Yesterday I biked up Emigration Canyon with my friend Dorothy and her friend Marina. I'd heard a lot about Marina since she bikes regularly with Dorothy but had never met her, so it was a pleasure. I started from my house and biked to meet them at the entrance to the canyon. I was running late, because right before I left, my parents' dog (we're watching her while they are out of town) had diarrhea all over our bedroom carpet. Grrrrrrr (in fact, she also did this in the middle of the night Saturday and last night too; she's now banished outside until we figure it out). Anyway, after cleaning up after the dog, I had to really rush, and managed to bike the 3.3 miles (600 ft uphill, from 4300 to 4900 or so) in just 18 minutes.
Then we enjoyed a leisurely ride up the canyon. This was Dorothy's first time biking all the way to the top since her surgery, so we didn't want to push too hard. She did great, though! The top is just shy of 6300 feet, and it's about 7.5 miles. When I got to the top, my Garmin said 10.87 miles, not including a bit at the start that I lost due to my haste in leaving my house (couldn't wait for the satellites to be located before I started). It took us a total of 1 hr 23 min to get to the top (from my house, so about 1 hr 5 min from the canyon bottom). That's about 10 min slower than Dorothy normally goes, which is impressive for her recovery! Not to mention the fact that she had a chemo treatment on Thursday.
It was a nice warm day in the valley; about mid-50s and sunny. I wore running tights (I don't own biking tights, only biking shorts) & a long sleeve shirt. I carried gloves and a jacket for the way down. Well, I got cold. It was quite chilly at the top of the canyon and my hands were cold because I didn't put my gloves on until I got to the top. Still, the jacket plus gloves were not quite enough. By the time we got down to the bottom of the canyon, 25 minutes later, my hands and feet were numb. I was a bit worried I wouldn't be able to keep holding on to the handlebars! All three of us were frozen, but it was still fun. Next time I'm going to dress MUCH warmer, though! I'm still not used to how many layers you have to wear biking vs. racewalking.
Dorothy gave me a ride home, because I was so cold I didn't want to do the easy downhill 3 miles to my house. Totals: 18.39 miles, 1 hr 52 min, about 2000 ft of elevation gain. Speed: 9.8 mph average, 22.9 max (could have gone faster on the way down, but too cold!!!). Garmin says 1119 calories burned :). Summary: A great time was had by all, despite the chill, which was ameliorated by a hot shower.
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Today is a rest day because I am not feeling well. I think I have some virus; I was feverish in the night, and had a sore throat last night as well as some GI upset last night and this morning. The kids have Kindermusik this morning, but we're not going to make it, sadly. I am wondering how to muster energy to do the grocery shopping. I think I may e-mail Loren a list and have him go on the way home from work or something.
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