Thursday, January 17, 2013

It Was a Dark and Foggy Night...ooooooo!

But...it wasn't freezing, so off I went to do another night ride! As I came to the junction of the Chehalis and Woodland Trails, Jean and Maria were just coming on to the Woodland Trail themselves. The three of us rode down to the trailhead fully expecting to be the only ones showing up for the ride. To our surprise, both Carter and Brad arrived. Brad suggested north as it is usually warmer. I was a little concerned about going out on the road in the fog, but I trust Brad (since he has been doing this a whole lot longer than me). Plus, it is true about it being warmer than going south.

We did the usual ride back up the trail, cutting over to the I-5 Trail to pick up the Chehalis Trail at the bridge over I-5. At the end of the trail at Woodard Bay, we took a short break. I noticed it wasn't quite as foggy. We decided, instead of doing Fishtrap, we would turn on to 81st, go up the hill to Zangle, over to 73rd, down into Boston Harbor, up Sawyer, around and over to Commercial, and back over to Boston Harbor Rd.

When we got to the steep pitch up 81st, I decided to try and improve on my time of 1:06 up the hill. At the top, even though I was wheezing like poorly played set of bagpipes, I kept going. When Carter caught up, he complimented me on my climb!

In Boston Harbor the fog was non-existent and it was definitely warmer. So much so, that I even unzipped my jacket. I've discovered I don't do as well when I get too warm.

From Boston Harbor Rd, we took a sharp left onto Woodard Bay Rd. We looped back to Libby where we took a sharp right and rode Libby back to 26th, and 26th to South Bay. From there, Jean, Maria, and I said goodbye to the boys and rode 26th back to the trail. Maria and Jean turned off at Group Health (Maria's car was at Jean's). I rode the rest of the way home in the pea-soup fog.

As for improving my time up 81st, I not only improved it, I got Queen of the Mountain on Strava! I knocked 6 seconds off my previous time.

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