Saturday afternoon was my one and only window to ride and map the 2012 Grinder course.
I had an idea of what I wanted to do, but needed to
1} make sure it is a feasable ride, and
2} map it out. The ride has traditionally been around 30 miles, with around 3000ft of climbing. This year, it is morer.
So here it is. 33.1 miles, 3278ft of climbing. It is the longest and climbiest Grinder to date, but it puts you out there in areas of inexplicable beauty. Most likely, you will hate me though. The cool thing about the Strava app, is that Grinder participants will be able to see how they stack up against other Strava users on this course. If’n that is your sort of thing. Or you can just ride it and have a good time.
I had spent the morning tweaking my RDO and getting it ready for the summer. Due to my screwumpus knee, I decided that gears would be the smarter choice over the singlespeed. My bike choice was awesome, but the weather was far from it. I had a bitter, relentless and unescapable headwind that blew from the north. It was raw, and I felt the need to get this ride over and done with as quickly as possible. While I didnt go at race pace, I went pretty quick, and was starting to develop the hints of some major leg cramping and one hell of a bad attitude. I set my sights at the “top” of the course, where I would pull off and drink the beer I had stuffed in my jersey pocket. At that moment, the wind died down, and the sun came out just long enough for my frozen claw hands and feet clubs to thaw at little. It was bliss.
Cheers!
The descent was freezing, but I was ready to be done, so I powered through. The first order of business once I got to the shop was to get changed into my civvies, and head over to the Reservoir, and stuff a bacon cheeseburger into my face as quickly as possible. Mmmm… bacon…
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