the Way of the Turtle

What to Do After a Du
Saturday, October 20, 2007

Let's see... after snagging some baked ziti, pizza, and an apple, I watched runners cross the finish line while stuffing my face, then packed my gear up and rode the half a mile back to the car. Climbing the hill on Wagnum Rd just wasn't fun...

As I was riding back to the car, I noticed lots of nice foliage that I hadn't seen as I blasted along at my fastest possible speed... which convinced me to ride part of the bike course again and take some pictures. So I went for a slow 7 mile ride along the Lehigh Valley trail, the Auburn trail, and the Trolley trail. I checked out the progress made in re-decking the old railroad bridge over the Auburn trail - should be able to ride that next summer! Made my way into Lehigh Crossing Park via the Beaver Bridge... and discovered that those rascally beavers have been hard at work flooding the woods between the rail trail and the interior of the park. My shoes were no longer dry by the time I made it through there!

It's always interesting to ride the course afterwards... the markings are still on the ground, of course, and today the flagging tape was still up blocking side trails... but in the hour that I was riding just about everything else was picked up and put back the way it was before the race. I saw two other riders early on, and then a group passed me as I was heading back, as did one runner. Of course, the cold wind and on-and-off showers may have had something to do with the lack of other folks on the trails...

Got back to Ann's house, did my occasional duty as a grease monkey (oil change and tire rotation on my Honda Civic) and then convinced myself to work for a while. Didn't get as much done as I should have, but more than I would have had I given in to my foremost inclination and gone to sleep (I have been up since 2 AM, after all.)

Tomorrow is the big challenge of this weekend - the Ridgewalk & Run 14 Mile trail race. I must admit, I'm more than a bit intimidated... not by the distance, but by the terrain (check out the elevation profile - dang!) and the knowledge that I'm going into this one having expended a bit of energy in today's race... I think last weekend's race order (long challenging run Saturday and sprint du Sunday) was a better idea.

Oh, well. If the weather's good, the views should be gorgeous, and if nothing else, I'm sure I'll have some sick, torturous fun on the trails tomorrow.

Time for bed... 4 AM will arrive all too quckly.

JMH