Arrow Rock Dam

Saturday we rode from Camel’s Back Park to Arrowrock Dam-quite the jaunt. It’s 50 miles round trip, up and over Hilltop (by Lucky Peak) to the end of the pavement before Arrowrock Dam and back. I guess the pavement ends about 100 yards from the dam, but you can’t see the dam from the end of the pavement. I’ll have to drive it sometime just to see it. It really was a pretty ride, and going up Hilltop, this time, wasn’t so labor intensive. I love that muscle memory! I also made a new friend that will be kept close on all rides from here on out. That friend? Sharkies! LOVE them! I kept popping a little sharkie in my mouth every time we stopped and didn’t feel the muscle fatigue that I felt the first time going up hilltop. Once we reached the top, we rested. Anna decided that she was done and headed back home. Cheri didn’t see Anna go back the way we came and thought she went on, so Cheri went chasing after her down the backside of the hill. I took off after Cheri, but when she’s headed down a hill, there’s no catching her. Then, I realized that since I had never been to Arrow Rock Dam, I didn’t know the exact way to go. By this time, Cheri was out of sight. I am very thankful for road signs! Allison followed after me, and then Joe brought up the rear. He didn’t want to go too fast due to breaking a spoke on the way up the front side of the hill. (I learned something about spokes on this ride. They really help keep the tire in balance. Joe’s back tire was wobbly the rest of the ride, but we all made it back safely.)

It’s a really weird sensation after working hard to go up the hill, then not working so hard to go down the hill. Once at the bottom, I felt like I was still going downhill. I turned around to Allison and said, “We’re still going down.” Later she repeated that to me. Finally we stopped to let Joe catch up to us which didn’t take long (still missing Cheri). When we mentioned that we were still going downhill, Joe said that we weren’t. The road was more flat and small rolling hills. Must have been an optical illusion, but he was right. Even coming back towards the turnoff felt easier.

Just before we got to the end of the road, Cheri passed us heading the other way. We smiled and said hi, thinking she would stop and wait for us, but she didn’t. I was guessing that she was going to start climbing the hill, thinking we would catch her partway up or at the top. Well, we made it to the end of the paved road and turned around (after taking a few photos). Then stopped at the marina to use the facilities and to refill/top off our water bottles. Finally, we were on our way, back up the 2-mile steeper incline that we had to climb in order to get back to the top of hilltop. Just before we started climbing, Allison called out that she had a flat tire. It was a perfect place to pull over (getting refreshed by sprinklers) and replaced the tube and we were on our way again. That hill is intimidating to ride up. There was one point where I wobbled over to a little pull out when Allison called, “We are almost there!!!” I wobbled back to the road and kept going. Allison thought we were closer to the top than we really were. I finally asked Joe to please tell me that what I was seeing was really the top. He did. In fact, just beyond the yellow sign was the top. We were nearly there, when all of a sudden, we spotted Cheri coming down the hill towards us. She crossed the road and got in line with us and when we made it to the top, she let us know that she had stopped and had lunch at the restaurant up there on hilltop while she waited for us, something she had wanted to do since she and Brad started riding. Then she got to thinking that perhaps we went on by her without seeing her and came to look for us. From there, it was all downhill.

Sunday morning, I took Molly for a walk and, as usual, stretched half way through. When I was done stretching, I took a few steps and noticed that there were muscles in my bum that hurt with every step. Then I noticed that the sore muscles were in my thighs and calves. The walk must have woken them up. Sunday was a day of stretching and resting.

50 miles, 4 hours 9 minutes. 12.3 mph Average Speed. 58 ??? mph Max Speed (I don’t think so-computer must be a little wacked). Total Miles on my bike: 320.4.