Saturday, August 8, 2009
A few us us rode Capitol Forest. I was really apprehensive not about the ride; but about the group. 2 of us live out on the East side and one in Seattle. The Seattle person suggested we carpool from Seattle. She was set on carpooling and I wanted to drive by myself. My hope for the day (because I was pretty tired going into the weekend) was that we could spend more time riding and less time commuting. I took care of myself (at least to a limited amount), all things considered. I packed enough food for 2 meals, thankfully since we didn't leave the trail head till after 7pm! Next time, I need to meet them at the trail head at a specific time. I arrived at the P&R in Federal way really early (normal for me), one person was significantly late. Then it took a while to load up and actually drive to Olympia. We made one stop on the way. A 2 hour commute took close to 3 hours. We arrived at 12:30 and as we put our gear on, I was trying to scarf down my lunch (knowing it would be close to 2:00pm before we stopped for a meal. The ride was fun; but the people interactions were stressful due to the expectations of the people. One person really was looking for a social all day event (hence the carpooling). Next time I'll drive myself and not worry about hurting someone's feelings. Also, because we carpooled from Federal Way, I didn't feel I could leave early. I didn't ride the last run; but ended up waiting in the parking lot for a hour when the other vehicle was big enough to get everyone back to the P&R...it was a weird and stressful day. I spent 6 hours commuting when it should have been 4 hours. I left home at 9:00am and got home at 9:00pm. The stress of the day outwayed any fun.

August 6, 2009
The Thursday Night FreeRide was all about the pump track and track stands. I do both well, although I'm noticing that I don't have much endurance considering it is August. What is, is.