LAC Grant Wilson - Training Diary - 27 June 2012

Half way up Hochfellen

I wish I could report back on a good incident free cycle but a couple of chains coming off and a fall later we all completed our second and evidently more challenging mountain bike ride.  In total the distance was a bit shorter than last week at 38.5 km which we completed in a time off 2 hours 40 minutes but this week we climbed far more than last weeks introductory ride. We started with a short but steep uphill which required a lot of drive. After a short ride we hit the main climb of the route which showed the first hill to be a not as steep as it felt. We began the accent up the mountain, Hochfellen, which sent a great burn through all our thighs as we pushed harder to climb higher all the time wishing the top was going to be just round the next corner, of course it was not. When we stopped for a break on the flat we hoped it was going to be downhill but once again we began to climb this time a different part of the Mountain. After another challenging climb we reached the top, again. As the saying goes what goes up must come down and that’s exactly what we did. We raced down the other side which was first gavel then a rocky ground with gutters allowing for the bike to get fully off the ground. This made it even more fun than last week’s cycle. When going round one of the corners to my surprise my bike skidded from under me and instead of going down the way I imagined, on my bike, I slid round the corner on my side. Once brushed off and realising I had escaped any sort of injury I caught up with the other lads and from there it was a simple ride on smaller roads back to Ruhpolding.