There will be

Blood.  I've said it before, and I'll say it again.  It's not riding unless there is some blood.  Typically it comes in the form of some mystery slashes I seem to acquire throughout the ride, like this little guy.

a little dried blood at the end of the ride

As I paused to decide which way to go during my exploration of Hale I noticed a nice little drizzle of blood coming from just below my knee as I grabbed my water bottle.  For the life of me I couldn't identify what I came in contact with that could have caused that... no spills, no real rough "bush whacking" to contend with... yet there it was.  Bright red blood.  Chalked it up to a "mystery injury" that seem so common on rides and tore on into the unknown.

Hale is SWEET.  I stuck to the marked trails, which were fun in themselves.  But seeing all the unmarked trails shooting off here and there really has got my mouth watering.  I'm going to have to get back there on some weekend day so I can really put in the time to explore and set up a nice loop between Noanet and Hale.

The "unseen" injury

When I got back from the ride I jumped in the shower.  With a "sting" I found this bad boy above my ankle.  On one of the short hike-a-bike sections I ran into I somehow kicked my ankle.  Hurt like a B, but thought nothing of it.  It looked like I had just taken some skin off, so I gritted my teeth through the sting and got all fresh and clean.  This "scrape" turned into a full on blood flow once I got out of the shower.

Mission accomplished.  There was blood, so logic dictates I had indeed been on a mountain bike ride!!

Tuesday after work my legs were asking for a day off.  But, with the weather at the end of the week looking great, and a meeting at the end of the day today (which will likely rob me of the opportunity to ride after school - thus cementing it as a gym day), I had no choice but to get my threshold training in on the trainer.  After some hemming and hawing, and coming across this interesting opportunity with Airbone Bicycles.... Flight Crew Application... I got aboard the trainer and went to work.

Felt pretty good throughout.  My legs were a little tired, and looking at my HR it doesn't seem I went quite as hard as I did last week...  Yet, I had given it all my legs could give,  so I'd call that a good workout.  Leaves me a little curious as to how they will stand up to the gym today.  But I figure, now is the time to push them, sap them of their energy, and see just what I've got - ultimately building them up stronger (I hope).