40 years old and still getting trashed on the weekends
So last weekend was slightly abusive to the body.
TH and I met up with a buddy we hadn't seen since the previous mountain biking season - she'd gone and gotten herself a boyfriend, who skis as much as she does. Needless to say, she's had a lot of snow under the boards this last year. But now that's melted and with her boy gone for the weekend, she joined up with us for a post canyon climb while we caught up on things. Now, she's not a local though she's in town a lot, but she's the sort who proudly proclaims that 35mph winds trumps mountain biking any day. I'm all for it, since the days of good windsurfing means more empty miles of bike trail for me. What this means in her case is that while she's ridden at post canyon, she's only done Seven Streams, Family man, and Toilet Bowl. These trails are fun enough, but not all the county forest has to offer, and we took her slightly farther in to new territory.
The climb from the pavement up to 7streams has altered a bit, as someone's been making some much needed improvements to the don't ask-don't tell portion of the route. This chunk is littered with bridges that I managed to forget how to ride some years ago, but have so far had no issues this year. The buddy seems to have inherited the problem. I think it's the uneven edges of specific bridges that make 'em difficult. Post-7streams- trailhead is the section that was machine - rebuilt a few years back, but it's still al-climbing all the time. TH, in his normal spring warm up, had to pause to catch his breath before making the last grind up to Family Man - which is also seeing some changes. We rode past the new stunts and atop the new pump features, but mostly skipped FM to get to Baby GP, where we finally start heading downhill. Shane and Jason had plugged in a rather decent descent a season or so ago, but they used some experimental train building features that frankly didn't stand up to the traffic and rain. They've been in there fixing. It's all swoopy with doubles and bank turns and gravity reversals and smiles. It is sooooo worth the climb. Our buddy, at the base, claimed at least three orgasms on the way down. I think her new boyfriend may have some competition.
From the bottom of this trail, the choices are up Charlies (which still needs some work on the corners, oh trail builders, though it's much better then originally designed), or up spaghetti factory. We gave some trail hints and went for the pasta. Note to all who haven't been here yet - it starts with a hike a bike eroding hill, then does a great champaign glass, and shortly after there is an s-turn that most skid out on, but it's perfectly ridable if you stay to the extreme outside edge of both lobes of the S. The trail continues cross country to Mitchell Ridge, which dumps the rider at an overlook looking across and down onto the Columbia River. Which had whitecaps. The wind was picking up.
The short way down got us to 7streams and then to Post Canyon Road, at which point we parted company and our buddy headed off to surf. We went home, cleaned up, packed up, and headed to a party.
The party involved a newly remodeled home, several kittens, people who are willing to talk about absolutely any topic, jello shots, and rum. TH created a drink ayjaytea dubbed 'Lenin-aid' for reasons that were perfectly clear at the time. I got to play with some poi like devices in the basement and I didn't manage to bonk myself in the nose - a major achievement!
The next morning - and I'm still more interested in waking up early then staying out late, you know - I rousted TH, got us to ayjaytea's place and made breakfast, and then we jumped on bikes for a lap around the east side for Sunday Parkways. If you haven't heard of these or the ciclovia it's based off of, the city blocks off an 8 mile loop for residents to pedal, jog, stroll, rollerblade, ro push the pram around. In addition, they have little tent cities set up every mile or two where there are sponsor booths, food carts (it is Portland), and activities like samba classes or potato sack races. We rode at a slow-for-us pace, chatting and seeing the sights.
TH found a 50licks cart and had their maple-bacon ice-cream. I played with a hoola hoop. ayjaytea chatted seriously with folks about the MS 150 distance ride. It was a good lap. I highly recommend it.
Upon returning TH to the hobbit hole, I geared up for & was dropped off at an indoor soccer game. I used to play regularly. Oh, that's not descriptive enough: between the ages of 8 and 36 I was never without a team, and played year round, indoor or outdoor, sometimes multiple leagues at the same time. But rec only. My past teams are described as being more interested in the beer then the game. The team I was subbing on was no different, but it was still a lot of muscle memory for muscles, alas, that have atrophied. The 5k runs I've been doing kept me from being put of breath all the time, and I knew where I was supposed to be, but my reactions were not quite where they'd been. Sigh.
So TH picked me up after our 5:2 loss, and we headed off for the next activity. Yeah, not done yet!
We met the Sunday Night Hike crowd at Mt Talbert with a picnic basket in hand. Actually, it was spread out on the park bench, and I was eating it after the game. Others munched as they showed up, then we headed up the trail. The trail builder in me was impressed by the turnpiking. The park is trying to encourage oak savanna to form in spots, so we had some openings in the canopy, but the drizzle didn't seem to actually be happening, just threatening. At the top, we had an overlook where we couldn't see much (due to weather) but could clearly hear the highway. We headed onward and downward. These hikes are beginning to get longer and include some elevation changes!
So yeah, when I biked in to work on Monday morning, I was kinda surprised I didn't have a rebellion on my hands, from my hands and feet. I kinda skipped running for a few days after that. :)
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