I’ve been trying to get this ride together for awhile, but one thing or another gets in the way. First time, I tried with a PSBBG++ ride, but only had 1 taker. And even when doing this, both of us didn’t have it in us to do the whole ride. Then, last week I scheduled it, but this was the day after doing Hicks and Metcalf. That would have been a bit much. So I got a request from Marco asking if I’d be up for it this Saturday … Hell yeah.
When we got to the climbs, that’s where we got separated. I just concentrated on getting a good cadence, not going into zone 4, and just maintain a comfortable pace.
Even when you do ride Diablo solo, you do find camaraderie with others who ride solo, and sync up with others at about your pace. This happened to me on this climb. I climbed with Dave, who is FC 508 veteran. Chatting with someone at your climbing ability really make the time go by, and make the work not quite so bad. We chatted away until a idle past the 3000 foot level and that’s where he went on ahead. I was not in a hurry to try to catch him either.
By the time I got to the wall, I still felt good. This was a out better than last time, where everything ached.
Got up to the top in about 1:30, which is one of my better times. Funny how when you don’t try going for it, you get a surprisingly great time, and when you go for it, you end up languishing.
Getting down the hill, Marco and Ruth definitely had the advantage over me. They go down fast. They’d wait for me, and on the uphill, I’d have the upper hand, and I’d wait for them. We took our time getting to Morgan Territory, as we know it will take its toll on our body.
When we finally started climbing Morgan Territory, the scenery was a little lush, and the climbs were like a stair steep climb. It would climb, level off, descend, then climb again. It was also deceiving, as I would see what would appear to be the last switchback, but it would still continue. It’s like this climb would never end. At this point, my back was starting to ache. This is the same feeling I had the last time I did Diablo, but at least I felt stronger this time.
It has been a long time since I last did Morgan Territory (about 3 years), but it all started to come back to me. The last descent before the final pitch up to the park is one I remember. Finally, I slowly rolled into the park, and I remember having my head bent down, and just taking long deep breaths, just to help recover.
After some much deserved rest, and recovery, it’s time to take the plunge … A hair raising fast descent. This is what it’s all about.
From here, it was a spring back to the cats, and drafting behind Marco and Ruth, powering the tandem all the way back. What an awesome day, awesome ride … It was hard, tough, but it was all good.
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