Friday, May 01, 2009

Idyllwild Spring Challenge pre-ride


it's already Friday... this week is flying by. I have been really busy at work as of late and there are no signs of it stopping. This means a lot of working in the evenings and later at night. I really don't mind. My schedule for the most part is pretty flexible and having to work odd hours occasionally is small price to pay for that.

After working late on Tuesday night (I got home a little after 10pm) I was stoked. Stoked because I had Wednesday off of work and was going to be heading out to Hurkey Creek to pre-ride the Idyllwild Spring Challenge course with Trevor. I have heard how awesome the riding is out there and have never made the trek. So Wednesday morning Trevor cruised over and we hit the road.

We got to the park just after 10am and hit it. We were armed with a course map and turn by turn directions (3 pages worth) since the course wasn't fully marked yet. Lets just say that navigating all the turns with out having ever ridden out there was pretty tough. There were a lot of turns early on so we had to stop and read the map often.

map and directions.


course profile.


The course IS killer. The trails out there are definitely some of the best, if not the best I have ridden in southern California. As awesome as they are the course relentless. The race on Saturday is going to be tough. There is quite a bit of climbing including one of the steepest climbs i have ever done in a race, plenty of hike-a-bike sections, and some technical descending. I can't wait to race.

We spent about 3.5 hours out there riding with only a couple of wrong turns. It was a perfect day. Not a cloud in the sky and we didn't see anybody esle out on the trail until the final miles. I wish I had every Wednesday off!

I had to work again last night unitl 11pm and will probably have take of some things tonight too! No worries...

Saturday is all about racing and then Ryan and Sarah are cruising up for a post-race BBQ. So this afternoon I will be picking the supplies, which includes a growler fill of West Coast IPA at Green Flash.

6 comments:

ll said...

yer just amazing dude managing to fit it all in!

good luck tomorrow bro!

Luke said...

hike-a-bike?? (inside joke)...met a cocky semi-pro when i first moved out here that swore there was no hike-a-bike out there! riding through 6 inches of sand up a steep pitch...he must have been pretty talented! ;)

rest up bud...c ya tomorrow!!

Pedal Circles said...

Jealous!! I love riding up there and the weather was probably spectacular on Wednesday!

Have a fun BBQ too. We're doing turkey taco's! :)

Unknown said...

wish i was gonna be out there duking it out with ya... major bummer.

word verification: restly

Gordon said...

Godd luck up there! My friend Mary will be racing in the Open Class (just look for the redhead on an Intense). The riding up there is amazing, one of the best trails I've ridden.

Ryan Weeger said...

Which am I looking forward to most, the race course or the green flash....gf!