Weekend Warrior

Headed to Leavenworth this weekend and got in some sun, climbing and riding. It was awesome getting some mileage in on some new roads. The Ponderosa Pines kept dropping their big ass cones. At first I couldn't figure it out. You'd hear this strange crashing noise and then BAM! Right in front of you a cone would hit. I was convinced some evil Geiko Squirrels were doing it for insurance money.

Then on Saturday night I had a run in with a tick. After riding up and down Icicle Canyon road I tried hiking to the upper 8 mile buttress to watch Ryan and Andrew send some new climbing projects. The path and approach description were sketchy at best - and after 20 minutes of scampering over scree I decided to turn around before I got lost. I had strapped my jacket to the outside of my pack and it kept getting stuck on branches. Once safely back to the van, I broke out my book and stretched out. Then I felt a little trickle - like someone dropped something down my shirt. I thought nothing of it - until later at dinner I felt something scurry up my back - only to reach up and feel a tick on me. I made Ryan go to the bathroom with me to look for the little bastard and he thought I was crazy. After not finding anything, we went back to the table and had some more food and drinks. Then I felt something on my neck, swiped it away - only to find a tick. GROSS!!!!! Those things give me the willies. NASTY.

We poached some camping up the Tumwater Canyon Saturday night. That's the beauty of Maggie - you can pull over any where and set up camp. I swear I heard some animals scurrying outside though in the middle of the night. Camping also makes for some excellent bed head hair.

I planned a bigger day on Sunday for riding. This time down to Plain and back. It's a steady climb into town and then a super fun fast 1 mile descent into town. I passed a woman climbing up the road and scared her half to death. Road riders are not common out there. That and she was probably honing in on the cone squirrels.

All in all a great weekend. I even got some rock climbing in! It's great taking advantage of these race down times.