Crystal Lake

The clouds cleared just enough to allow sunshine and hope for an eventful ride up Crystal Lake. My first ride. Solo. Drove up to West Fork and parked. Got the bike out for our maiden voyage on a remote road with clouds congregating about 6,000 feet up.

The gate at mile maker 28.x was closed but a fair number of service vehicles were coming down around 3 pm. There was someone opening the gate for the vehicles, I said howdy and they smiled and waved back. For a closed road there were about 5-8 vehicles passing me by. Not a single cyclist.

I had a seven pound backpack full of clothes, food, water and the ultimate transportation device.....shoes. That backpack felt like 21 pounds as I pedalled uphill. The wind kicked in every now and then, so I was sweating and shivering mere seconds apart. Was it the threatening weather, the altitude, the 7-8% ascent, the additional weight on my back? The legs did ok, but nothing spectacular. Nothing like a dose of reality to bring your inflated ego back into shape. Did I mention I had a fast ride on Monday?



Road work around the 34 mile marker



There's no place like home.