I didn't allow frustration to creep in

I didn't drink last night, but only cause I had to make up for my mistake of drinking a tad too much on Friday night, the same day I bailed on Baldy for heat issues. No doubt I was dehydrated somewhat following that ride and most definitely, I should not have over imbibed. Does common sense ever stop me? No. Yesterday, I had a nasty hangover all day and did not ride (gasp!). I had planned a killer mountain bike ride this morning with Herb and Eddie.



I just had to get back up the trail I mostly walked two weeks ago. I mistakenly called it Stough Canyon when the proper name of the trail is Verdugo Motorway. It's a series of fire roads up in the Verdugo mountains above Burbank and Glendale which connects to La Tuna Canyon. There is tons to explore up there, but it's a steep climb in the beginning to even get up to where the other trails connect. It isn't a technical trail, by any means, but it is a workout indeed. The road is eroded in places and there are ruts, loose gravel and sand. The first time I rode it, I was nervous to climb it and scared to descend it (although I did so on bike). Today, I had a much better experience.



When I got up at 5:00am, after falling asleep around midnight last night, I wasn't sure I could pull it together in time to make it to The Hub by 6:45am. Herb and I wanted to start early with Eddie joining a little later. Our hope was to beat today's heat. Due to my lethargic state, however, I did not arrive right on time and instead rolled in right at 7:00am. This put us on the trail (by the time we'd loaded the bikes and driven there) closer to 7:30am. It was already warm. I was already in a mood.



As we took off on the first section, which is the steepest out the gate, I got all of 50 feet again and unclipped. No way did I have it in me to power up it. My heart rate shot up way too fast. I (again) told Herb to just keep going and began walking my bike. The mood I was in was sour, certainly, but fortunately I was in no frame of mind to allow my ego or my inner quitter to get a word in. I shut my mind off and after walking about 20 feet, I got clipped in and with sheer force, turned the pedal over and clipped the other foot on the first try. From there, it was power up to the next point of intolerance and unclip again.



This went on three times today. Three times, my heart rate soared and I simply stopped to get it back down again. I would then find a rhythm and take off once more. I didn't think about it. I didn't allow thoughts like, "move it, you fat ass!" to enter my mind. I didn't allow frustration to creep in or poutiness to overcome me. I'd like to say I HTFU'd up that mountain today, but that wasn't it either. No. I got up there today cause I promised myself I would. Did I poorly plan on a holiday weekend? Of course, cause that's the kind of sh*t I pull. Herb was game and, given that I kept my grumpiness to a minimum this morning, very pleased that we both were doing as well as we were. It took about an hour of suffering for the drugs (endorphins) to hit my system. Those little happy chemicals are like crack for me, and that was when, suddenly, the gorgeous views of the city below caught my attention.



We rode up so high, all the way to a series of towers, that you could see all the way to the ocean, through Griffith Park and Mt. Hollywood, downtown LA and down the coast. It was socked in with fog along the horizon so my eyes never could decipher between where the fog line ended and the deep blue sea began, but I didn't care. I'd kept my promise to myself and I was rewarded for it.



Also along the trail are these interesting lawn chairs (or at least, that's what they look like). Someone had a sense of humor when putting those up there. They are made of some kind of plastic that doesn't need paint nor will it likely ever erode (not in my lifetime anyway). Herb and I sat in these a few times when we needed mini breaks, but for the most part, we just rode our asses off.





At the top, I insisted that Herb call Eddie (whom we hadn't seen hide or hair of) and I began yelling out over the mountain, "Eddie!!!" as loud as I could (scaring the many lizards and bunny rabbits who were out today, I'm sure). Eddie was nowhere to be seen, so Herb and I explored a little past the towers. As we headed back and down from where we'd been, I hollered out one more time, "Eddie!!!" with as much volume possible (which is a lot for me cause I got good lungs). From just a bit down the trail, we heard Eddie holler back, "Hi, Mary."


From that point, we just followed Eddie back up (bonus climbs!) to a really steep Tower and hung out on a ledge shooting the breeze with a rather attractive mountain biker who'd come out to play as well. The views up on that ledge were even more impressive than any we'd seen all morning and I began planning some crazy epic mountain bike ride up on AC with the boys. As we took off back down the mountain, we stopped at one spot to watch a stealth deer go running with ease down the side of the hill and were for a moment stalled by the vision we'd seen.





I definitely am digging the dirt scene, or at least fire roads anyway (I don't do single-tracks, remember?) The biggest advantage is that there are no cars. From there, it's the whole beauty aspect. I use to be crazy hiker, so mountain biking is like combining the two, best of both worlds, and certainly something I'm going to keep doing.



When we got to the bottom, Herb discovered that my brake pads are worn down. Oops...time to take Nellie in for a spa day at Budget Bicycle. She needs a little sprucing up and her chain is embarrassing. I'm going to take her over this week as I want to hit that trail again on Wednesday (maybe). We've got CAM #7 next Saturday, so that may be pushing it.