Happy New Year 2009

I rang the new year in right with a White Russian; making good use of Holly's White Elephant gift. Thanks, babe!

We're such wimps, we watched the East Coast feed of the ball dropping in Times Square and passed out by 10 PM. Party animals.

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A few weeks ago, I got the idea for a New Year's epic ride. I'm sure lots of people do something similar, but I got the idea from the Inland Inferno Triathlon Club, who do a huge "Resolution Ride" every year near Mt Baldy. The original route was supposed to be The Gabrielino Trial that I solo back packed in 2005, but the recent storms made trail conditions unpredictable. The second option I came up with was the San Juan Super Loop created by Doug Andrews, but reports of trail conditions on Holy Jim canceled that one as well. Late Wednesday night, a core group of Ryan, Eric H, Steph, Dan and myself agreed on San Juan at 9AM. Justin and Allison arriving at the trail head pleasantly surprised me...and then there were 7.

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Ryan, Steph and Allison at the start, Justin in the background. A little chilly in the canyon as always. San Juan never disappoints for technicality or awesome views. Ryan climbing up to the "strip show" where most of us peeled off a layer or more.
Steph...apologies for the digital zoom. Meh.

Dan. Gettin' it done all day. Nice.

Allison rode strong all day as well despite admitting to "not feeling so hot" the night before.This looked better with the naked eye. *shrug*Justin managed to twist a link in his chain (something I'd never seen in 7 years of racing) and while we stopped to fix it, Luke rides up. He said he'd decided to ride at the last minute once he woke up. Once he got out front, we never saw him again though it's an out and back trail. Huh? Some miscommunication near the top and I wound up riding solo to Blue Jay.

Serious storm damage up there; downed trees all over the place requiring several hike-a-bikes to traverse the blockages. Blue Jay was also closed due to "Hazardous conditions"; I.E. more downed trees. I looked for Luke (no luck) and waited for Ryan to show up (also no luck) and figured Luke snuck by me somehow and Ryan must have made a wrong turn and headed back down. I began my descent, plagued by drive train issues the rest of the day (the new one is at the shop when I go back to work on Monday. Woot!).

We regrouped at Cocktail Rock (still no Luke, but Ryan made it back OK) and headed back down the trail. Another great ride on SJT despite the miscues. We said our "goodbyes" to Eric H. (moving East for work) and went our separate ways.

The calf and hip both continue to improve, though the lack of intensity and MTB riding in my training showed clearly today as technical spots got the best of me and my heart rate soared. More MTB riding in the next mesocycle for sure.

Happy New Year! Make it a great one!

E.