Every once in a while Opportunity, Circumstances, Environment, Timing and Chance come together in a cacaphonic chaotic way to create a day that you will remember for the rest of your Life.
Yesterday was one of those rare days when it all came together.
It had little to do with...
how fast I went...
how far I went...
how high I climbed...
or how fast I came down.
But for the record...
I did the 20 mile climb to Hurricane Ridge in 3 hrs 13 mins for a 6.3 mph avg with a total vertical ascent of 5200' and averaged about 30 mph coming down the winding rain-slicked road which were all stats reflecting the fact that I was on my personal best and the limits of my capabilities all day long.
Let me pick up from where I left the Heart of the Hills Campground because that was when it really started getting interesting.
First of all, I had been told that the 12 miles from Heart of the Hills to the top
of Hurricane Ridge was only a grade of 2 - 4%....
WRONG! It was between 5 - 7% the whole way!
Second, the whole route yesterday was socked in....
Well, let me just stop right there and show you how the day went.
So I left the Blacktail doe and 2 fawns at HOTH Campground and immediately began climbing into this world of....
Mist, Fog and Shadows...
Where the line between what was real and what was imagined became one...
At one point I had to wipe the combined sweat and mist from my eyes because I swore I saw a huge, hairy shape cross the road at the limit of my impaired vision.
I shook my head and blinked...
And it was gone.
By now I was at least an hour and a half into the climb when I decided to pull over and have a couple of cheese Danishes I had nabbed from the breakfast served at the motel that morning.
So I'm snarfing down some calories when I look up and flying out of the mist was this guy on a bike.
He passed me like I was standing still....
Cause I was standing still.
First thing I thought was -
Who besides me would be crazy enough to be riding his bike up a mountain on a day like today?
Second thing I thought was -
Oh Heck No! I ain't letting you just ride past me without giving chase!
I mean from the glimpse I saw before he disappeared into the mist, this guy looked skinny, serious and had all the right equipment including a fast looking road bike...
And here I am... Big legged fat butted Redneck in a now drenched Columbia fishing shirt, a fast becoming drenched pair of Mountain Bike shorts riding the Red Mule.
I mean Come On - me chasing this guy is like a Mule for Sister Sarah chasing Secretariat.
But I didn't care.... I saddled the Red Mule and took off like my shorts were on fire which they could have been cause I was so hot.
So Flash is at least 100 yards ahead of me which is like a mile when you're climbing a steep hill but I got Korn blaring in my ears and so much sugar and fat from the Danishes coursing through my body that I'm like PCP man - I mean I got it in overdrive and I'm chasing Mystery Man at about 10 - 12 mph up this steep grade....
Oh boy - I'm locked in now because we have visual....
So somehow I catch up to this guy and ride up beside him and...
Continued on next post!
No comments:
Post a Comment