Mudbath.

I rode the Backbone and part of Coyote's ridge this afternoon. The Devil's Backbone was actually in pretty good shape. I was having some chain-suck issues, so I had to ride everything in my middle ring, which isn't a huge deal, because I typically ride everything in my 44x11 (sometimes I think I should put a road crank on my MTB, maybe a triathalon one, like a 42-54?), but I was in a little ring mood today. The back loop was a little too snowy to ride up a lot of the rocky sections, but going down them was alright, just a little less control than usual. I stopped by Feighny's and borrowed a file to see if I could fix the chainsuck problem. I think I did a little good, but after the mud bath at Coyote's even the middle ring kept wrapping the chain around my crank. Oh well. I think a little powerwashing is in order for this afternoon, as well as a little laundry. I've got some muddy stuff to wash.

There was a lot of snow at Coyote's on the long climb, and then the descent was like peanut butter. About 100 meters down the descent I realized I wouldn't be able to ride back out, so I stopped and looked at the rest of the trail across the meadow and it all looked pretty sloppy. I turned around and sure enough, my tire just spun and I didn't move. I started pushing my bike up the muddy trail, and soon the tires wouldn't turn. I pounded some of the mud off, then shouldered the bike and trudged my way back to the top. On a lighter note, I did ride the stairs coming down off the top for the first time! I think I hit my chainring on every landing as I rolled down it, but I made it without diving over the bars.

By the way, I've got 5 new books to read! I ordered a few books for class off of Amazon.com, and they weren't supposed to get here until the 18th, but I was treated to a surprise when I got home from my ride! I think I'll take a shower, powerwash, then ice my groin and read. I wonder if there is something wrong with me, my very inner thigh on the right side hurts pretty bad whenever I start pushing hard sitting in the saddle? I thought maybe a rest week would clear it up, but I guess it didn't? We'll see if a little more ice will do the trick? If there are any doctors or physical trainer types reading this, please let me know what you think. It's basically the tendon that you use to close your legs. Luckily I'm not a lady and I don't have to worry about using it while I'm sitting. Should I stretch it if it hurts? Should I ice it or heat it? Should I get it massaged? Is there anyone out there that really wants to massage my inner thigh for me?

Alright. Baseball. Cold Showers. I'm gonna go, thanks for reading this garbage. Hey, I hope you realize that I just stole another 5 minutes from your life. Don't be mad at me, you've probably donated more time to watching Vin Diesel or Harrison Ford movies than you'll ever spend reading this gobbledygook. I just used a Thesaurus to find that word, I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did/am, ha. Thanks for reading. I just made plans for a road/mountain bike ride with a certain Mr. Mike Feighney tomorrow. I'll try and remember my camera so you have something interesting to look at.