aftermath

It is entirely possible that I overdid it on our Brighton ridge run hike.  By Saturday early evening, my quads and calves were tightening up, due to the steep sections that I was under-fit for.  And I ended up having to take a nap - due to the heat and extra mileage - which meant we skipped the Snowbird Cool Air Concert.  By the time Sunday morning rolled around, my quads were very sore and I was avoiding going down any stairs at all cost.

But MTBing seemed like something we should do, to shake off the cobwebs and loosen things up.  We managed to get over to Round Valley and on the trails by 9 a.m.  There were enough cars in the parking lot that I ended up being surprised when we didn't see more than a couple of dog-walkers on the front half of our ride.  We did have to stop for a few minutes to encourage a tiny baby desert cottontail off the trail and into the sagebrush; while H shooed him away, I drank a lot of water and was grateful to rest my legs.

Grimace? Smile?  Hard to say exactly

I have not had enough time on the MTB this summer to get my groove back entirely, continuing to be skittish on rocky downhills.  I'm working on it and H and I have decided to go back to parking at the in-town lot to give me another four-ish miles on the bike.  This day, I did manage to ride a couple of sections pretty well and surprised myself by riding all but two of the Sweet Sixteen switchbacks, those two being the ones I have never ridden.  I did spew an impressive string of obscenities while wrestling my MTB up one rocky switchback - but I rode it without putting my foot down, and if high volume swearing is what it takes, then that's what I'll do.

By the time we'd gotten to the far side, however, my legs were toast.  H took the newer portion of our dirt trail back while I cruised the paved bike path.  He beat me back to the truck although only by 30 seconds or so - he'd clearly been held up by other trail users because I was s l o w.  Moral of the story:  do your MTBing the day before you do a big hike or suffer the consequences.  (Said suffering was alleviated somewhat by judicious application of G&Ts at home Sunday evening.)