Ryan trekked over to Helena for another swim session to see if he could reduce the chafing issue he was having around his neck. After the Cemetery Island fiasco with Yacht Basin Marina we decided to do a different swim and throw in some biking as well. After throwing around a lot of different options we settled on swimming in Park Lake. Park Lake is a small lake partially controlled by a dam about 20 miles out of Helena up Lump Gulch. The reason we chose Park Lake was that a) it would have limited motorized use and b) water temps were getting fairly warm and we wanted to find a colder mountain lake and c) we didn't want to do multiple laps in Spring Meadow Lake. We also decided to do a mountain bike ride after the swim. Ryan, Lindsay, Miles, and I loaded up in Lin's car and trekked up to Park Lake. We eventually got our wetsuilts on and headed out. The first 200 yards or so was great, and then Ryan ran head first into some algae and weed growth. I thought Ryan was going to walk on water for a moment. He apparently got a little freaked out by the slimy feel of algae wrapped around his head. After this we decided to shorten the lap and do a couple of lengths of the main portion of the lake. Overall the swim went really well for both of us. Ryan was having significantly less chafing issues and I was able to keep my goggles from getting too fogged up.
After the swim we had the longest transition ever....maybe 20 minutes while we rinsed our wetsuits, aired our tires, set our bike clocks, changed our shorts, etc. I say we, but I think I was ready in less than 5 minutes. From Park Lake we rode down to and around Chessman Reservoir and then took the trail to Black Hall Meadows through to North Fork of Travis Creek. The last time I rode this downhill section of trail was in 2003 on my new Palimino full suspension, disc brake bike. During that ride the swing arm which supports the disk brake broke on the downhill section and it was all I could do to keep from wrecking. I remembered as a fast down hill section with just enough rocks to make you pick a line. As I was braking to slow up and pick the line, that was when my swing arm broke. It was a long walk back to the truck that day. Remembering this section of trail, I kept curtailing my speed, but again my memory failed me as it was really a fast smooth downhill.
Upon exiting the North Fork Travis Creek Road we rode up to the Brooklyn Bridges Mine trail and down the Secret trail. While I did much better than my first run with Max, I was still chickening out on some of the steeper sections. Ryan and I then hit the flume trail and Ryan was having a lot of fun, until is front wheel washed out and he got some good scrapes from the jagged rocks. We took a quick break while Ryan danced around trying to forget about his scrape and I called Lin to check in. The deal we made that morning is that Ryan and I would be back in town around noon to have lunch with her and then I would watch Miles the rest of the day while she took the afternoon off to shop and do Mom stuff. Well by this time is was pushing 2 so instead of riding a couple extra trails on the way back into town we bombed down Davis Gulch and headed to Taco del Sol for lunch. Lin picked us up and off we went.
Overall this was a great training ride and fun day. We got a good swim in and some good climbs and downhill runs on the bike. A reminder to myself.....the Secret trail isn't really all that much fun so stop riding it.
After the swim we had the longest transition ever....maybe 20 minutes while we rinsed our wetsuits, aired our tires, set our bike clocks, changed our shorts, etc. I say we, but I think I was ready in less than 5 minutes. From Park Lake we rode down to and around Chessman Reservoir and then took the trail to Black Hall Meadows through to North Fork of Travis Creek. The last time I rode this downhill section of trail was in 2003 on my new Palimino full suspension, disc brake bike. During that ride the swing arm which supports the disk brake broke on the downhill section and it was all I could do to keep from wrecking. I remembered as a fast down hill section with just enough rocks to make you pick a line. As I was braking to slow up and pick the line, that was when my swing arm broke. It was a long walk back to the truck that day. Remembering this section of trail, I kept curtailing my speed, but again my memory failed me as it was really a fast smooth downhill.
Upon exiting the North Fork Travis Creek Road we rode up to the Brooklyn Bridges Mine trail and down the Secret trail. While I did much better than my first run with Max, I was still chickening out on some of the steeper sections. Ryan and I then hit the flume trail and Ryan was having a lot of fun, until is front wheel washed out and he got some good scrapes from the jagged rocks. We took a quick break while Ryan danced around trying to forget about his scrape and I called Lin to check in. The deal we made that morning is that Ryan and I would be back in town around noon to have lunch with her and then I would watch Miles the rest of the day while she took the afternoon off to shop and do Mom stuff. Well by this time is was pushing 2 so instead of riding a couple extra trails on the way back into town we bombed down Davis Gulch and headed to Taco del Sol for lunch. Lin picked us up and off we went.
Overall this was a great training ride and fun day. We got a good swim in and some good climbs and downhill runs on the bike. A reminder to myself.....the Secret trail isn't really all that much fun so stop riding it.