Mulholland partial ride.

It's been an interesting 3 days in Feb so far, already surpassing my swimming and biking miles from last month (like they were so impressive) Formulaic says I should stop now that way next month I can break them again, LOL.

I actually feel tired and I should rightfully so with actually training! Today, I had to change things up as there is rain headed this way tomorrow and I didn't want to ride wet so I flopped the workouts and headed out to the Mulholland Century Challenge route (check out the profile picture, it doesn't look all that much but what do they say, looks are deceiving) that Form somehow talked me into signing up with him for April 11. It was about 82* so a little hotter than I have been used to these last few weeks but once riding it was all pretty good until the hills came. Oh wait, that was after about mile 3!

Then it began a nice snaking back and forth up the side of a nice big HILL! Although my legs were feeling tired from yesterday, where I did some bike work on the trainer (note to self: I remember now why I don't like the trainer) I managed to somehow make it farther than I thought up this winding road. I did have to stop a couple of times to..well... gasp..gasp..breath.. Umm Check my tires, yeah, that's it, check my tires as they felt a little soft. Once I determined that they were OK, I continued to ride. It was nice seeing some cool motorcycles and speedy Ferrari's come zooming by in this area as there is some great scenery.

Towards the last part of the winding road I was climbing I had to stop and check the tires again and of course they were OK but once I made it to the point where I had to turn back it was time to fly. Of course, it's all down hill now! It was great to recover coming down hill, oh, except for the old guy Who could not wait 8 seconds more for me to pass him and cut across the road in his big brown Cadillac with the Handicap pass on the window to pull into his driveway. DUDE ARE YOU SERIOUS? I was completely flying down the road in the middle, no less, so I know he saw me. It was a heart pounding situation as you can imagine. Once getting back over the 1st part of the snaky road it was on a part where there was lots of traffic since it was about 3pm which only means I will park where I saw a bunch of other cars who were off mountain biking and trail running next time I go as the first 3 miles of the route is not all that much to talk about.

I made it back to the car and it was a lovely California drive home in the traffic. All in all it was a good day even though I now felt totally wiped out and my legs and head were beginning to ache.

I did learn or recall one thing. I need to drink more when it's hot. Just b/c your climbing doesn't mean you can't drink, in fact, I probably need to drink more. I also remember how hungry I can get after a ride but was careful not to eat the entire fridge.

rockon`