Off-road Friday?

It's not often we get out of the office and onto the trails on a weekday! Happy 4th of July!

We had set out to do ITT - Trabuco - Holy Jim, but halfway up the highway we decided to shorten it up a few miles and skip out on ITT. I didn't know it at the time, but that was a great decision.

Temps felt okay when we got out of the truck and pedaled off, but about 30 seconds later it was apparent it was going to be a very warm day. I was somewhat concerned about running out fluids, but had plenty of food, and Justin had a full 3L Camelbak, so it'd be fine.

I went with drink mix in the 1.5L bladder, which was a first for me. I've only ever used water in the pak before. So, I had 1.5L of drink mix and a 21oz bottle of water. I also dumped the bar and went with carbs only (Clif Bloks, Sport Beans, and gel). We set out just before 9:30.



I was happy I'd worn my Halo, cause sweat was already pouring down my face!

Once up at Trabuco we kept going on the fun descent! I wasn't feeling great on the bike, but was cleaning the sections and ripping downhill.



We got to the bottom pretty quickly and continued down to the Holy Jim trailhead for a quick snack. Once we took in some fuel it was time for the climb!

Temps down at the bottom of Holy Jim (trailhead parking) were great. Nice cool breeze. Once up on the exposed switchbacks it was HOT out. A few hikers, but not as crowded as I thought it might be. Justin was cleaning EVERYTHING and looking super smooth on his Downieville Destroyer. I was struggling to keep him in sight and my techy climbing skills were eluding me! I started to get frustrated with myself and it went downhill from there.



Needless to say, Justin didn't even hesitate and ask about climbing up to Upper Holy Jim - we just headed straight back toward the wall and Trabuco instead.

I started climbing pretty strong after the wall, even though it hurt, but my HR wasn't responding. Carrying too much fatigue perhaps still.

Erm, yeah, it was a bit warm out.



Had one more bad spot, and then continued up to Trabuco and back down to the truck. We spent a bunch of time eating then ran some errands.

We even picked up a bottle of Stone 13th, Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron, Stone's previously bottled 11th (now rebadged as seriously self-righteous?) and did a bit of beer tasting at BevMo (Lost Coast - really smooth, but almost too smooth).



Today we're lounging in front of the Tour in HD and will head out for a spin. Sounds like a great Saturday to me!