This past Friday, I parlayed a ride up to Tahoe with an R&R (ride 'n run) in Auburn and Colfax. I had been wanting to ride the Clementine Loop for over a month, but the rocky singletrack and steep drop-offs down to the river have had me terrified. With the hope of working on obstacle #1 (the fear -- My First 50K...Riding), I geared up in full padding (helmets, arms/elbows and knees and shins) and set out on the 6.5-mile loop. I surprisingly managed the flat, technical singletrack and steady climbs for the first 3.5 miles. But then I got to the backside - steep downhills on singletrack with some pretty gnarly terrain at parts. I was alone and panicked. :( No, literally, I freaked -- staring down the rocky hillside no more than 3 feet wide. Feeling short of breath, lightheaded and heart racing, I turned back. Obstacle #1 just became a little bigger. 
(Left: rocky drop-offs are no friend of mine!)
I feel like such a pansy ass, as I think now on how I turned my back on that opportunity to overcome some of my fears. I rode back down, the same route from which I had just come. Such a wuss! As I flew back down the curvy road, I was already pissed at myself and knew that this was going to be a big thorn in my side for the rest of the day -- I had walked (rode) away and I shouldn't have. What happened to "stare down the fear, Kona?!?!" Once I got back down, I double-backed and re-did and triple-did all of the hills, climbs and some of the really technical singletracks with steep dropoffs on one side (for a total of about 10 miles) -- and I felt a teensy bit better at having conquered those again. But even now, I'm still pissed at myself for turning back on the downhill. I know that if someone else had been there with me, I likely would have given it a go because I don't give up in front of people. But seeing as how I was alone, I just couldn't see risking crashing big time and not having anyone to help me. And I could really use some good pointers on how to tackle some of the rocky downhills. I'm a good, fast learner -- but I'd rather not do it on my own. Oh well...excuses, excuses. All lame excuses. I have to get this thorn out of my side and fast!
Try, try, I must.
After my ride (R1), I made a pit stop at my favorite Auburn eatery, Ikedas, and fueled up on an ice cold orange freeze. Yum! When down and out, always good to rely on food/beer/drinks to pick you up again. Refreshed and no doubt on a major sugar high, I continued up the hill, stopping at 2500' in the quaint town of Colfax. Stevens Trail is one of my favorite trail runs as it drops 4.5 miles into one of the most gorgeous, secluded canyons along the middle fork of the American River. Then, it's a 4.5 mile climb out for a grand total of over 5400' of elevation change -- not too shabby for 9 miles!
In the past I've always run it holding two big water bottles (28oz. each), but I inevitably run out of fluid with about 2 miles to the top. Given my back issues, I don't like to run with a hydration pack because I get nervous about the weight on my back and my left leg usually goes numb on climbs. But seeing as how I've recently upped the ante on my core strengthening program, I thought this would be a good time to try out my “new & improved” back and see how it would fare. So I filled up the Salomon pack and set out down the trail.
The trail was pretty overgrown and there were many sections on the lower half where it was difficult to even see the trail. It required A LOT of focus on footwork to navigate the windy singletrack, especially with the 100-foot dropoffs into the river canyon below me. Still, as I am prone to do when running in such serene settings, I found myself lost in thoughts of nothingness. I might as well have been running blindfolded for I simply let my feet carry me down the trail. This often works, but not always. As I oh so painfully learned today. An extemely overgrown and curvy section caught me stumbling over a few rocks and before I could stop, I found myself making a graceful volleyball dive into some brambling bushes. But ouch -- Wait! These were thorny blackberry bushes and just when I thought I would crash down and hit the hard ground, I found myself falling still deeper into the bushes, off the trail, and down the steep slope. Uh-oh! Eventually, the weight of the branches stopped my fall (though they did NOT soften it!) and I found myself about 8 ft below the trailhead, feet digging into the mountainside (around a 5.2 pitch, I'd guess) and wondering how the hell I was going to climb back up with nothing to grab onto but thorny branches. My left arm was throbbing with thickers and thorns sticking out of my once smooth skin. What a thorny mess!
I still don't know how I did it. Probably the endorphins and adrenaline from the the fall enabled me to quickly assess the situation, figure out a safe route, and climb out without sliding further down the side or suffering more bodily damage. As soon as I got out, I sprinted (yes, even though I had just carelessly taken a nosedive into a blackberry bush, I still ran as fast I could down steep terrain) to the river where I jumped into the cold water to stop the bleeding and get all of those stinging thorns out of my body. They friggin' hurt! I wondered, "is this what it feels like to get struck by a porcupine's quills?" Probably not, but it definitely felt like a hundred stinging paper cuts and that’s not a very nice feeling. :(
I sat on a rock in the middle of the river (the river is very, very low) for about 5 minutes and did my best to clean out my wounds using my Survivor buff and remove all of the tiny white thickers. What a clumsy dork I am! Here I go out on a ride, fully padded up as if I were the Michelin mascot and I come back completely scotch-free. And then I wear nothing for a casual, easy run that I've done a dozen times, and I get beat up by a blackberry bush! Murphy's Law? Probably. But seeing as how I wasn't seriously injured and hadn't fallen off a steeper drop-off, I sat in that refreshingly cold river, counted my blessings and laughed. Laughed loud and good, I did. What an ironically marvelous day! A ride, a freeze, a run, a fall, a thorn and more. Does it get any better than this? Bloodied and bruised, I knew it could have been better…but for the time being, I was content. Playing in nature, I found myself alive. And truly, I did feel alive!
With my left arm and leg (which suffered most of the impact) still stinging, I looked to those pain endorphins to me help me climb out of the depths of that canyon and forget all those nagging thorns in my side, real and metaphorical. Amazingly, I managed the 4.5 mile uphill trek faster than I have ever done, injured no less. (Thoughts of good cold beer waiting for me up in Tahoe also helped!) While I certainly don't advocate injury for the sake of a PR, you just gotta make the most of it when the situation presents itself.
And as I climbed out of that river canyon, I sarcastically chuckled about how I was too afraid to fly downhill on a bike (fully padded) for fear of shattering my "cracked eggshell back" into a thousand pieces. And yet I don't blink to fly downhill (no pads) on terrain even more rocky and steep when I run. Humble life lesson #9,026. Just learning as I go.
Later that night, after a rewarding meal of Hacienda tacos and ice cold Corona, I sat in a steaming shower and removed all of the remaining blackberry thorns from my body. I think there may still be a few more festering inside, but they’ll heal naturally soon enough – and they make for some great battle wounds to show off in the office this week (yes, I will still wear my skirts and dresses!).
As for that other thorn in my side, I shall see about removing that one in very short order.
Keep your fingers crossed!
Kona Grrrrr-I’m going to learn how to ride downhill even if it breaks me!-Girl
I still don't know how I did it. Probably the endorphins and adrenaline from the the fall enabled me to quickly assess the situation, figure out a safe route, and climb out without sliding further down the side or suffering more bodily damage. As soon as I got out, I sprinted (yes, even though I had just carelessly taken a nosedive into a blackberry bush, I still ran as fast I could down steep terrain) to the river where I jumped into the cold water to stop the bleeding and get all of those stinging thorns out of my body. They friggin' hurt! I wondered, "is this what it feels like to get struck by a porcupine's quills?" Probably not, but it definitely felt like a hundred stinging paper cuts and that’s not a very nice feeling. :(
I sat on a rock in the middle of the river (the river is very, very low) for about 5 minutes and did my best to clean out my wounds using my Survivor buff and remove all of the tiny white thickers. What a clumsy dork I am! Here I go out on a ride, fully padded up as if I were the Michelin mascot and I come back completely scotch-free. And then I wear nothing for a casual, easy run that I've done a dozen times, and I get beat up by a blackberry bush! Murphy's Law? Probably. But seeing as how I wasn't seriously injured and hadn't fallen off a steeper drop-off, I sat in that refreshingly cold river, counted my blessings and laughed. Laughed loud and good, I did. What an ironically marvelous day! A ride, a freeze, a run, a fall, a thorn and more. Does it get any better than this? Bloodied and bruised, I knew it could have been better…but for the time being, I was content. Playing in nature, I found myself alive. And truly, I did feel alive!
With my left arm and leg (which suffered most of the impact) still stinging, I looked to those pain endorphins to me help me climb out of the depths of that canyon and forget all those nagging thorns in my side, real and metaphorical. Amazingly, I managed the 4.5 mile uphill trek faster than I have ever done, injured no less. (Thoughts of good cold beer waiting for me up in Tahoe also helped!) While I certainly don't advocate injury for the sake of a PR, you just gotta make the most of it when the situation presents itself.
And as I climbed out of that river canyon, I sarcastically chuckled about how I was too afraid to fly downhill on a bike (fully padded) for fear of shattering my "cracked eggshell back" into a thousand pieces. And yet I don't blink to fly downhill (no pads) on terrain even more rocky and steep when I run. Humble life lesson #9,026. Just learning as I go.
Later that night, after a rewarding meal of Hacienda tacos and ice cold Corona, I sat in a steaming shower and removed all of the remaining blackberry thorns from my body. I think there may still be a few more festering inside, but they’ll heal naturally soon enough – and they make for some great battle wounds to show off in the office this week (yes, I will still wear my skirts and dresses!).
As for that other thorn in my side, I shall see about removing that one in very short order.
Keep your fingers crossed!
Kona Grrrrr-I’m going to learn how to ride downhill even if it breaks me!-Girl
4 comments:
Geez AT!
When I gave you your new nickname, I didn't mean you're supposed to try out all terrain. Or are you just thinking that you are playing Brer Rabbit and checking out the bramble bushes?? ;-)
Take it easy on yourself or you will never be ready for a full moon trail run!
It is so much easier to do something stupid (oh, I meant scary) in the great outdoors if you have someone with you. Therefore, I suggest that you find someone to ride that one section of hill with. Make them go first and follow along trying to match what they do. I'd do it if if I was in the neighborhood;)
I know how it goes with those nagging doubts when confronting somewhat scary situations. Last weekend I nearly turned around on solo hike/scramble because of the exposure to injury. Eventually I tried all my steep dirt climbing and snow shuffling tricks and crossed the dangerous areas without incident. Of course if someone was there (or within 8 miles of there!) I would have easily climbed it without thinking twice.
The bike/orange freeze/run combo is a great tactic for a fun summer day. Pizza and beer afterwards would be my addition. Those are some serious battle wounds!
Yup...just trying to be Brer Rabbit! Plus I was hungry for some of those tasty blackberries. ;) AT
Wow, Adam! A scramble requiring all those tricks...you are sooooo much more adventurous than me. You'll have to teach me sometime. I do much better when I'm on my own feet versus a piece of metal.
Looooove beer and pizza...but you can't top $1 beer and $1 tacos at Haciendas.
BTW, the pics don't come even CLOSE to showing how bad some of the bruising and cuts are on my upper thigh...all that fatty tissue bruises more than muscle ;)
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