This morning, Clay, Karl, Adam (PT who works with Clay and Karl), Mike, Ron (Karl’s friends) and I did a group ride through the Foothills west of Palmdale. I was a little worried about going with this group as I was unsure if I could keep up. The ride turned out to be a really fun ride!

The ride included a climb over Godde pass, up Bouquet Canyon, Spunky Canyon, and San Francisquito Canyon. Then we got to have some fun going east (mostly downhill) on Elizebeth Lake Road. Finally we went back over Godde pass. Most of this was new territory for me on a bike. I had never ridden on Bouquet Canyon, or Spunky Canyon. I had never ridden up San Francisquito from the southwest. I had also never climbed Godde from the South.

It turned out my worries were for naught. I was able to stay with Clay, Adam and Mike on the flatter or downhill sections. I could not keep up with them on the climbs, but I was not too far behind.

The riding seems to put no stress on my calf….. yeah!

Yesterday, before school, I ran the 2 by 4 time trial with the Hillview kids. I did not try to set any course records. I cruised along and the achilles/calf was not too bad. It was a little achy the rest of the morning. After school, we had a 2nd practice (the kids could choose which one they wanted to do.) and did the same workout. I only ran the first 2 miles. The calf was tender and I did not want to push it any farther.

Clay posted the following totals on his blog. I have copied them here in case I want to find them in the future.

Climbing time totals for the 5 climbs for future comparisons

Mike 59:27

Clay 62:36

Adam 63:21

Dale 65:15

Karl 69:29

Ron 74:53