This past week was an eventful one to say the least, but included a good amount of down time, which was nice. Tuesday I went up to the cities for a going away party for my friend Annie. She is leaving today for Tanzania, where she will be teaching English and other things at a rural bible college. It was a fun group, with people from Amery and people from the U of M ski club.
Work has been slow for a few weeks, so last Friday was a forced vacation day. I took of for my parents Thursday night, with a stop in Anoka to visit with Annie for a bit. Friday I got a good rollerski in and had a chance to catch up to my parents and grandparents a bit, which was really nice.
Saturday I made the trek with my Trek up to Seeley to get some mountain biking in and cheer for my friend Allie who was running her first marathon. I ran the Birkie marathon last year and it was a blast, but I've had enough of the racing for a bit and decided my mountain bike was underused. The CAMBA (Cable area mountain bike association) trails were pretty baller, the singletrack defiantly pushed my technical biking skills to the limit.
I took off with a rough plan but forgot to grab a map, and started down the wrong trail immediately, so working off my rough memory of the trail system and my general knowledge of the Birkie trail I headed south to try to find a race. I explored a few different trails, and managed to work my way to the Gravel Pit trail head, where I figured I could pick up a map. Right when I pulled up I saw a few runners going by who I guessed were about Jallie's speed, and then Jallie ran by, what great timing! It caught me by surprise actually, so I cheered extra loud because I was happy to have found her, and that my timing was spot on despite a complete lack of plan following. I grabbed a map and took off after her.
The singletrack trail I followed back towards OO where I parked weaves around a lot and crosses the Birkie trail at many locations, so cheering worked out really well. If I got behind I would have to take some risks on some of the downhills and corners to catch up, and if I got ahead I had time to check the map or snap a couple photos. Jallie's pace was good the whole way, and I got a great workout trying to keep up.
After OO my nice parallel trail disappeared, so I took some more adventures off on other trails and lost track of Jallie for a bit. Then when I was ready for a break I cruised up to high point and waited there for her to show up. After that I leapfrogged ahead a bit on the Birkie trail, and eventually found some more single track that ran along the trail in towards Telemark lodge. Jallie finished well and was still walking around afterwards, which is always a good sign after a marathon. I also ran into the Stone family and chatted with them for a bit. Michelle was doing the 1/2 marathon hike, and Mandy was doing the 5k so she could get a bit of mountain biking in afterwards as well. I also ran into Joy Keller who was on a relay team. After a bit of socializing I hit the trails back to OO and really pushed myself. I got some good gravel road riding in, and got back on the Birkie trail in time to do the climbs at 16, 18, 20, and 22km. By the time I got back to my car I was worn out.
Then I cruised back to the cities to meet Annie and some friends for her birthday meal at Old Spaghetti Factory. A great way to fill the tanks back up after all that biking, and a really fun crew to hang out with. After that we went out to the bars for a bit.
Then I headed home to get some sleeping in. I actually slept a good chunk of the day Sunday as well, knowing I had to go in to work at 10:30. Not the most exciting birthday, but I'm ok with that I guess. There were machine troubles at work, and they only got worse over the next few days. Things look like they are getting back on track finally today, although it's too soon to tell for sure yet.
No comments:
Post a Comment