Two against one....

Today's event (workout) was fun. Dave and I met at Vickie's house for a duathlon...but with a Dave twist. Vickie did two bike laps followed by two run laps while Dave and I relayed for an entire hour. She's a super tough competitor and she did beat us... Congrats Vic!!!

Sometimes when I exercise with my super athletic friends I get a little intimidated. To me they are pretty hard core and no matter how hard I try they will always be stronger and faster then I am. My only frustration today was just how fast my body wants to shut down after I start these brick workouts. I can go about 200 yards on my mtn bike and my legs just can't keep a strong hard pace and then I get upset with myself. I want to do well...I want to be fast... Any hill, I don't care how tiny really sucks the life from my body and ugh... I don't know why this is happening to me and when I won't feel this way anymore. Could be I'm just a sore loser.

Perhaps a little PMS has got my head thinking backwards and not forwards... I'm glad I get a do-over tomorrow :)

It's been days!

It's been several days since I've posted but nothing really fun or new has happened. Well, except this! I got another email from the Ironman volunteer lady and it turns out that she was WRONG when she told me volunteers get to register for 09 the same day racers do. Volunteers register on Monday, the same day as the public except in a different line. So, just hope that it does not sell out before Monday. My guess is that it won't, but you never know.

Yesterday was a windy ride with my women's group. There are 18 of us who ride together and it sure is fun! We made our way up to the McDowell Mtn area and then back around town. I was determined this time to not be last the entire ride. Sometimes I get really tired of feeling like a burden and there is just one way to cure that - speed up! On our way out I was pretty sluggish and the first climb was slow but we turned a corner and I had just had enough! I pushed hard to put a few people behind me on one of the smaller hills and I was pleased not to be last again. We stopped for a water refill at a gas station where I slammed down some Shot Blocks and wow, something happened to me after that. I was going about 20 mph and on the heels of one of the fast women in the group. She and I quickly moved forward and soon could no longer see the rest of the group behind us. I went from the back of the group to the lead and it sure did feel awesome! This is the kind of rider I strive to be... What a perfect way to end a long ride :)

Splash & Dash #2

First I need to set the record straight on something. Rick was all over me yesterday after he read my blog about the mountain bike ride Dave took to Anthem from Bartlett. Dave's mountain bike ride was "not just to Anthem," Rick was quick to tell me. He left Bartlett, went into Cave Creek, North into Seven Springs then went towards I17 on Table Mesa Rd. Now for those of us who don't know that area it's because nobody ever ventures out there except maybe Jeep tours or crazy adventure dudes like Dave. He went about 35 miles without seeing a single soul and only 80oz of water. It was very dangerous and just the fact that he didn't get attacked by or see a Mountain Lion is a miracle. Not a recommended route choice for any novice Mountain Bikers....

I participated in the second Splash & Dash last night. It was a 750 meter swim followed by a 4k. I had a swim lesson yesterday morning and wanted to practice what I had learned. What I didn't really realize was just how tired my body was. I finished the event but certainly did not swim my best or run very fast. The run portion was pretty hard because I had stomach cramps and my legs were really heavy. This morning I woke up stiff and with some lactic acid...which I have not felt in several months. Dave was quick to tell me that today is my rest day - do nothing! I'm doing just that and trying not to feel guilty about it. A part of me said, just hike up Squaw Peak, and I did seriously consider it, but I need to really focus on recovery days and let my body make all those fabulous changes Dave talks about.

Until next time - take it outside!

Mental Strength vs. Physical Strength

Remember several blogs ago when I expressed the need for a challenge that would truly kick my butt? I wanted to find my breaking point just to know how much I could actually take. Well I'm not sure but maybe yesterday was it....you decide.

I knew that a bike ride out to Bartlett Lake would be the ultimate test of physical and mental strength. Every person I told about my desire to ride this loop thought I was crazy...it's REALLY hard, is pretty much what I heard over and over. In fact I think everyone else BUT me thought it may be to soon for me to try this ride. I never doubted myself coming into this. I am stubborn enough that I would walk all 40 miles if I had to just to prove that I could do it! Nevertheless, yesterday was it - the ride to Bartlett.

Dave drove his SUV out to Horseshoe Lake and mtn biked up towards Anthem for what turned out to be 50 miles and nearly 6 hours for him. WOW - imagine 50 freakin miles on your mountain bike! Something I have ZERO desire to do. Anyway, my plan was to ride my road bike from the bottom of Pima and the 101 to Bartlett and then drive his SUV to pick him up in Anthem. We had a plan, and I had a "rescue plan" in case something happened and I could not finish.

I felt really great leaving. My ride up Pima was pretty easy and I kept a steady 10 - 12 mph pace. Then I had a flat. I was prepared for this...but what I WAS NOT prepared for was how beat up, and cut up my tire was. This tire would not make it to Bartlett and now I'm in a situation. I absolutely refuse to call for help. I will finish this. I contacted my friend S.M. who found me a bike shop in Carefree....great news right. Well, it's on the opposite side of town which means a nice ride down hill gives me another 10 miles UP hill back to the start at Pima and Cave Creek Rd. I lost over an hour but left the shop with two new tires and tubes. I was ready to roll again. (shout out to the guys at Flat Tire Bike Shop - they were really awesome)

Let's get serious here...this was the most mentally challenging ride, or workout, that I have ever done. Being alone and the cars are either zooming by or it's totally silent really takes a toll on your mind. The ride up Cave Creek Rd was the longest and hardest ride of my life! In fact, I walked some of it. I would ride for 15 minutes and then walk for 15. Then I would ride for 10, walk for 15. Mental games got me through it...and the hand of my Heavenly Father.

I finally made it to the Bartlett Lake turn and I was home free. I knew I had 17 miles to go and I was thinking about the air conditioned car, a tall Coke and getting to Dave as fast as I could because I knew his ride was harder then mine...but that 17 miles was steep so I walked/ride the entire way. Scared to be alone and fall off my bike for the birds and bugs to eat me, I said a prayer...."Lord, if today is the day I die please save my soul and bring me home. And please let Dave, Windy, Brigid or Vickie know that one of them needs to do Ironman on my behalf. Amen" :)

I walked and rode and finished my ride around 1:00pm. I never sat and rested (except when my bike was getting fixed), I never cried and I never picked up the phone to have somebody come and get me. I said a lot of foul words and foul word combinations and I savored all of the things we take for granted daily when I finished....like that air conditioned SUV, the Coke and the company of my friend and trainer Dave (who I was worried about all day).

Will I do it again - NEVER! But I'm glad I did it once....

"Bike Butt"

Today is MY super Tuesday and here's why. So I signed up to volunteer for Ironman this year. Somebody told me that volunteers get to register for Ironman 2009 BEFORE the general pubic and it turns out - IT'S TRUE! Yesterday I received volunteer instructions from the woman who runs registration and I told her I could not help the day I had to stand in line to sign up for 09...you know what she said! Volunteers get to sign up the same day the racers do!!! She told me to come early and get it done, then help at the table. That means I'm in for sure and WOW - I'm really excited. Ironman is in my cards...

Dave and I went for a really cool bike ride today around Mummy Mtn. I had never heard it called that before but it's up towards Camelback and some of the roads I had been on with my women's group. We did some major climbs that I couldn't believe I was able to do! I was so proud of myself today....These were not just baby climbs either. This was some serious stuff and the crazy thing is - I didn't want to stop climbing. I felt so fresh and strong that I could have gone for another 20 mile ride.

Oh, something new to think about. You know I've been having "bike butt" chaffing where my shorts rub under my cheeks so I tried using Body Glide on my cheek creases before I left. Great stuff!!! I don't have "bike butt" today.... :) (a little visual entertainment for you)

Here is the pretty cool thing I was thinking about on my way home from Dave's. I'm really starting to notice my endurance level increase again. Sometimes it's one or two steps further then before but there are those days when I just can't believe how strong I am and how much I can take. I'm so fortunate and thankful to have Dave on my side! We've been training together 4x's a week for 6 months and he's not sick of me yet... I keep my head focused on my goal, train hard and never give up....thanks again Dave for everything you do.

Sexy!

Gilmore was a blast! Let me start off by saying that I STINK at navigating. I'm not sure if I'm just really bad or the map size totally threw me off but man, I cost my team a win and I feel really bad about that part.

We were two teams of two so Leslie and I set off feeling really groovy. The hike section was up a giant hill full of stickers but we found a really great way through this nice wash on our way down so we were happy...

We hit the bike section feeling strong and ready to roll. I'm thankful for all the teams that helped us find out way. Well, the bike section is where I really screwed up and we went UUUPPPP and down these hills for about 30 minutes in the wrong direction. What's worse is that we had to go back UUUPPP the hills another 30 minutes to get back onto the correct path. Our legs were toast by then but we pressed on at probably the slowest pace I've ever held...and it was still too fast for my tired legs. Let me tell you something.... we had to pass the TA on our way to the last bike CP and that was mentally challenging for me. I didn't want to bike anymore. I didn't want to pass the TA - I wanted to STOP in the TA! Of course we didn't stop....we finished with The Wall....

Leslie and I knew the wall was coming but up close and personal, it was a giant. We watched another team use the low crawl tube as a ladder so we did the same. However, the leap up towards the top of the wall was scary and it took me several minutes to get my nerve up. I was so tired and unsure if I could hold my weight...but I did. Why was I second guessing this when I do pull-ups at the gym with Dave ALL THE TIME! It's no different - I took a deep breath and a big leap and look at me!!! I made it!!!! Here comes my partner with no troubles at all and at that moment I was so proud for us!!!

It was a great way to spend a Saturday. I'm glad to be back in Adventure Racing and look forward to the challenges that the Monsoon Adventure Race brings next month. Rick and I are doing the long course so my day will be longer and harder...but I'm ready! - "Bring it"

Packing for Gilmore

Packing the camper for the Gilmore race tomorrow... This is so exciting!

Meet Cliff

I met with Cliff today, my new swim coach. Cliff is a four time Ironman competitor with 3 podium finishes. In 2007 he was 2nd in the men's 70 - 74 age group. He's no joke. So we met and had a great chat before he told me to jump into the water. First, stop training with water and food. huh? Yep...nobody is going to have food or water for me during the Ironman swim so why would I train that way. Very valid point and one I never considered!

In the first 15 minutes I took 5 strokes off and decreased my time across the pool and back. WOW I could really feel it too. Though my body position was not something I'm use too, gliding across the water was amazing! I took only two breaths from one end to the other, that's how quick and effortless it was.

The goal is simply this. Finish the Ironman swim quick but with little effort so that I'm fresh for the bike. I can do that swim in less then 2 hours...I know this! With over a year of swim training ahead of me I better look like a damn mermaid in that water!! Needless to say, I have a lot of work to do.

I'm having some bike fear. I know this doesn't sound like a big deal but to me it's very real. I've never had a bad fall or broken bone or had any horrible injury (knock on wood). That created a fearlessness that I was pretty happy with....There is really nothing a person won't try if they don't fear pain, right. Well, when I fell off my road bike the other day something happened. Now I have fear. I'm afraid to go down hills fast and I'm afraid to turn corners...I'm just afraid of another flat that hurts worse then the first one. Now I have my eye on my tires more then the road and I've gone so far as to put liners in the tires.

I like my life without fear much better. I enjoyed my bike more and I want it back but just how do I get it? Maybe once I'm healed I'll forget and move past this but for now...I'm a little slower and a little more cautious and that's just the way it goes.

The tortoise and the hare

My mountain bike and I met Dave at Papago Park today for what has now become my favorite workout yet! You "Jumped the Shark" today Dave.

The plan - race Dave on my bike while he ran the entire loop at the park. TOTALLY FUN! At first I was confident I could beat him...then I started to get nervous because I don't do well on hills and Papago has some hills at the end. I knew that if I were to win I would need to get as far ahead of him quickly so I could account for the slow uphill. Well, that was the plan anyway. Like the tortoise and the hare. I was going as fast as I could and every time I turned to see where he was I couldn't believe my eyes! He was RIGHT THERE the entire time! One mistake and he'd take me....in fact HE DID!

LOL at one point he came up behind me so fast that he startled me. It was hilarious. I was able to cut him off and jump ahead but only for a second. Once we reached the paved portion (the hills) he took me out. Okay, I had some bike issues. My back tire is missing a spoke so the tire was rubbing against my frame and my gears went out...that left me with only granny gears. By the time I made it to the downhill section I was able to catch up a little, but he beat me by several seconds.

I need to win.... I need to win by a HUGE margin in order to feel vindicated so I quickly called a rematch. My bike is now in the shop getting fixed before Gilmore but mostly for the rematch race.

Look at this really great photo I found of Dave and his wife Windy.

I'm EXHAUSTED

Mtn Lemon
(click image to enlarge)

I set off on my bike to meet Dave at Squaw Peak....the wind was NOT on my side and I was nearly 20 minutes late!!!! Up a small section of the Peak then PUSH Dave UP the hill on his bike. Now, for whatever reason it just didn't feel the way it use to feel. Dave has either gained weight, or the wind was pushing against me...humm....which was it :0 I didn't have the energy to jog like I had before. My conclusion, my legs are just tired. I haven't had a rest day since...well....I don't know when really so perhaps my body is saying STOP! As it turns out, Dave still weighs the same too.

About that rest day. It seems like every scheduled rest day I have, which should be Thursday I fill with either bike riding or hiking and I have to stop doing that. I'm really starting to feel the need for breaks so after this weekends race I'm not doing any more bike rides or hikes on Thursdays. Swimming, yes because that's not so taxing on my body but that's it...I have to do this for my own recovery. Ugh...this won't be easy for me. I can't say no to anyone who asks so please...don't ask.

Nevertheless I met my friend L.J. for a quick Mtn bike ride after I met with Dave. We really just want to keep ourselves familiar with off road biking in preparation for this weekend. It should be fun and full of adventure. I look forward to getting this done.

Tons o Fun

This weekend was just awesome and next weekend is looking great too!.

Yesterday I had the pleasure of watching Dave and his wife Windy, Butch and Loretta do the Glendale Community College triathlon and ALL of them did great. Dave and Windy were overall top finishers, Butch won 3rd in his age group and Loretta did a knockout job as well. Congrats!

It's fun for me to watch Dave race. From a student of Dave perspective, it's somewhat gratifying for me to see him physically do all the things he teaches me....like the running. Does he bring his knees up like he yells at me to do? Does he keep his arms at 90 degrees and bring his elbows all the way back? Does he spring off his ankles?? I've seen Dave race TONS of times but the races rarely let me see him up close in action (Adventure Races are not spectator friendly) so this weekend was a good learning experience for me....

I'm pretty excited about this! I have found a swim coach that is willing to spend some one-on-one time with me. Next month I'm doing the Soma Quarterman, which is another 1000m swim and I'd like to scale back about 5 minutes on my swim. Cliff is an "Irongeezer" who owns TriRenaissance and is confident we can improve tons over the next four weeks. Should be fun.

This coming Saturday is the Gilmore Adventure Race and my team is ready! We've been mountain biking, hiking and practicing our navigation skills for many weeks and I'm just glad to finally be at the race door. I'll definitely post pictures when we finish!

I'm ready to get CRAZY!!!

(The original Jack in the Box :)

Splash & Dash Results

My first open water competition is done and I'm very happy!

The morning started off with lots of stress. Seeing the buoys at 1000meters looked a whole lot farther then I've ever swam before so I was scared and really fighting self doubt. Quitting, or giving up during the swim was just not a option for me...I was going to face this head on and just get it done.

So here we go. Going into this event my plan was to stay in the back of the pack and not rush. The worst thing that can happen in an open water event is to panic so I worked on keeping a pace I was familiar with. Heading toward the first buoy I had a little bit of anxiety. I was already tired and had a long haul ahead of me. Pull yourself together is what I said to myself and I stopped to catch my breath and asses where I was in the group.

After a couple of stops to catch my breath I came out of the water just 2 minutes behind my goal and that's okay. I felt really great and was ready to use those newly acquired run techniques Dave has been teaching me. I felt like I finished the run really fast and as it turns out, I was running nearly a 7-8 min mile! I remember the day when I couldn't run a mile at all, let alone do it in 7-8 minutes. My overall time was 51 minutes. I need to work on my transition time and maybe I could have gotten this event done in 45 minutes....

Congrats to my friend Vickie who also did today's event and did great! I didn't feel so alone anymore once you arrived sister...

My first road rash

Well I finally did it...I took a good spill on my bike last night and now have a nice cherry on my shoulder and hip... Which hurts worse...I'm really not sure at this point.

Rick and I headed out last night for dinner without realizing a nasty storm was coming straight for us. It was awful! I had air in my tire when we started but somewhere along the line my front tire went flat and, well, down I went. Let me tell you, ALWAYS WEAR A HELMET! I was so thankful that I did....

As quick as I was to hit the pavement, Rick was standing over me as soon as I opened my eyes. I knew I had to get out of the street, but just couldn't get up...ugh...slowing we made it and I'm so glad I was with him. We were not too far from home so Rick was at least able to go get the truck and come back for me... my hero :0

Nevertheless, Ironman training continued today with me racing against virtual Kim, (who already beat the first virtual Kim) on the Compu Trainer. Again I kicked her virtual butt. YEAH! My speed and efficiency on the bike continues to improve and I'm so happy. It's crazy to think that in one month I've improved to much...I remember when I use to hate biking and now I'm on my bike as much as I'm in my car.

Well, wish me luck tomorrow...I'm REALLY nervous and hope that my adrenaline is so high that my shoulder and hip don't disrupt my swimming. I'll blog and add photos as soon as I can.

New Event Added

Well, it's official! I'm entered into the 2009 P.F. Chang's 1/2 Marathon in January. This is actually my second 1/2 (I did it in 05) and I'm super excited to see how I can improve my time. Registration fees increase on the 15th so SIGN UP if you want to run too!!

Upcoming Event

This weekend is the Splash & Dash at Tempe Town Lake and I hope that you can come. It's 1000meter swim followed by a 3k, (which I'm not really sure what that is). Should be FUN! I've spent a lot of time swimming so I'm confident in my ability to stay afloat, but I have not been practicing as much as I should these past couple of weeks. So, Dave and I hit the pool today for 20 laps aka 1000m. I felt pretty good. Speeding up in the water is something I need to work on. I seem to have a rhythm that I can't break but in order for me to improve, I need to find a way to kick it up a notch. Perhaps the pressure of this race will show me what I'm really made of. This will be my very first water competition so eekss, I'm pretty nervous! The focus is to stay calm, breath with every stroke and get it done in under 30 minutes. If I can do that I'll be pretty happy.

Can you believe that I'm also worried about what to wear to this thing! You know, I'm not one of these skinny girls who can wear short shorts and a sports bra in public. I have bOObs that don't exactly stay still without EXTRA support. So do I wear running shorts and sports bra in the water? I can't run in my swim suit so that's not an option. Ugh... that means I have to show the world my farmer tan and my extra support bra that looks like a granny bra. Ugh. And what if it's see through. What do I do???

Yes, ride your bike IN the house!

(click image to enlarge)

Rick and I were lounging after a workout and crazy as he is says, do you think I can ride your bike around the whole house without putting my feet down? Now, many of my readers have been to my house and you know that you can do a circle from the dining room, down the living room steps through the hallway and bedroom yada yada and it's a perfect circle....but narrow....HILARIOUS!!! and I do recommend you try this at home, just for the laugh. Nice job Rick.

I did my second duathlon today and with much improvement from the first time around. I have some mental challenges that I need to overcome but I'm physically strong and have the endurance. I just have to remind my head of that. Sometimes the hardest discipline is the mental exercise but one I'm certainly not afraid to face head on.

Just a brief overview to reach my real story. We did the duathlon at Papago Park. Run 4 laps, bike 2 laps then run 6 laps with a fast transition right. My first 4 laps I did really great and got faster with each and the bike was fine...nothing major. The last 6 laps end up being a mental struggle for me, which leads me to the end of my story. The last lap I'm moving pretty slow at this point. Dave's objective, or course, is to help me step up my pace so this lap he runs with me...without shoes!!!!! I'm trying to keep his pace thinking to myself now I have to blog about him kicking my butt without shoes on. PASS HIM!!!! I knew that he would "bring it" once we got off the dirt and onto the pavement so I waited and tried...really pulled out all the stops to pass him and as I gasp for air, he's still right next to me. It was so much fun - now that I'm home and rested :)

I was driving home and realized that I should have taken a picture of his "running socks" (instead of running shoes - get it ;) oh well...

What kinds of a....

(click on photos to enlarge)

I had a lot of title choices for today's post....

What I was suppose to do, but what I did.... Peanut Butter Sickness.... Canal Crash oooorrrrr......... My Sunday (aka my period is coming) blues.....

So, after you read today's post go back and pick your own title for today....how's that?

Let's start with, What I was suppose to do, but what I did. The weekend plan was to go biking up in Prescott Saturday and out with my women's group on Sunday.. Neither happened. Instead, Rick and opted for a hike on Mtn Lemon. This was my first trip there and it turned out to be better then I expected. I'm not a huge fan of Tucson so my expectations were not very high....my mistake.

The hike started well, until my tummy starting feeling sick. As much as I love peanut butter I just cannot do any activity after I eat it or my stomach gets upset and I knew this. I didn't even think about it before though and had a peanut butter sandwich before we started. ugh... It all turned out fine and we enjoyed a nice trail for a couple of hours. Does anyone else get worried about bears when they hike or is it just me?

Sunday I woke up for my ride, sat down on the couch and fell back to sleep. ooppss...missed the whole thing. Now, I could have jumped on my bike and did a ride myself but it didn't happen. I was so tired and I've had some bloating so instead Rick and I took the scooters out looking for good garage sales and then home for some King's Hawaiian bread French toast....YUMMMYYYY... It was really nice reading the paper, eating and watching Sunday Morning on TV. Something we have not enjoyed in months.

The guilt of not getting a ride done did eat away at me all day and then Dave sent me an email, how was your ride?....dammmmit Dave!!!

That about sums up my weekend. I'm going to register for Saturday's Splash n Dash so come on out and cheer me on or better yet, swim with me!

See you outside peeps...

WTF

(who says inflatable kayaks are just for water:)




Seriously, Dave is freakin tough! He's so kickin my butt that I can't believe I can actually do some of the crazy things he comes up with. Take today for example. I did a road ride one leg at a time. Um...yeah....

Okay, seriously, it was kinda fun but here's what went down. We road a really nice trail over by Tempe Town Lake and as we are riding he says, unclip your right leg. Translation - pedal with only your left leg. WOW. We did this back and forth for what seemed like most of our ride. Has anyone reading this ever biked one legged up a hill? There was not one time during this adventure where I didn't think I couldn't do it and THAT felt pretty great to me. Though my legs where tired (I had also hiked Squaw Peak this morning) I never felt like I just needed a second rest like I often do with Dave. I felt like I had achieved a new level of training and endurance, which is pretty good news.

I also discovered that my recovery speed was faster then it use to be - YEAH!! I can feel a huge difference in my legs from just a month ago.

What I need to work on is riding a straight line....I like to take up as much space as available to me...but it's not always about me I guess :)

Okay folks - Ironman registration is coming up FAST so PLEASE....send in your donations. It's $525!!!!! If 20 readers send in $25 then I'm set so spread the word my blog readers...please...help me if you can.

Jack update. He's doing much better! For the first time in months he started to play with his brother last night and he's starting to eat on his own during the day again. YEAH. It's taken three different kinds of medication but I think we are starting to see some light at the end of the tunnel. Stay strong my special dog Jack....XXOO

Blue Diamond Trail, Vegas

sRick and I just returned from an awesome mtn bike trip to Vegas's famous Blue Diamond Trail. If you want a fun but challenging ride, this is certainly it! Gradual climbs, minor sand, HUGE boulders on the some of the trail, awesome hard packed single track and not a lot of cactus makes this trail good for building self confidence on the bike and fun for any level rider.

Let's go back a couple of days to my Saturday ride with my friend L.J. and Rick. Talk about a BLAST!!! We took Rick's Extreme Heat bike course and did it backwards.... We practiced a lot of climbs using this route but man, it sure was FUN to see how much I've improved on my bike since I started. I LOVE IT! After that we enjoyed some really fun downhills that made the morning perfect.

Sunday I jumped on my road bike with my women's riding group and grabbed just over 30 miles. I was pretty happy to get some climbs in as well, though at the time thought I was going to have a heart attack. No more road rides until my bike gets fixed though. Our leader says something is wrong with my derailleur. It looks like it's just hanging I guess.

So Rick and I left for Vegas after my road ride on Sunday to see some friends, eat some awesome food and ride the Blue Diamond Trail. We woke up super early to gorgeous weather! In fact, I was cold when we left the house if you can believe it. Starting off we picked a route that ended up being mostly hike-a-bike, which was not too bad in retrospect but I was pretty frustrated at this point. Never being out there before I was afraid our entire ride would be on foot. Fortunately we made our way to a great trail and we finally got to ride. The climbing was gradual with some steep parts I had to walk and the downhill was freaken awesome! Some of the trail had pretty big size boulders so trying to dodge them and stay vertical was a fun exercise for me. I think I only had one fall and it was pretty minor.

If you get the opportunity to ride this trail I say take it! You can shorten the distance or go up to 30 miles...either way - do it!