riding! Yesterday was my first real test of climbing! Mike and I hit
up Chumash. We rode from his house and climbed Lajas Canyon which is a
steady 1000 ft. Fireroad climb. In the 40 mph winds funneling down the
canyon...it was tough! When we turned off towards Chumash there was
1500 ft if climbing over the next two miles. As we crested one hill we
got a little freaked out when we saw a herd of bullhorns! We
proceeded slowly and realized they were not mean angry bulls! As we
got closer to the top the wind got INSANE! The gusts had to be over
60 mph! It was a bit scary! The ride was awesome and it was great to
get some miles and climbing in.
Today I hit the road with the mission of more climbing and another
2 plus hours in the saddle. It has been MONTHS since I rode Rockstore
and I was feeling the call! My legs felt good on the way out and I
hit the bottom of the hill and headed up. My goal was to not stop and
just keep a steady pace. I did it! I was stoked! I was WAY in pain
at the top! Next hill is Power Climb and there is not much recovery
between Rockstore and it. That was a killer for me today but I made it
up loving every minute of it! Then as I crested the hill I saw two
cyclists stopped and kind of looking around. As I pulled up and they
stopped me to ask directions. IT WAS GEORGE HINCAPIE!!! So freaking
cool. He was with Steve Blick from Oakley and they were trying to get
back to the valley! After giving directions I told him that he was
awesome and wished him luck for his season and took off with a little
extra pep in my pedals! So cool! Once I dropped down into Westlake I
had absolutely no power left! Riding the last ten miles uphill into
the wind was horrible! I felt like I had been out for 4 plus hours!
All in all I was pretty stoked with the ride! It feels so good to be
back on the bike!
Keep Climbing,
Lucas
