he so can't lie well

I was annoyed when my rather shrill alarm clock (is there any other kind?) bit me in the ear this morning. Stupid alarm clock and stupid morning. I was in the middle of a delicious dream that had me with a skinny, long-legged figure sitting in the sun on some beach talking to various friends whose heads were morphed onto one body. In dreams, that's normal and not at all disturbing...in fact, if I could somehow repeat this morph in real life, it would save me a lot of time.

Anyway, my dream was interrupted so that I could get up and go ride. I'm not sure why I'm so tired this weekend, but the last thing I wanted to do each morning was get up. I did, however, want to ride. So...get up I did today and drag my 30 pound mountain bike down the stairs. I'm sure my neighbors want to kill me, cause this morning it was 'clunk, clunk, clunk' down 20 steps. I just didn't have the shoulder strength to hoist Nellie up high and carry her with any dignity. Sometimes, I just roll her one step at a time, much to the chagrin of anyone sleeping.

I arrived at Herb's on time and after a few minutes of him putting a special bar on Nellie (don't know the name) to make it so that she fits on his bike rack (I guess my bike frame is on the tiny side, although I don't see it that way), we were driving toward our ride destination, Stough Canyon. We were driving through thick fog too. So thick, that when I drove to Herb's initially, I had to turn my high beams on just to make out the road in front of me - spooky! But typical of California weather (fickle, fickle), the fog cleared the higher we got up into the Burbank hills.




At the top of Stough where we always park, it was sunny bright and already unjustly warm. Damn. We'd hoped to beat the heat or even to just get a respite while climbing with the fog cooling us and all. Nope. It had burned off of the hills above the city and up there it was toasty. We strapped on our helmets, clipped in and pealed up the first paved hill in a less than enthusiastic manner. Of course, Herb's quads were still smarting from all the climbing he did yesterday. I had no such claim to pain (or excuse to take it easy) since I'd cut the climbing out yesterday and escorted Lisa back to her place. The last thing I allowed myself to do today was take it easy.




Right out the gate and up the first, very steep, rocky dirt climb, I threw it into overdrive and powered past the section that usually whips my tail from the get-go. Yippee! I got up it to a landing and stopped to get my heart rate down. Herb passed me at this point, red in the face. Did I mention it was warm? I clipped back in and followed, never once having to walk any of the steep hills in the beginning. We did take a few breaks but not like we normally do. Mostly, we just pushed through and enjoyed the pretty views around us while our hearts beat to their own drums within our ears.





Herb had a right to complain today although he did not. He was tired, I could tell. But he managed to stay up with me (miss fresh legs) for most of the morning. I pushed hard and sweated buckets. Lucky for me, I wore my arm coolers (De Soto brand - best ever!) and put my normal pigtails up into Princess Leia buns. I looked funny as hell (not a real flattering look on my rather pronounced head and chubby cheeks) but it kept my neck cool. When I mentioned my choice in hairstyle today, Herb looked at me, wrinkled his nose and said as sweetly as possible, "I think you look kinda cute." He so can't lie well.





It was at the 'lawn chairs' section (that's what I've nicknamed it) that we were treated to the most dramatic views of downtown LA covered in the remaining blanket of coastal fog. I sat on one of the chairs but Herb remained standing just in front of me. The other chair was already taken by the boldest (and cutest) little lizard I think I've ever seen. I took a ton of pics of him (to show Boo later) and he didn't so much as flinch and he sure as hell didn't offer Herb his seat. So, Herb and I left him there, and the three of us enjoyed the views in silence.





The final stretch was easier as we were both warmed up. I was full of endorphins, too - which are my antidepressants and antipsychotics in one dose. I was grinning and yippeeing for no real reason. Guess I was just happy to be out there.

Herb said he was having fun as well - up until he fell over the side of the Towers fence. We'd ridden up there, sat for a brief bit (talking to some other folks out enjoying the trail) and when we mounted our bikes to ride off carefully from the ledge, Herb's handle bar caught the chain-length fence, sending him somersaulting over the edge. I heard him yell, "Oh, sh*t!", dismounted my bike and ran back up to help him. I was worried he would be badly hurt as it's a bit of a fall!




Luckily, he somehow landed on his feet not too far down and was okay other than a slightly bruised/sprained leg and hip. He could have broken his fool head or worse, so really it wasn't too bad. His bike was fine too, but he kept saying how stupid he was. I kept yelling at him to stop that. Honestly, it could have happened to me just as easily. I'm never riding up in that narrow section again after that happened to him. Knowing my luck, I would break my fool head and fall all the way to the very bottom of the mountain.




Once that scare was over, we descended without incident. My back tire did slippy-slide all over though. I got cocky and descended even faster than the last time. But truthfully, I never felt scared. I'm getting the hang of it, I think. My goal(s) for next year haven't been decided but I suspect it will involve some dirt. Nothing kicks my butt more! In fact, as I type this, I'm really tired. I'll be in bed by 8:30pm, I bet.

Tomorrow? - back to the grind and a run in the evening on the track (well, run/skip/walk/stairs/meander...whatever).