Rest and Recovery???

After the meltdown at the Mohican 100 a couple weekends ago, I decided to take it as easy as possible this past week. Aside from work (which is never easy), I did not do much. A couple easy spins on the bike and a little singletrack bliss sandwiched in between the road rides. Then since I was not planning on being on the bike this past weekend, Carly, Stefanie, and I decided to go hiking and camping. On Saturday, we hiked the Stinging Fork Trail to this small piece of heaven.

The trail was only about 2 miles, but very technical. Lots of rocks along with a steep descent to the falls. At the base of the falls was a blue hole about 20 yards in diameter and 20 feet deep. Upon arrival, Stefanie spotted Mr. Alligator Snapping Turtle. I was not too keen about putting my foot or other body part close to him to give you an appreciation of his size, but his shell was 14 - 16" in diameter. The look he gave us when he saw us was priceless. I am sure his thoughts were, "What the he!!! Just what I need ... humans disturbing my sunbathing." Then he slowly turned and dove and swam to the deeper water. We were the only ones here and so spent an hour or so hanging out and swimming.

After hiking back out to the trailhead, we each managed to acquire about 10 ticks. So we spent the next few minutes picking ticks off one another like a group of baboons. Once back at Stefanie's farm, we finished setting up camp in one of the fields next to a treeline. A brief shower came through and managed to cool things off ... now it was only 85 degrees instead of 95 degrees! Stefanie's niece and nephew joined us for the cookout/campout. At least I had my own tent ... so no additonal body heat. The girls slept with Stefanie and her nephew slept in the bed of the truck.

Sunday morning came early; as soon as the sun began to rise it got HOT! I only managed to get 7 hours of sleep; not much when recovery is the name of the game. After breakfast and breaking down camp, Carly and I went home. Then we spent a couple hours at the pool. Afterwards, we were both so spent that we eagerly went to bed at 8 pm.

I had a wonderful weekend ... and it did not even include the bike. But I must say, playing can be just as tiring as racing a 100 miler. I am hoping that this short break from the bike will only help. The Cowbell is less than two weeks away!