Saddle Sore
I looked up "saddle sore" online and came away with this definition:
"an irritation or sore on parts of the rider chafed by the saddle"
I think that about describes how I felt Saturday after riding Blackstar-Motorway. I was showering after the ride and noticed a _very_ painful spot in a rather sensitive/private place. I imagine that's what a hemorrhoid must feel like. Thank God it only hurts in the shower and not when I sit down or move around.
Anyways ... this last Saturday (12/16/06) I rode Blackstar-Motorway. I had ridden up to Santiago Peak on Thursday night and still hadn't quite recovered all the way. I've heard other riders describe riding with "dead legs", and I'm starting to understand that feeling more and more.
The ride was scheduled to start at 6:30am at the Maple Springs parking section and then me, Troy, Mark and Matt would ride over to meet some socaltrailriders.org guys.
To the ride ...
Like an idiot I showed up for the ride in a short sleeve jersey and arm warmers only. I thought it was going to be a bright sunny day and I had been tired of over dressing for rides. It reminded me of a paper my friend Casey wrote in high school about me ... "Rain on Ryan". I had earned a reputation in high school for dressing like an idiot for various weather conditions.
Not only did I forget to dress warm, but I forgot to buy new water bottles. I threw away my old bottles because they had become beyond disgusting.
Lucky for me Troy had a long sleeve top that he let me borrow. Thanks a _ton_ Troy. I also was able to stop by Ralph's on the way to the trail to get a water bottle that fit my bike, which I ended up barely using.
We cruised over to meet the STR guys and on the way I knew it was going to be a long, cold ride. It rained a tiny bit and the clouds were heavy on the mountains.
When I saw the STR guys I thought we were going to be in for a long, long ride. Two of the four guys had rigid singlespeed's and I didn't think they looked like very experienced (read: fast) riders. Boy was I wrong. Two of the guys in their group of four were _very_ fast.
Heading up Blackstar I realized my legs were dead. I kept looking down at my gears and realizing that I was _already_ in a very low gear. The resistance was a bit much at times because of fatigue, but it wasn't anything overwhelming.
Mark and I ran into Junior Munoz on the way to the peak and said "hi" briefly. You could tell he just wanted to finish the ride.
We stopped for just a few minutes at Beek's because of the cold and the wind. It's amazing how fast you cool off when you stop riding in the cold. We left right as Jose (last guy up in our group because he was on a rigid 29 SS) was arriving. I am really amazed that Jose finished the ride. I didn't peg him for a stud when I first saw him, but he definitely fits that description after finishing the ride.
The ride from Beek's to the top of the Motorway kind of sucked. I did most of it alone and fell back in the group pretty fast. I rode up everything, but felt kind of crappy on some parts. It was also very cold and for some reason mentally I have become pretty scared of anything downhill. I just don't trust my bike and my brakes. I really need to take care of this.
When I got to the Motorway I was pretty much done mentally and physically. The ride Thursday was a fast pace and the 20+ miles up to that point had taken the rest of what I had. It wasn't the worst I've ever felt on a ride (not even close actually), but it wasn't the best.
Matt and I decided not to wait for Jose this time. It was just too cold and windy and who knew how long it was going to take him considering he probably walked up a bunch of hills. Mark decided to ride to four corners instead of going down the Motorway. I'm not sure if it was because he was afraid of the Motorway or if it was because he wanted to train/climb more. Maybe both.
Going down the Motorway sucked. I didn't fall, but mentally I was defeated before I even started. I rode the brakes pretty hard and realized that the weaker you are physically, the worse the descent is going to be no matter what trail you are on. I'm hoping the trip down Holy Jim for Counting Coup won't be as bad as Saturday's trip down the Motorway was.
I'm glad I'm getting in the miles training wise, but I've been losing the mental battle for going down things like the Motorway and Holy Jim. We'll see how things shape up later.
One last interesting stat for the ride ...
Time from Maple Springs parking lot to Santiago Peak _and_ back: 2:53
Time from Maple Springs parking lot to top of Motorway: 2:52
What the heck? The same amount of time. Fascinating.
"an irritation or sore on parts of the rider chafed by the saddle"
I think that about describes how I felt Saturday after riding Blackstar-Motorway. I was showering after the ride and noticed a _very_ painful spot in a rather sensitive/private place. I imagine that's what a hemorrhoid must feel like. Thank God it only hurts in the shower and not when I sit down or move around.
Anyways ... this last Saturday (12/16/06) I rode Blackstar-Motorway. I had ridden up to Santiago Peak on Thursday night and still hadn't quite recovered all the way. I've heard other riders describe riding with "dead legs", and I'm starting to understand that feeling more and more.
The ride was scheduled to start at 6:30am at the Maple Springs parking section and then me, Troy, Mark and Matt would ride over to meet some socaltrailriders.org guys.
To the ride ...
Like an idiot I showed up for the ride in a short sleeve jersey and arm warmers only. I thought it was going to be a bright sunny day and I had been tired of over dressing for rides. It reminded me of a paper my friend Casey wrote in high school about me ... "Rain on Ryan". I had earned a reputation in high school for dressing like an idiot for various weather conditions.
Not only did I forget to dress warm, but I forgot to buy new water bottles. I threw away my old bottles because they had become beyond disgusting.
Lucky for me Troy had a long sleeve top that he let me borrow. Thanks a _ton_ Troy. I also was able to stop by Ralph's on the way to the trail to get a water bottle that fit my bike, which I ended up barely using.
We cruised over to meet the STR guys and on the way I knew it was going to be a long, cold ride. It rained a tiny bit and the clouds were heavy on the mountains.
When I saw the STR guys I thought we were going to be in for a long, long ride. Two of the four guys had rigid singlespeed's and I didn't think they looked like very experienced (read: fast) riders. Boy was I wrong. Two of the guys in their group of four were _very_ fast.
Heading up Blackstar I realized my legs were dead. I kept looking down at my gears and realizing that I was _already_ in a very low gear. The resistance was a bit much at times because of fatigue, but it wasn't anything overwhelming.
Mark and I ran into Junior Munoz on the way to the peak and said "hi" briefly. You could tell he just wanted to finish the ride.
We stopped for just a few minutes at Beek's because of the cold and the wind. It's amazing how fast you cool off when you stop riding in the cold. We left right as Jose (last guy up in our group because he was on a rigid 29 SS) was arriving. I am really amazed that Jose finished the ride. I didn't peg him for a stud when I first saw him, but he definitely fits that description after finishing the ride.
The ride from Beek's to the top of the Motorway kind of sucked. I did most of it alone and fell back in the group pretty fast. I rode up everything, but felt kind of crappy on some parts. It was also very cold and for some reason mentally I have become pretty scared of anything downhill. I just don't trust my bike and my brakes. I really need to take care of this.
When I got to the Motorway I was pretty much done mentally and physically. The ride Thursday was a fast pace and the 20+ miles up to that point had taken the rest of what I had. It wasn't the worst I've ever felt on a ride (not even close actually), but it wasn't the best.
Matt and I decided not to wait for Jose this time. It was just too cold and windy and who knew how long it was going to take him considering he probably walked up a bunch of hills. Mark decided to ride to four corners instead of going down the Motorway. I'm not sure if it was because he was afraid of the Motorway or if it was because he wanted to train/climb more. Maybe both.
Going down the Motorway sucked. I didn't fall, but mentally I was defeated before I even started. I rode the brakes pretty hard and realized that the weaker you are physically, the worse the descent is going to be no matter what trail you are on. I'm hoping the trip down Holy Jim for Counting Coup won't be as bad as Saturday's trip down the Motorway was.
I'm glad I'm getting in the miles training wise, but I've been losing the mental battle for going down things like the Motorway and Holy Jim. We'll see how things shape up later.
One last interesting stat for the ride ...
Time from Maple Springs parking lot to Santiago Peak _and_ back: 2:53
Time from Maple Springs parking lot to top of Motorway: 2:52
What the heck? The same amount of time. Fascinating.
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