Returned to Sheep Flats today...
WHOO HOO!!! I FOUND IT!
So I got up to the "ballpark" and no sooner did I get out of the van to get set up but a mountain biker comes through... and another.... and that 2nd one comes back minutes later. Yep, he's lost already, lol. (see? I'm not the only one, lol). So I told him where to cross, to go up the hill, and from there advised him that I got lost at that point. I said I think there should be a left turn, and that he should watch for a whole lot of tire tracks, and he left....
And I get on my bike and start... The missed turn was .7 of a mile past the ballpark and I'd missed it because the edge was all grass. But as soon as I passed it again today, the tracks dropped down to the one I left yesterday. And so I turned around and went back. Same distance and time as the one I did yesterday except this one went Southeast instead of Southwest. 39 minutes of easy climbing (photos to be posted shortly) Then, out of curiosity, I continued up the road to see how long it would take to get to the next turn - 6 MINUTES! And that's even uphill! Yesterday, that section took me an HOUR because I'd gone so far in the wrong direction.
At that point, I turned around because I'm REALLY tired... didn't see a soul all the way up and back so I wondered if the others who were training were going the wrong way too. So as I got back to the turn, I stopped, made an arrow out of large white birch branches, and when I got back to the van, I found 2 more lost bikers. And so I gave them directions and after they left I wrote directions on a post it note I had in the van, made a cairn (a stack of rocks) with the post it note sticking out, and another arrow of sticks. Hopefully no one else will get lost today...
AND SO... I should be at the halfway point in 6 hours instead of 7 1/2 next week.... still figuring 10 hours total due to exhaustion and heat because the forecast is saying 90 degrees with 20% chance of storms. Cross your fingers the forecast moves up - Monday is only supposed to be in the mid-80's and sunny and would be much better for riding. Let's hope my endurance holds out next Sunday! LATER!
So I got up to the "ballpark" and no sooner did I get out of the van to get set up but a mountain biker comes through... and another.... and that 2nd one comes back minutes later. Yep, he's lost already, lol. (see? I'm not the only one, lol). So I told him where to cross, to go up the hill, and from there advised him that I got lost at that point. I said I think there should be a left turn, and that he should watch for a whole lot of tire tracks, and he left....
And I get on my bike and start... The missed turn was .7 of a mile past the ballpark and I'd missed it because the edge was all grass. But as soon as I passed it again today, the tracks dropped down to the one I left yesterday. And so I turned around and went back. Same distance and time as the one I did yesterday except this one went Southeast instead of Southwest. 39 minutes of easy climbing (photos to be posted shortly) Then, out of curiosity, I continued up the road to see how long it would take to get to the next turn - 6 MINUTES! And that's even uphill! Yesterday, that section took me an HOUR because I'd gone so far in the wrong direction.
At that point, I turned around because I'm REALLY tired... didn't see a soul all the way up and back so I wondered if the others who were training were going the wrong way too. So as I got back to the turn, I stopped, made an arrow out of large white birch branches, and when I got back to the van, I found 2 more lost bikers. And so I gave them directions and after they left I wrote directions on a post it note I had in the van, made a cairn (a stack of rocks) with the post it note sticking out, and another arrow of sticks. Hopefully no one else will get lost today...
AND SO... I should be at the halfway point in 6 hours instead of 7 1/2 next week.... still figuring 10 hours total due to exhaustion and heat because the forecast is saying 90 degrees with 20% chance of storms. Cross your fingers the forecast moves up - Monday is only supposed to be in the mid-80's and sunny and would be much better for riding. Let's hope my endurance holds out next Sunday! LATER!
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Keep up the good work!! ((HUGS))