Training and raining

Training goals for the last weekend before the event: Have fun, get a good workout, don’t get hurt.

It had rained all week, so Mount Diablo, which would normally be on the schedule, was out, based on our experience last year with bay mud out there. We did Dimond/Joaquin Miller last week, so we went for Soquel Demo, which has two grinding climbs, good drainage, and skippable injury risks.

Chris tried to win Biggest Flake by not showing up for the last training ride, but Corbin beat him out for failing to show up for a ride that not only had been moved from last week at his request, but also is actually located on the street where he lives.

So we wound up with me, Dragon and Bevin cranking up Sulphur Springs Road and discussing autonomous vehicles to attempt to keep our minds off the mindless climb. (Speaking of things Chris missed out on.)

The climb was chilly, with rain and even some hail, but the precipitation stopped right when we hit the peak, and the sun peeked through the clouds shortly after, lighting up the forest beautifully and treating us to some sun dogs.

The descent was fun, but everything was so wet that we passed on a lot of the stunts. Traction on the trail was fine, but wood was slippery as ice. Even Dragon dialed back his riding a bit, though he still managed to win the Best Biff, First Blood, and Cliffside Retrieval competitions.

On to Fruita!