Riding in the snow

I hate that this site wont let me post pictures!

Yesterday we signed up for the YMCA weight loss challenge at Silverdale Y. You're supposed to have 4 people on your team but the 2 people who I had first started out with had a 3rd person & then we lost Alyssa, then we lost 2 other ladies... I think we're on a team of just ourselves. I want to lose weight no matter what so I'm going to try, no matter what, and Lan needs to eat healthier because hes got hereditary high cholesterol. I don't want him to die!

After the Y we decided to take the mtn bikes out for a ride in the snow. Actually we were going to go to Banner Forest but I wanted something more difficult, something that would make me work harder, so it was me who said Wildcat Lake Trail. On the way home from the Y, I texted Les and asked him if he wanted to go too and even though hes not a mtn biker so much, hes got a mtn bike and he decided it might be fun.

We met at the trailhead at 12:30 and started out, and it was pretty fun. The temps in the parking lot were about 34* and I was scared I'd freeze but starting out uphill warmed me perfectly so I was pleasantly heated up.

The only problem I had was that Les was in front of me & he had to keep stopping and I had to stop for him. There were a few spots where I could have kept going. I felt bad for him but then realized that I used to be in his shoes on the mtn bike and that while we're out on the road bikes its me slowing him down. So I had plenty of patience and tried to encourage him.

It was funny, though, to come around a corner and find him spread eagle on his back in a bush alongside the trail.

From the trailhead to the top of Green Mountain on Wildcat Lake Trail its about 1000 feet of elevation gain. We were only able to go about 4 miles up & had to turn back because the snow was getting a little deep and then we came to a place with trees down across the road and it wasn't cleared on the other side. it wold have been too hard to ride thru the hard crunchy snow so we had to turn back.

Coming down was a lot of fun. We had all brought extra clothing to wear down & after bundling up we headed down. I wasn't too cold, it was about 30* up there, but its hard work on the core & legs to come downhill. I did great, no crashes, no getting off to make it over rough areas. I was rather proud of myself.

My official Ironman training plan had called for 90 minutes of riding, we rode for 2 hours. I was going to call that good but last night I got on my bike trainer and did the entire 90 minutes too, timed perfectly. I went to bed and slept for 15 hours.

Today I have an easier workout so I'll get to that in a few minutes, just 50 minutes of running and 35 on the bike. Easy peasy.