Blood Mountain Loop, II

Did it again, this time with the Garmin 450 (which really is a sad replacement for the venerable 60CSx) mounted to the bike stem. It was cool seeing my speed ~35mph while cruising downhill; and depressing seeing it teeter around 5mph while struggling uphill. Oh, and it's very cool seeing counter-steering in action while on a bike. It's magic.

My helmet and pack conflict with each other as I expected: if I tilt my head up, the back of the helmet hits the top of the pack which is rather annoying (especially when ice climbing). Other than that the pack is very comfortable - which is par for the course for Osprey. Thirty days of ten to twelve hours a day comfortable? We'll see.

I took a break 2/3rds of the way through the ride this morning at Lake Winfield Scott. It was drained. Well, not entirely, but, probably down three feet from when I was last there, ten days ago. I guess someone down-stream needed water.

Here are the very rough mileages in case you care:

SR-19 & Hwy 60 to Visitor's Center: 13.5 miles
Visitor's Center to Hwy 180: 3.0 miles
Hwy 180 to Top of Hill: 3.25 miles
Top of Hill to Lake Winfield Scott: 3.0 miles
Lake Winfield Scott to Top of Next Hill: 6.75 miles
Top of Next Hill to SR-19 & Hwy 60: 5.5 miles (of sweet, sweet downhill)
= ~35 miles

And on an unrelated note, I'm not sure I've ever had Maker's Mark whiskey prior to last night (which isn't necessarily the best time to try out a new whiskey ... when you're planning on waking up for a sunrise bike ride preceded by an hour-long drive), and I'm no connoisseur of fine whiskeys, but this stuff sure was good. Smooth. Smelled great. Nicely complemented my popcorn.