and pains. Tracen was a rockin' rider. It was good to ride with him and push ourselves a little bit harder. Thanks to Teresa who was our support/bug lady.

I have had people say to me that they think that riding the LOTOJA will be fun. I tell you this- IT WILL NOT BE FUN! It will be hard and long, but a great goal to accomplish!