The Eye of God and The Wall

There it is, after going down the wrong road (don't use gps) we found the right road, ended up passing it, turning around and found it.  We kept looking up to find it, handy tip:  look down.

That was early so we decided to go ride the sky chair and beat up our knees a little with a downhill hike.

The hike down Bobsled trail is really pretty and it was kinda chill way to finish off the morning.

Then Ker asked if we wanted to do the wall with her in the afternoon.  I said sure, knowing I was getting myself into more than I could handle.

Almost puking, still not there.

But we made it!  Conquer the Wall is the official cross country fund raiser, I said I would send in my registration donation and help with the aid station, she said no, gotta do it again to get the t'shirt.  As we got back to the bottom of the mountain it started to lightly rain, after we got in the car and out of the parking lot we got a super hard rain and lightning storm--good timing.

 

Flat tire

 Craig's tire was flat this morning and we didn't have any extra tubes so we did a Pebble Plains hike.  We usually do a short Pebble Plains walk in the evenings to take Moa out, but this morning we started down by Sawmill Canyon.  The trails are really nice and pretty well marked, it ended up being 4.25 miles.  There was a pack of three, maybe four coyotes that kinda paralleled us for a bit, we had to put Moa back on her leash so she wouldn't chase them.

When there are lots of flower pics

... then you know there were a lot of rest stops! At one point I sat staring at a tree for at least 10 minutes, wondering if it was a sugar pine.  I finally decided it was and moved on after catching my breath.  Check out all the red on here, red actually means faster (honest!).

Todays bonk point--bonk food, the one and only Reeses cup leftover from my birthday.

There was a point on the trail where these flowers were lining both sides,  I should have stopped there for the picture--

This was actually way prettier than it looks here.  The contrast with the cactus always amazes me.

I rode some uphill better than I have in the past, but today cornering was really freaking me out.  I told Craig I would ride it better tomorrow--profound thought, you don't have to ride it better, just ride it if you enjoy it.  I think I'll ride tomorrow.

EDIT:  Kyle update, first surgery a few pins in the scaphoid, and a wired up clavicle, there was not enough  "real estate" to plate it.  Second surgery, carpal tunnel release.  All in all he's recovering well, his hand surgeon said the only limitation may be he won't be able to put the hand in a push up position.

Holy Sh*t

 Never tempt the gods of fate, Karma, the Universe, or whatever.  We got a call from Kyle tonight, he thought he may have broken his shoulder and wrist skateboarding with Moa.  One ED visit later: broken clavicle and scaphoid.  Craig is up there now, he has to get an ortho consult and possible pin in his hand.  It wasn't supposed to be Kyle.

Baldwin Loop vs School Loop

 

Today I got the chance to do Baldwin Loop, note the way I rode it is only 2.34 miles, I didn't record the way I walked it, maybe I walked it twice.  It's a quick ride with definitely more walking than I thought I would do, but I liked it.  Craig is back from SC and we rode it together with him waiting for me a lot.

And yeah, this was my bonk point today, but I came prepared with M&M's.  They probably didn't help me ride better, but life is always better with M&M's.

This is last weeks School Loop ride with Ker, 5.63 miles in 33m 34s--crazy time difference, especially with the increase in distance, maybe Baldwin was harder than I thought, or School Loop easier than I thought?

I tried to practice some of the skills I learned last year at a clinic I went to, it definitely helps if you do what they teach, but sometimes it's counterintuitive, more practice, more practice.  On another note, Summit opened today, maybe it's me getting old but I'm a little more hesitant than I remember being before, backyard trails are really super nice.  I'm going to the high school tonight with Kyle to learn to ride stairs, what's the worst thing that could happen--clavicle? wrist?  Earlier retirement!  Naw that's bad karma, shouldn't be thinking that!

School Loop

 This morning I took Moa to the dog park, and finally rode school loop when I got back.  It was a really fun trail.  I met Kerri at the Maple entrance and pretty quickly had to walk a section, but kept going.  It's single track and lots of rocks which my bike handles really well.  I probably had ridden half of it when I officially bonked.  Like need M&M's bonked.

This was my bonk point, my plan was to turn around at that point, but either way would have been uphill, so I walked some and rode most of the rest of the trail.  I'm really glad I finished it because now I know I can, there'll still be some walk points, but hopefully fewer with time.  Also makes me want to ride Baldwin Loop. Maybe next weekend.  

And it's done!!

Grands

 This weekend was all about the grands.  We celebrated Kyle J's birthday, I would say he had quite a grand day!

He spent the rest of the weekend learning how to drive a stick, he did so well he drove himself and Kael to practice yesterday.  I think Kerri has him convinced that it doesn't have the guts to make it back up the hill if  he drove it down.  We'll see how long it takes for him to give it a try.

I did some granddog sitting, Moa is stuck with me for the week.  We hiked the new Baldwin Loop on Saturday, it's really a beautiful trail, parts of it are very piney, foresty, and parts very scrub even with some flowering cactus.  Moa loved it and I was able to let her off leash to chase squirrels.  The only bad thing about Baldwin Loop is it's a loop, when I realized I had started the loop for the second time, I was not a happy hiker, I finally stumbled upon an exit point, but it's not well marked yet.

Sunday Kerri and I rode the ranch again, I never put my bike in my car and oops, realized it doesn't fit, so I rode from the house, it's not a hard ride but the uphill home isn't too fun.  Moa went too!

Monday was a barbecue at Kerri's there were fireworks over the lake at 9:00 but I decided not to brave the traffic and didn't go.  I could hear the booms, but couldn't see anything from the deck.

The best part, lots of hot tub time, a great reward for hiking, biking and lots of dog walking.