Really tough training ride with Ex, my team mate Heidi (who is back from a crash/pelvic fracture), and two other great riders, Heathpack, and Mike. I'm going to be doing the Mariposa Stage Race in May, which is an all woman race, all climbing, and Ex is whipping me into as much climbing shape as can be done (hey, I'm a sprinter). So, yesterday we did Kings Mountain/Tunitas Creek, which is a "back road" south of San Francisco. It goes over the spine of the mountains running along the coast. It's in a deep redwood forest, it's a very twisty, steep road with not much traffic (other than half the South Bay Area's cyclists), and was major fun. It was a warm day, not hot, but warm enough. Ex came up to me on the way up and teased me about how much I love climbing (because I was crawling along at 6 MPH). Actually, I don't mind climbing at all. I do it like a TT - slow! It hurts, I suffer, what's not to like? The descent on the way back into Woodside was very technical and some kind of awesome. I was taking it easy at first, right behind Heathpack, then Ex came around us (I don't how he can descend as fast as he does), so I passed Heathie and tried to bridge up to Ex, Heidi and Mike. Heidi and Mike I caught (but not too close, in case something happened), and Ex - I'd see him up there every now and then a turn or two ahead of us. I haven't had opportunity to descend like that in quite some time, in fact I pushed the Look harder than I ever have. Not uncomfortable, but probably 85 - 90%. I stepped the back wheel out a couple of times in bumpy corners under braking, but hey - no worries!
It was a hard, fun, day!
Then we drank beer and ate.
