We left Seattle at 5pm and arrived at "Horse Camp" around 8pm. As soon as we arrived, we set up camp, then jumped on our bikes for a night Mtn bike ride up Table Mtn trail. Ugh, it was tough riding in the dusty horse track. I had to hang back as being the third person, the dust was so bad I could hardly see the trail at times. We dropped our bikes at one point to find the "edge" of Diamond Head Mtn and our first Geo Cache. We ended up being out about 3 hours before returning to camp for some food and a good night's sleep.
In the morning, which was chilly! we were out of camp by 7:30am. We started on bikes, heading up Mt. Lillian. We were looking for "virtual" checkpoints that Murray had put on the map, as well as geo caches. We found our points without trouble (and a little help from the GPS). Part of our route included a 2500 ft descent down to Devils Gultch. We descended a ridge and made it to our check point, and water without trouble. We then took a chance opting to ascend back up a different ridge to our next checkpoint. We had some doubt as to whether we would be able to cross the steepest section safely, but decided to try it. Well, the steepest section was a bit sketchy, so in the end, we backed off. This meant descending the 2500 feet we had just climbed all the way back to Devils Gultch, then back up the way we had originally descended. Whew! Tough work, but great training!
We decided we needed to end on a high point, so after regaining the ridge, and finding our bikes, we went for our last Geo Cache on Grouse Mountain. Murray was hoping to be home by dinner time, but going for Grouse Mountain meant him missing dinner with Lisa - sorry Lisa! We did make it to the summit during the early evening, which was beautiful. Then it was a short 10k back to the car, camp and the ride home.
I had a great time with Peteris and Murray, and can't wait until our next race. Thanks guys, for a great day that kicked my butt!
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